When science fact meets crime fiction: Val McDermid to host prestigious lecture

The publishing world’s “Queen of Crime” will share some of the secrets of her best-selling novels at a special event hosted by the University of Dundee next week.

Val McDermid, one of the country’s best-selling and beloved authors, will deliver this year’s Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science Annual Lecture.

The Fife-born author, who has worked extensively with the University throughout her career, will follow her lecture with a Q&A session, giving fans the opportunity to learn more about the creator of series including Karen Pirie, Wire in the Blood and Traces, which is based in Dundee.

The event, which is open to the public and free to attend, will take place in the University’s Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, from 18:00 - 19:00 on Wednesday 11 December. The event will also be hosted online.

Professor Niamh Nic Daéid, Director of the LRCFS, said, “We were delighted when Val accepted our invitation to deliver the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science Annual Lecture 2024.

“Val is a great friend of LRCFS and we have been fortunate to work with her for many years.

“Our work is dedicated to improving the quality of the science used within the justice system. In Val we could not ask for a greater advocate of that mission and her work has been hugely helpful in making the public aware of the importance of accurate, robust forensic science.”

Born in Kirkcaldy, Val McDermid has sold more than 19 million books and became the first student from a Scottish state school to graduate with a first in English from St Hilda’s College, Oxford.

Her texts have been translated into more than 40 languages, with several having been adapted successfully for television. She is also an accomplished broadcaster and lead singer of the band the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.

Her links with the University are extensive, having supported the Million for a Morgue campaign which culminated in the opening of the Val McDermid Mortuary in 2014. She also turned to the LRCFS to provide scientific input to her television series, Traces, which was set and partly filmed in Dundee.

Tickets for the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science Annual Lecture are free but must be booked in advance online.