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At the first roundabout the garda driver took a right turn, away from the main park area. Terry relaxed a little. Her work, either in the mortuary or in the field, was a safe space for her, somewhere she knew the rules and had a tangible, achievable problem to solve. Pathology wasn’t like the other areas of policing, where they had to worry about motive and crimes of passion — Terry’s job involved getting to grips with the science of what had happened to the deceased.
Between 1968 and 1969, three women were found dead, having been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted, after visiting the Barrowland Ballroom in the city's east end. Despite one of the most extensive manhunts in Scottish criminal history, their killer has never been found. Beyond the Tape is not a book for the squeamish and most definitely not a book to be read while eating. There are disturbing scenes of quite a graphic nature so be prepared. It is, however, a compelling and very unique opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes ‘exposé’ of pathology and all it’s workings from the perspective of this true power-house of a woman. I think if you need counselling you shouldn’t be there, in pathology, because that’s what you do, you just have to be able to cope with the situations that you deal with.”
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Another woman is found murdered and, as pressure mounts on the gardaí to find the perpetrator, Terry’s post mortem reveals something that might hold the key to everything. But a killer is closer than she knows. And their next victim is firmly within their sights…” Whatever has been happening in the day, I need to just look at nonsense, read nonsense or whatever so it just clears my head of the day, and I can then concentrate on the family. That’s the way I’ve always worked.” State Pathologist's Office". Department of Justice and Equality. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013 . Retrieved 10 November 2012. It used to be, people would use these experts [in Irish court] if it suited them and we all knew a load of baloney was coming out of their mouth,” she says. “I think now in the UK and Ireland most of the experts are pretty straight. I’ve come across some dubious ones in the past, but I think that’s been weeded out.”
The book is certainly not “rubbish”; it’s a pacy and entertaining read with a witty protagonist, full of gumption. “Don’t be such a jessie,” O’Brien tells her love interest, detective chief inspector John Fraser. And when he’s too polite, she calls him “Mr Darcy”. She tells another friend, Michael Flynn, a forensic scientist, not to be “so precious”. There’s no room for over-sensitivity in her life. Toughness and strength of character are required, as they are for real life pathologists. Raleigh, David. "Meet Marie Cassidy - Ireland's first female state pathologist". Irish Examiner . Retrieved 2 July 2014. A Dublin man gave a false confession to the murders and spent nine months in custody before it was found that he had lied, while Nash, who was already serving two life sentences for a double murder of a Roscommon couple, confessed to the murder before retracting his statement. Mark Nash, who was sentenced to two life sentences for a double murder he committed 18 years prior, was sentenced to two more life sentences in 2015. Pic: Rolling News
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When Harbison retired, Cassidy was appointed state pathologist in 2004, and, like her predecessor, her name became synonymous with murder and tragedy. I was dropping big hints: 'Hello, see this little person in front of you? I'm the one who does all this, not that big, bulky man with the beard you seem to have every week on the telly.' Why do these women die at the hands of someone in their bed rather than someone under their bed? When it comes to women being killed it’s not the bogeyman, it’s someone they know.”
I stayed up late last night reading your book, engrossed. Then I got spooked! Seeing what you have seen, did you want to, when your children were younger, wrap them up in cotton wool and never let them out? Cassidy believes that had they held off for another 10 years, it might have been possible to obtain a conclusive result. The Crown cleared the late McInnes of any involvement in the Bible John murders in July 1996.
Beyond the Tape in many ways is quite an unusual read, almost like The Dummies Guide to Pathology. It is a book that I have no doubt many crime writers will closely analyse and digest due to the very informative nature of its contents. As former State pathologist, Cassidy also discussed how her role made her a figure of great interest in Ireland, which is a unique experience. Body of Truth, Cassidy’s debut crime novel, features forensic pathologist Terry O’Brien, who’s moved from her home in Glasgow to Dublin to take up a post in the Office of the State Pathologist. Yes, there are echoes of Cassidy’s own experience in the set-up, but O’Brien gets to go where no real life pathologist ever could; she investigates murders. So was it fun to step over that demarcation line? When I was called out to the scene the assumption was that this was a straight fire death,” Dr Cassidy said. Cassidy, who retired from her role as State pathologist in 2018, was very much looking forward to putting on her glad rags and taking to the dancefloor for the new season of the RTÉ show.
Cassidy dealt with her share of murder victims – mainly stabbings. Weapons ranged from a seemingly innocuous pencil to ornamental samurai swords (the latter, she says, were "a common feature on living room walls in 1980s Glasgow").
Hachette Books Ireland will publish her debut in autumn, the same publishers she worked with on her bestselling memoir Beyond The Tape in 2020.
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