University turns to crime for funding

Published on Thursday 7 April 2011 19:06

THE frigid wind gusting in from the Tay chilled Dr Kay Scarpetta to the bone as she ducked into the shadows of the old university building. Kate Brannigan, the gutsy private investigator and the woman who'd brought her to Scotland, was the first among the group shuffling uncomfortably in the chill to speak.

"We've got to help these people," she said. "Without them we'll never solve our murders. They need 500 grand to complete the new mortuary, right? Why don't we organise a competition among ourselves to raise the money. And then whoever wins gets the new building named after them."

Inspector John Rebus smiled to himself in the gloom. "I like it," he mouthed, already visualising himself shaking the vice-principal's hand at the name-plate ceremony and smiling for the cameras as the Rebus Building was unveiled. "Not so fast, Rebus," came the response from the rotund African woman, her colourful robes flapping in the breeze. "The Precious Ramotswe Tower sounds so much better, don't you think?"

In what may be the first "Whosegoingtodoit?", the Scottish Tartan Noir author Val McDermid - Brannigan's creator - is rallying fellow crime writers in a novel effort to support a profession on which the authors of gory detective fiction so often depend.

Last year, Dundee University announced plans for a major extension to its Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID), which is part of its college of life sciences.

The institution hopes to enlarge and upgrade the mortuary facilities, which play a vital role in the education of anatomy students. But while it has raised around 1.5 million to pay for the new facility, it remains 500,000 short of the initial 2m target.

Now Sue Black, the university's professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology and one of the world's leading forensic anthropologists, along with Fife-born McDermid is involved in the plan to persuade the nation's finest crime writers to join the unique competition.

The launch is expected to be made at the Borders Book Festival in June where the academic and the author will share a platform, exploring the gruesome ins and outs of examining bodies for clues.

McDermid is keen to help the project because she often uses Black's expertise to authenticate the gory details in her best-selling novels which have also featured sexually dysfunctional psychologist Dr Tony Hill, whose exploits were adapted for the TV series Wire In The Blood, starring Robson Green.One of her supporting characters has been David Soanes, a professor of forensic science at Dundee University.

The author, who stressed the project was in the early stages, said: "Dundee University is building a new mortuary and they are half a million pounds short of what they need. The idea is for crime writers to hold a competition to raise funds and whoever raises the most gets the building named after them."

The CAHID extension would allow Professor Black and her students to work in state-of-the-art conditions. Applications to such courses are increasing because of the effect of popular TV series such as Waking The Dead, Silent Witness and CSI.

Patricia Cornwell, whose work McDermid has long admired - her heroine is the forensic specialist Kay Scarpetta - is one name on McDermid's target list.

The university is also hoping for support from Nicci French, the writing name used by British husband and wife team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, authors of best-selling psychological suspense novels.

Gerrard and French have also drawn on the expertise of Black. Internationally famous for forensic investigations ranging from serial killer inquiries to mass killings in the Balkans or the aftermath of Asian tsunamis, Black was also the star of the BBC series Cold Case.

Other writers also in the frame - all relying heavily on medical expertise - include Jeffrey Deaver, whose character Lincoln Rhyme is a quadriplegic forensics expert, and fellow American Tess Gerritson, whose books about police detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Dr Maura Isles became the Rizzoli & Isles television series.

The creators of Rebus and Ramotswe - Ian Rankin and Alexender McCall Smith - say they have not been approached so far, nor has Quintin Jardine, creator of DCI Bob Skinner, the self-styled "toughest policeman in Britain".

Jardine said his own research doesn't usually involve visits to forensic laboratories, but "they are very important to certain writers. If Val asks me I'll do what I can."