Released July 2005 (Broadway) * 256 pages * ISBN 13: 9780767918794

Despite the gruesome sounding title, Dissecting Death: Secrets of a Medical Examiner is an interesting read. Author Frederick Zugibe is the former chief medical officer of Rockland County, New York and his co-author David L. Carroll has co-written over 30 books. Together they have created a very readable book that goes over ten medicolegal cases in Zugibe’s career. The accessible style along with the structure of the book (each chapter is a self-contained case) make this book read like a book of short stories, which is handy for nighttime reading.

Since this is written by a medical examiner, the focus is on the case from the time the medical examiner comes into the picture (usually at the crime scene) to the time the casue of death is determined. Although there is sometimes a brief sketch of how the case played out in court, since Zugibe is sometimes called as an expert witness, the legal aspect is only touched on lightly.

The last chapter is devoted to two cases that Zugibe examines from the point of expert commentator rather than ones he was involved in himself: the cases of JonBenet Ramsey and O. J. Simpson. This last chapter was a bonus for me, rather than a reason to pick up the book in the first place. I didn’t get as much out of the analysis of Simpson’s case as I did out of the Ramsey case. There were a number of surprising details on the Ramsey case that I had not seen mentioned in the media (though I have to admit I haven’t followed the case very carefully and only saw what made the international news).

When it comes to the technical details, I found the information very accessible. Although I’m familiar with the DNA technology, I was interested in the medical examiner’s job so I was happy to have the author take me through things like the standard procedure of examining a body, the methods of determining time of death, what to look for at the crime scene and what to ask the witnesses. This information is sprinkled throughout the cases as it comes up. If you’re already well versed in the procedures you’ll likely want to skim them, but if it’s new to you it’s explained in plain English and in short bursts.

I often look at other reviews, in this case on amazon.com since it is an older book I haven’t seen around book blogs. I was surprised to come across a review by the brother of  Joan D’Alessandro, a little girl whose death is covered in one of the chapters of the book. I was glad to see that the brother was pleased with the treatment of his sister’s case in the book.

If you like short mysteries or shows like CSI you’ll probably find this book of interest. You can find Dissecting Death at online sellers like amazon.com, amazon.ca, and amazon.co.uk as well as bricks and mortar stores.

Related Posts

1. Word of Blog Book Finds: The Face of Death
2. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (Review)
3. Private Eyes by Blythe, Sweet & Landreth (Review)
4. Capitol Reflections by Jonathan Javitt (Review)
5. Dear Dad by Louie Anderson (Review)