Cause of Death: A Writer's Guide to Death, Murder, and Forensic Medicine

by Keith D. Wilson

Book Overview

Offers detailed descriptions of what happens to a body from trauma to burial, how autopsies are conducted, the paperwork involved in a death, and the laws that govern how bodies must be handled and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898795249
• ISBN13: 9780898795240
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A lively guide to death

This book is an excellent resource for writers who want to imbue their stories with the authentic details of unnatural death but don't really have all the tools and training of a full-time medical examiner. In my case, as a crime author, the text was an invaluable reference, putting some highly technical material into easily digested context. Recommended for writers of all kinds who need a good reference work on the myriad ways to die.

Wow....

This is one of the best books in the howdunit series...It is a very good book for people just starting to learn about forensics. It is very detailed in many differnet areas including: medical and leagal procedures, how to deterimin time of death, autopsy, differnt methods of death, capital punishment, and of course, causes of death. I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in crime scene investigation, or forensics, police work, ect. Happy reading!

It was the scent of death with twist of almond.

Cause of Death ranks 2nd place in my "Favorites from the Howdunit Series". This book is amazingly informative and it will keep you reading straight through to the end! Cause of Death informs you that you might be able to tell how a victim died by the smell. For example, almond scent often relates to cyanide poisoning, or cyanide gas.Cause of Death goes in depth on how a person might have died, what happens to a body once it is dead, types of injuries, and so much more! It even has detailed pictures such as the emergency room, and (in autopsy) how a human is cut for examination. Cause of Death covers it all...from priorities in the ER, to the order things are done at an autopsy.The three most interesting sections of the book cover: * the discharge of firearms with pictures of types of bullets, how they impact, and what a hole would look like shot at different distances. * how to distinguish a murder from a suicide. * Crime and punishment (including a list of states' death penalties and how they are carried out).I see no faults in this book. It has a great amount of information to create the perfect, believable death plot in your story. I highly recommend getting this book!!

Fascinating Read!

While writing my first mystery, I found this book to be very helpful and a real page turner. While I wouldn't depend on it solely for information on forensics, it did give me a solid foundation for interviewing medical and law professionals. I believe this would also be a great book for someone simply interested in the field of forensics without being too textbookish.

Very Informative

This book answered several questions I had while pounding out my first manuscript. Like how the police and coroner go about removing a dead body. The autopsy procedures are quite gruesome­­not for a weak stomach. There are hundreds of diagrams and pictures, investigation procedures, legal and medical terms, etc. Without it, I would have spent countless hours researching the basics. However, it did not cover everything. No book can. For instance, I had to find out what the effects of a frontal head trauma were and how long it would take the victim to recover, if at all.The section on murder and suicide is interesting, particularly the part about the crime scene and the difference between a hanging and strangulation. The wounds around the neck are markedly different. Like I said, the details in this book can turn some stomachs. But I learned a lot in one short volume.