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The Specialist

How to clean a crime scene and other messes

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The Specialist

By: Ben Giles
Narrated by: Siôn Alun Davies
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The breathtaking, unputdownable insider account of Britain's most hidden profession

What happens after the police tape comes down?

Ben Giles has spent thirty years cleaning what most people can't bear to imagine. Dead bodies decomposing for weeks. Kitchen floors painted with blood. Hoarders' homes where the filth tells stories of unimaginable loneliness. A whale carcass lodged on a cargo ship. This is the Britain you never see – until someone needs to make it disappear.

Starting with nothing but a bucket of Dettol and a can-do attitude, Giles built the UK's leading biohazard cleaning network. From industrial spillages to animal remains, he's faced horrors that would break most people – and taught hundreds of people to do the same, in full hazmat gear. Yet threaded through the gore and dark humour is something unexpected: profound compassion for the lives interrupted, the families destroyed, and the deaths that society prefers to forget.

The Specialist takes you behind the scenes of suicides, murders, and tragic accidents — revealing not just which chemicals remove bloodstains, and how, but what violence, neglect, and loss actually look like when the rest of us can only look away. It's unflinching, occasionally hilarious, and utterly unforgettable.

©2026 Ben Giles (P)2026 HarperCollins Publishers Murder True Crime Funny Witty Crime
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Critic reviews

'This is a remarkable story about life in a line of work most of us couldn’t countenance. Macabre at times, for sure, but also profoundly moving.' Adrian Chiles
'From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order.' Guardian
'During 30 years on the job, Giles has gone boilersuited and rubber-booted into scenes no one else would want to touch. He has scoured blood from window blinds after murders, expunged human fat from house walls, and cleaned a dead whale from the keel of a container ship.' The Times
'Giles has dealt with every worst case cleaning scenario you can think of, entrusted by the police and training up to 500 others a year on how to deal with trauma cleaning and biohazard sites.' Daily Mail
All stars
Most relevant
The humanity of the author’s description and the straightforward matter of fact prose stood out. But most of all, the empathy for the human condition and the absence of any easy callousness stays with me. The author comes across as a sincere person, who with a strong ‘can do’-attitude and compassion in the most adverse circumstances, acts out of respect and a sense of community.

Great Memoir

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My two biggest passions true crime and cleaning. This book will put you off your food in many places so wouldn't recommend eating and listening but such an important and interesting read, these are often incidents we have no idea exist as it's "someone else's job". You can tell Ben is a deeply caring conscienous and pragmatic person. Very informative, well read and highly recommend to both cleaners and non cleaners

Gripping from start to finish

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As a retired police officer I have seen many a traumatic death or injury as well as the non-traumatic ones and I have to say I did not think that much about the crime scene cleaner etc. now I do and I have to say they obviously do a great job. Well I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Very interesting listen

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Gripping storytelling narrated beautifully and sympathetically. Impossible not to boke out loud at several points. And I thought my job was hard.

Fascinating, compelling, humbling but not for those of delicate disposition

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I really enjoyed this book as a domestic cleaner who often has an AirPod in her ear listening to some kind of true crime podcast whilst working. Listener discretion is advised though! I’ve seen some messes in my time but nothing comes close to the scenes described, although they are tastefully and compassionately portrayed. I definitely am inspired to further my training and seek out some biohazard qualifications.

Compassionate, heartfelt and inspiring

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