All That Remains - Sue Black

All That Remains

By Sue Black

  • Release Date: 2019-03-05
  • Genre: True Crime
Score: 4
4
From 64 Ratings

Description

Book of the Year, 2018 Saltire Literary Awards

A CrimeReads Best True Crime Book of the Month

For fans of Caitlin Doughty, Mary Roach, Kathy Reichs, and CSI shows, a renowned forensic scientist on death and mortality.

Dame Sue Black is an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist. She has lived her life eye to eye with the Grim Reaper, and she writes vividly about it in this book, which is part primer on the basics of identifying human remains, part frank memoir of a woman whose first paying job as a schoolgirl was to apprentice in a butcher shop, and part no-nonsense but deeply humane introduction to the reality of death in our lives. It is a treat for CSI junkies, murder mystery and thriller readers, and anyone seeking a clear-eyed guide to a subject that touches us all.

Cutting through hype, romanticism, and cliché, she recounts her first dissection; her own first acquaintance with a loved one’s death; the mortal remains in her lab and at burial sites as well as scenes of violence, murder, and criminal dismemberment; and about investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident, or natural disaster, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. She uses key cases to reveal how forensic science has developed and what her work has taught her about human nature.

Acclaimed by bestselling crime writers and fellow scientists alike, All That Remains is neither sad nor macabre. While Professor Black tells of tragedy, she also infuses her stories with a wicked sense of humor and much common sense.

Reviews

  • Love it!

    5
    By Owyze1
    Love this!! I’m sure this subject matter is not for everyone, but it really made me think about a career in forensic science!
  • Uh no

    2
    By nationalanthem
    What I thought would be an interesting look into the details of being a forensic anthropologist turned out to be part personal history, part political agenda, part missing persons cases—no bodies involved. This book did not seem to know what it wanted to be and its author wasn’t all that enjoyable. Quite pedantic, conceited, and condescending. It barely has anything to do with an introspective look into HOW forensic anthropology works and more WHO this forensic anthropologist is and what she wants to talk about. Lastly, she really lost me when she said that a penis could “EQUALLY” mean a man or a transgender person…….. regardless of any politics that’s just a straight up false statement. There are not 3.5 billion transgender people also with penises on this planet for you to be equally confused with the 3.5 billion men. That’s just a dumb statement.
  • Wonderful

    5
    By 4ensicsgal
    Fantastic

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