All That Remains by Sue Black

All That Remains by Sue Black

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Blurb

Book of the Year, 2018 Saltire Literary Awards
A CrimeReads Best True Crime Book of the Month

For fans of Caitlin Doughty, Mary Roach, 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.

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Review

Isn’t BookBub amazing?  I got a fantastic deal on this book. I don’t mind bragging about that, just a little. If you don’t subscribe to BookBub emails, go make yourself an account and sign up. You’ll be glad you did.

Anyway. The book is an autobiography of a forensic anthropologist. She identifies human remains in various stages of decomposition. Now, if you’re like me and you like a little murder in your entertainment, you’ve probably watched plenty of crime scene shows, both fictional, fantastic (looking at you CBS), and reality. You’ve probably read plenty of books by forensic scientists as well. Maybe you’ve even gone to the occasional lecture.

All That Remains is nothing like any of those, although it is close enough to keep your interest. Or at least my interest.

Black wants her readers to understand the intimate terms she’s on with death, in part because she wants society as a whole to have a different relationship with death. And honestly, our relationship with death is a little weird, don’t you think?  We refer to our loved ones as having “passed,” like they’re kidney stones. It’s weird.

Anyway. She gives very frank accounts not just of some of the gruesome deaths she’s worked, but of deaths in her own family. These came early in the book and made me cry, despite her protestations of being a no-nonsense type. Her relationship with people who donate their bodies for research is a beautiful thing to behold as well.

She is frank about her work in Kosovo and her work with tsunami victims in Thailand. She gives honest and frank discussions about murders, suicides, and some of the unsolved cases she’s worked on as well. This strikes me as unusual, because most of the people in this field with whom I’ve spoken have been reluctant to discuss incidents without a firm closure.

I loved this book, and I’d recommend it to just about anyone. I’d say it’s probably required reading for anyone who plans to write about murder, death, or violence in any way, but anyone will benefit. Even those who are squeamish will benefit from Black’s frank and loving discussion.