Longlisted for theCWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2022
This book is about death,but in it I will take readers on a journey through life
Dr Richard Shepherd,Britain's top forensic pathologist,has spent a lifetime close to the dead.
As a medical detective,each autopsy he carries out is its own unique investigation,uncovering the secrets not only of how a person died,but also of how,through every stage of life,the risks to each of us ebb and flow.
Through twenty-four of his most intriguing,enlightening and never-before-told cases,Dr Shepherd shares autopsies that span the seven ages of human existence,and have taught him as much about the marvels of life as the inevitability of death. From old to young,from murder to misadventure,and from illness to accidental death,each of these bodies has something to reveal: about human development,about mortality,about its owner's life story,about justice and even about Shepherd himself.
From the bestselling author of Unnatural Causes comes a powerful,moving and above all reassuring book about death as it touches our own lives - how to understand it,how best to postpone it,and,when our time comes (as it must),how to embrace it as the last great adventure.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9781405947107Number of pages: 416Weight: 287 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'This sequel is more ruminative,more meditative... Full of sharp observations about what life and death do to the human body'- The Times
'Enlightening,strangely uplifting... Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective'-Daily Mail
'Each chapter is like a finely crafted detective story in which he expands on the causes of death as revealed by the post mortem,or the hidden reasons that precipitated it. Some are ordinary,others extraordinary. Shepherd writes beautifully,and despite its subject,the book is very funny in parts'-Daily Telegraph
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