All That Remains cover art

All That Remains

A Life in Death

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

All That Remains

By: Sue Black
Narrated by: Sue Black
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £10.34

Buy Now for £10.34

Random House presents the audiobook edition of All That Remains by Professor Sue Black, read by the author.

Sue Black confronts death every day. As Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. In All that Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and what her work has taught her.

Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue’s book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour in stories as gripping as the best crime novel. Our own death will remain a great unknown. But as an expert witness from the final frontier, Sue Black is the wisest, most reassuring, most compelling of guides.

‘Dame Sue Black writes about life and death with great tenderness but no nonsense, with impeccable science lucidly explained, and with moral depths humanely navigated, so that we can all feel better about the path we must all inevitably follow. I am genuinely glad I read this book.’ – Lee Child

‘Compelling, brave and extremely accessible... A must for anyone who thinks about the basics of living and dying. And there are jokes as well.’ – Rachel Joyce

Crime Death & Dying Law Social Sciences Sociology True Crime Forensics Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Scary Natural Disaster
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

One might expect [this book] to be a grim read but it absolutely isn’t. I found it invigorating! (Andrew Marr)
Black’s utterly gripping account of her life and career as a professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology manages to be surprisingly life-affirming. As she herself says, it is “as much about life as about death”. (PD Smith)
An engrossing memoir ... an affecting mix of the personal and professional. (Erica Wagner)
A model of how to write about the effect of human evil without losing either objectivity or sensitivity ... Heartening and anything but morbid... Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value, what kinds of people you actually want to be with. (Rowan Williams)
For someone whose job is identifying corpses, Sue Black is a cheerful soul ... All That Remains feels like every episode of Silent Witness, pre-fictionalized. Except, you know, really good. (Helen Rumbelow)
This fascinating look by a world-leading forensic scientist at what the dead can tell us is a real eye-opener... Sue Black must be one of the most unusual people in Britain… extraordinary…part meditation, part popular science and part memoir...the book offers a close-up and startlingly clear view of a subject that makes most of us look away. (James McConnachie)
The real thing here is not the cause of death, but the nature of the life. Black is genuinely moving about the respect we should have for the dead … There is much to admire in this book.
Poignant and thoughtprovoking… it is the book’s humanity which will connect with readers.
Let [Sue Black] take you by the hand and lead you on a journey which will inspire your awe and devotion … A wonderful surprise of a book. (Brian Masters)
Most of us are terrified of death, but Sue Black shows us that death is in fact a wondrous process, intimately tied with life itself. Written with warmth and humanity, All That Remains reveals her life among the dead, who can surely count her as their best friend. (Tess Gerritsen)
All stars
Most relevant
Absolutely loved this book. Sue Black is just super smart, hyper-empathetic, a great writer and a brilliant narrator. Her insights into human physiology and how the science of anatomy is used in forensics is very compelling. What I really liked about this book is how Black peppers (sorry) the story of her professional life with vignettes that give a window into her own life as a mother and someone who deals with the emotional side of death much like anyone else. It's apparent she has mastered the compartmentalisation of her work from an emotional point of view as she has witnessed some truly shocking scenes and she describes some of them in detail in this book. However, she describes them with such compassion and such an unfaltering respect for the dead that you cannot help but warm to her as just a normal wife and mother as well as a leading anatomist. The section of the book that pertains to her work in Kosovo in the late 90s/early 2000s is simply riveting.

I had just finished reading a rather gruesome book about the forensic psychology of serial killers and I really enjoyed how this book tempered the pain of death and the potential cruelty of humans towards each other with a respect, clarity and detachment that only a skilled clinician with decades of experience could bring to a subject like anatomical forensics that is of course enshrined in death.

One of my favourite Audible books to date and kudos to Sue Black for narrating the book herself; she did a magnificent job.

What an insightful book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I saw this advertised and thought I’d give it a go
What an absolutely wonderful book probably one of the only books to make me cry as I have a heart of stone, Great teacher with a great knowledge about death dying Exhumation and identification of bodies as well as forensics expertise told you in Lehmans terms.
Is it gross in parts yes, not a lunchtime listening.

Something different

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is hands down the best book I’ve listened to all year. It’s a mixture of accessible science, real life examples and personal anecdotes and the result is truly beautiful. I’m not ashamed to say I cried repeatedly throughout, both when Sue Black recounts particularly moving, personal stories but also when it reminded me of when my own loved ones died. It’s the sort of book that you listen to on a train and wonder how nobody can notice you are experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions. I am usually dubious of authors reading their own works, but her delivery is perfect. I cannot recommend listening to this enough.

Moving

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

very good. Hard listening in some places when she talks about Kosovo but extremely important to hear.

Hard hitting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I couldn't stop listening, totally engaging, funny and reverent. I loved every minute and will probably listen to it again soon.

Totally loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews