Reviews
Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death by Jessica Snyder Sachs
simlish's review against another edition
4.0
Corpse is about the search for the time of death, something that has long defeated human investigators of death. Most of the progress has been made in the past 70 years or so -- before that, body cooling was the main measure of time since death. Corpse is the third forensic type book I've read recently, so I came in with a high tolerance for maggot talk, which I absolutely needed. The most research on time since death has been in the field of entomology, so the vast majority of the book was dedicated to all the ways that insects devour corpses. There's a few chapters on body cooling (really, coming to environmental temperature), the mortises (rigor, algor, and livor), and new research on how plants around bodies can be used forensically, and, very new, research into how the chemical processes of death can date a death.
Corpse was the first of this series of body books I've been reading written by a science writer, rather than a forensic anthropologist, so it was very different than either [b:Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales|15251|Death's Acre Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales|William M. Bass|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309204605l/15251._SX50_.jpg|207394] or [b:Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist|818675|Dead Men Do Tell Tales The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist|William R. Maples|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320490184l/818675._SY75_.jpg|804536]. (Both Bill Bass and William Maples feature in Corpse) For one thing, Sachs talks a lot more about the early stages of death than either Bass or Maples, who are focused pretty intently on the skeleton. She's significantly more readable than Maples. Corpse includes a few cases (two by Bass, one by Maples) that are covered in their own books, and it was interesting reading it from a different point of view and how differently Sachs framed the same events. It was simultaneously more wide-ranging than Bass or Maples' books, and more focused -- the search for time of death covers a lot of features of decay, and is much less interested in historical reenactment.
I wouldn't call it a quick read -- I definitely got bogged down in the bugs for a while -- but it's very much for any interested general audience, well-written and researched. I learned a lot about flies.
Corpse was the first of this series of body books I've been reading written by a science writer, rather than a forensic anthropologist, so it was very different than either [b:Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales|15251|Death's Acre Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales|William M. Bass|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309204605l/15251._SX50_.jpg|207394] or [b:Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist|818675|Dead Men Do Tell Tales The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist|William R. Maples|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320490184l/818675._SY75_.jpg|804536]. (Both Bill Bass and William Maples feature in Corpse) For one thing, Sachs talks a lot more about the early stages of death than either Bass or Maples, who are focused pretty intently on the skeleton. She's significantly more readable than Maples. Corpse includes a few cases (two by Bass, one by Maples) that are covered in their own books, and it was interesting reading it from a different point of view and how differently Sachs framed the same events. It was simultaneously more wide-ranging than Bass or Maples' books, and more focused -- the search for time of death covers a lot of features of decay, and is much less interested in historical reenactment.
I wouldn't call it a quick read -- I definitely got bogged down in the bugs for a while -- but it's very much for any interested general audience, well-written and researched. I learned a lot about flies.
lamusadelils's review against another edition
4.0
Bien desarrollado, con partes muy interesantes y quizá muy detallado en cuanto a entomologia.
nerdsquirrel13's review against another edition
5.0
I grew up watching CSI, wanting to be a forensic lab tech up until high school, where all of our science classes were all about classifying animals and I lost interest. I only bring up the CSI franchise because they medical examiners always know exactly what time the victim had died, and could point a sure finger to the killer-- all within a 40 minute allotment of time (not including the commercials).From the first chapter up until the very last page, this book shows you why the real-life medical examiners can't come back to the investigators with a precise time of death no matter what method they've used. The first page starts out describing a triple homicide and by page three you're already dipping your toes into the science behind figuring out when the murders took place.
Stomach contents are brought up first, and the argument that there are hundreds of variables affecting digestion. With stomach contents out, the book then turns to numerous tests and experiments, homicides and investigations, specialists and pioneers in forensic Entomology, Anthropology, Botany, Dendochronology, and Biology to prove that we still can't pinpoint time since death, but we are getting closer with every curious person.
I'm not the kind of person that can appreciate, or even think about insects without getting squeamish, but I enjoyed this book. Great introduction to forensic science as a whole, and especially entomology.
Stomach contents are brought up first, and the argument that there are hundreds of variables affecting digestion. With stomach contents out, the book then turns to numerous tests and experiments, homicides and investigations, specialists and pioneers in forensic Entomology, Anthropology, Botany, Dendochronology, and Biology to prove that we still can't pinpoint time since death, but we are getting closer with every curious person.
I'm not the kind of person that can appreciate, or even think about insects without getting squeamish, but I enjoyed this book. Great introduction to forensic science as a whole, and especially entomology.
innae's review against another edition
5.0
The Quote for the first chapter - traditional medical maxim..."The psychiatrist knows nothing and does nothing, the surgeon knows nothing and does everything, The pathologist knows everything...but is always a day too late."
and the Quote from the last chapter - Andre Gide (1869-1951)..."Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it."
I finished this book just now, a few minutes after midnight on the 16th. I am loving this book. I won't say the whole book was engrossing, or that I didn't skim on occasion, but overall, a very readable book.
I read a few other reviews, and they compared it to Stiff -- it is nothing like Stiff. They have the similarity of discussing what happens when we die, however Stiff is looking at it as a "what do you do with the body?", and Corpse is looking at the forensic discovery of time of death (something that really does plague the Homicide detective)
Lots of good information on what is often the standard - entomology (bugs) -- although the three mortis are also still used (livor, rigor, alvor). It made me want to pay more attention on my next homicide scene.
and the Quote from the last chapter - Andre Gide (1869-1951)..."Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it."
I finished this book just now, a few minutes after midnight on the 16th. I am loving this book. I won't say the whole book was engrossing, or that I didn't skim on occasion, but overall, a very readable book.
I read a few other reviews, and they compared it to Stiff -- it is nothing like Stiff. They have the similarity of discussing what happens when we die, however Stiff is looking at it as a "what do you do with the body?", and Corpse is looking at the forensic discovery of time of death (something that really does plague the Homicide detective)
Lots of good information on what is often the standard - entomology (bugs) -- although the three mortis are also still used (livor, rigor, alvor). It made me want to pay more attention on my next homicide scene.
oldmusty772's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book for research purposes. I feel like one can't really be a good writer/editor/reviewer without knowing and understanding the smallest details. This book was incredibly informative. Anyone who might come across a dead body in their writing should read this book.
bratprince's review
4.0
I'm impressed that this book managed to make botany and entomology interesting. Great read.
panxa's review
3.0
A brief history of the trajectory of time-of-death methods, including using bones, bugs, flora, and microbes.
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