CSI Portsmouth 2013 where crime fiction met crime fact

CSI Portsmouth was first launched in 2010 and was the brainchild of crime author, Pauline Rowson. It brings together crime fiction and fact. It is organised by Portsmouth City Council Library Service and the Hayling Island Bookshop and is part of Portsmouth BookFest.
Along with the panel events also present throughout the day were the Hampshire
Police Fingerprint Bureau team. Emma Bright and Heather Foster were on hand to
offer delegates the opportunity to have their fingerprint taken and pressed
into a keepsake key ring to take away.
There was a mock up crime scene, complete with a
body ‘Victor’, provided by students from the forensic science course at South Downs
College
Also a forensic display provided by the Institute of
Criminal Justice Studies, Portsmouth University on Entomology (maggots, flies)
finger mark development (chemical treatments), trace evidence, and DNA. The Hayling Island Bookshop were also there with a
selection of the participating crime authors books.

There was a discussion about the
growth in smart drugs a big concern for police and health experts. Both Mick Ellis, from Hampshire Police and Dr
Alex Allan a forensic toxicologist from Triple A Forensics talked about the dire consequences of using Cocaine and the
personality changes the drug induces and how Heroin addicts will commit any
kinds of crimes to get their next fix.
Dr Allan discussed how he tests for drug use and he covered the use and analysis of volatile substances such as solvents, aerosol propellants and fuel gases still abused for their purported euphoric and sometimes hallucinogenic effects and the use of chloroform as a drug which is not so common now in the UK but is still used in some other countries. The debate also focused on international crime and serious organised crime and the role of the expert witness in trials.
Kerry Wilkinson and Pauline Rowson talked about how they became crime writers and why they have chosen their locations for their crime novels. Kerry's DS Jessica Daniel novels are set in Manchester, a city of great contrasts with its mix of rich and poor and therefore provides a good canvas for crime novels, a sentiment echoed by Pauline Rowson in choosing to set her DI Andy Horton crime novels in the densely populated Island city of Portsmouth contrasting it with the rural landscape of the Isle of Wight beyond the Solent, the busiest port in Europe and one of the busiest in the World.
This was then followed by a book signing and the
chance for the audience to chat to the experts and crime authors on an
individual basis.
Joining CSI Portsmouth in the afternoon were crime
authors Natasha Cooper and Sharon Bolton and crime experts Sergeant Tony Birr,
from Hampshire Police Marine Unit and Brian Chappell, former DCI New Scotland Yard now
a lecturer at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies University of Portsmouth.
Pauline Rowson
stepped down from the stage to act as a moderator and put questions to
the panel. Natasha Cooper explained how her work in publishing made her appreciative of how tough it
is to be a publisher
especially in one of the most fiercely competitive genres, that of
crime
fiction. While Sharon
Bolton, like Pauline,
spent her early career in marketing and PR before turning to crime writing.
Brian
Chappell joined the Institute of Criminal Justice
Studies at the University of Portsmouth as a senior lecturer in April
2011
following completion of a highly successful thirty year career with the
Metropolitan Police, New Scotland Yard reaching the rank of DCI.





Follow Pauline Rowson on
@paulinerowson
Pauline Rowson
Marine Mystery Crime Novels
Pauline Rowson