This book aims to set out a comprehensive and demanding set of diagnostic laboratory principles and requirements in an approachable, unintimidating and user-friendly way and for the most part it succeeds. The topics it covers are those essential to the maintenance of professionally managed diagnostic laboratories whose data is reliable and transparent, attributes that are essential to effective testing programmes.

Whilst there is a refreshing lack of jargon within this pocket-sized book, on some levels it is a bit thin. For example, the section on test validation shies away from any mathematical description of calculating confidence intervals for diagnostic properties, although it does provide an effective overview and references for further reading. This book should find a home in all aspirant veterinary diagnostic laboratories; however, for those that already have a quality system in place that meets ISO 17025 standards much of what is stated will already be common practise.