Last week we took a look at just a handful of professions that study the dead, whether they’re part of a contemporary forensic case or an archaeological excavation.
This is in no way a complete list of all the books available, but below are books that take an inside look into some of the professions discussed in Who Studies the Dead.
**These are not Amazon affiliate links, I do not make money from the links posted**
Coroner
Education of a Coroner: Lessons in Investigating Death by John Bateson
(This book is available for free to those with an audible membership)
In this biography, John Bateson shares the experiences of Ken Holmes, a former funeral director turned coroner for Marin County, California. Education of a Coroner takes you through some of Holme’s most memorable cases as he navigates the world of death investigation.
Medical Examiner
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek, M.D and T.JMitchell
(This book is available for free to those with an audible membership)
Working Stiff was written jointly by Judy Melinek and her journalist husband T.J Mitchell and follows Melinek’s two-year residency with the New York Medical Examiner’s Office. When starting med school, it was not Melinek’s intention to go into forensic pathology, but instead it chose her. This book follows two years of learning as Melinek is thrown into the world of forensic pathology and death investigation.
Forensic Anthropology
Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm, where the Dead do Tell Tales by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson
Death’s acre is one of my personal favorites. Dr. Bill Bass as largely been credited as the founding father of modern forensic anthropology. Death’s Acre discuses the creation of the United States’ first forensic anthropology research facility, or body farm, at the University of Tennessee. This book covers some of the research conducted at the body farm, in addition to some of Dr. Bass’s more memorable cases.
No Bone Unturned: Inside the World of a Top Forensic Scientist and His Work on America’s Most Notorious Crimes and Disasters by Jeff Benedict
Written by Jeff Benedict, No Bone Unturned follows the career of Smithsonian forensic anthropologist, Doug Owsley. This book follows some of Owsley’s most memorable cases, including that of the Kennewick Man.
The Human Bone Manual By Tim White and Pieter Folkens
The Human Bone manual is a condensed form of the textbook Human Osteology by White, Black, and Folkens. I have chosen to add it as is provides amazing information on how forensic anthropologists use skeletal remains to construct the biological profile and identify different types of injury and disease.
