A unique, thought-provoking book by renowned forensic anthropologist Sue Black, who is now a Baroness and peer in the House of Lords. Although it has some very grim details, it’s not macabre in any way. The blurb says the book is ‘compassionate’ – that is correct – but also ‘surprisingly funny’. It’s not funny at all!
The book is sort of a memoir but also talks a lot about humanity in general, as ‘we’. There are bits of philosophy along with the science and the devotion to anatomical studies. I learnt much from the book, and if I were a crime writer there were many details that might be useful, but the trivial fact which has stuck in my head is that the dye from tattoos eventually ends up in the lymph nodes. I found myself skimming over some paragraphs because it seemed like well-meaning waffle. The writing style wasn’t very appealing, as it tended to be formal in tone and the author tried so hard to be modest that her narration became worthy as well as wordy. However, I appreciated being informed about the important work which the author and her colleagues achieved in areas such as disaster victim identification and anatomy teaching. Death is referred to as a person, ‘she’, throughout, almost like she is a friend.
In summary, this is a book with a fascinating premise and really makes you think deeply, but the writing style drags it down. It had some similar coverage to Richard Shepherd’s Unnatural Causes (which I much preferred) although he is a forensic pathologist, not anthropologist.
First published in 2018, this edition in 2019 by Transworld. Bought from a charity shop for £1.50.