Unnatural Causes: The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist by Richard Shepherd

Another memorial by a forensic pathologist, this one is from the UK. I picked this book mostly for comparative purposes. And this is more of an autobiography than the Finnish one I just finished. The book starts from the author's childhood and is examined in mind-numbing detail. So, he lost his mother at an early age, and his father had some difficulties adjusting and married someone mostly for convenience and free housekeeping. Well, if I am reading a book about forensic pathology... I DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT. Then, he started working as a pathologist and things got a bit more interesting. He described some cases, most of which were about mass disasters or stabbings. The author himself felt pretty irritating and even stupid (and an alcoholic). He had a wife who was going through medical school and kids, and he states he had to take that into consideration and didn’t spend much time at a pub after the work day. WTF? The workplace in Britain seemed like a throwback to the sixties. Apparently, doctors were smoking at their work desks still during the 90s? WTF? The bureaucracy and the system with the coroners, who didn’t necessarily have any real training on the field, felt weird. Also, the huge importance of reputation and the fact that it was practically forbidden to make mistakes, or at least admitting a mistake was a huge no-no? Which is more important - to find the truth and perhaps learn something or to stick to the original interpretation no matter what? Well, the Anglo-American legal system with juries and their freedom in their interpretation of the law has always felt strange and medieval anyway. The book was fairly easy and entertaining to read though (after surviving reading about the childhood parts).   
 

400 pp.