I am not ashamed to admit that I am a tragic for TV police procedurals. Vera, Midsomer Murders, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Shetland - I love them. I do not, however, tend to go in for written procedurals. I’m not sure why, but they don’t work for me in the same way. Then I came across V.J Knipe’s work analysing the use of ‘forensics’ in science fictional and fantastic settings, and I was immediately captivated. Knipe approaches the question scientifically - there are graphs in the essay - and she brings out interesting points about what words get used to discuss forensic matters in the books she examines, as well as the comparative depths that different authors go to in their work.