Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office

By John Temple

Book Overview

Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office chronicles the exploits of a diverse team of investigators at a coroner's office in Pittsburgh. Ed Strimlan is a doctor who never got to practice medicine. Instead he discovers how people died. Mike Chichwak is a stolid ex-paramedic, respected around the office for his compassion and doggedness. Tiffani Hunt is twenty-one, a single mother who questions whether she wants to spend her nights around dead bodies.

All three deputy coroners share one trait: a compulsive curiosity. A good thing too because any observation at a death scene can prove meaningful. A bag of groceries standing on a kitchen counter, the milk turning sour. A broken lamp lying on the carpet of an otherwise tidy living room. When they approach a corpse, the investigators consider everything. Is the victim face-up or down? How stiff are the limbs? Are the hands dirty or clean? By the time they bag the body and load it into the coroner's wagon, Tiffani, Ed, and Mike have often unearthed intimate details that are unknown even to the victim's family and friends.

The intrigues of investigating death help make up for the bad parts of the job. There are plenty of burdens--grief-stricken families, decomposed bodies, tangled local politics, and gore. And maybe worst of all is the ever-present reminder of mortality and human frailness.

Deadhouse also chronicles the evolution of forensic medicine, from early rituals performed over corpses found dead to the controversial advent of modern forensic pathology. It explains how pathologists "read" bullet wounds and lacerations, how someone dies from a drug overdose or a motorcycle crash or a drowning, and how investigators uncover the clues that lead to the truth.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934110302
• ISBN13: 9781934110300
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Helped me immensely.

I picked this book up shortly after I started as an intern at a coroners office. It was very helpful to read about exactly was I was experiencing and to know that what I was feeling about those experiences was normal. Its a great read for a curious person and its quite accurate.

Awesome book about the life of coroners & staff...

I really enjoyed reading this book. This book actually helped me decide whether or not going into this field of work. I absolutely love CSI (but hate CSI Miami and CSI NY...too much Hollywood in those...ugh). This is a book about these professional's lives, NOT forensic science technology and the latest techniques used, etc..which I, for one, wasn't expecting by reading the overview of the book to begin with. If you want to get a feel of what it's like to live in these professionals shoes than this is your book, and a wonderful one at that! I like to read about stuff that people never talk about and that is so taboo. We should all get more comfortable with death and our immortal bodies. Thanks author, It was an enjoyable read!

Great read for professionals and laymen

As a physician, I usually steer clear of medical books or TV shows, as they are typically all drama, no reality. However, a friend gave me this book, and I was really surprised -- it is an accurate account of 'life' in the morgue, but told in a truly compellng manner. It was easy for me to empathize with the characters, especially the new interns, as I remember my first moments in medical school when I first dealt with death. I actually learned a lot too -- information about the infrastructure and politics behind the coroner's office. Temple is a great story-teller. This book is a great read, from its medical detailing to its character development. I strongly recommend this book ... maybe I'll use it for my next book-club!

Perfect for CSI fans...or those just looking for a great story

Deadhouse doesn't club you over the head with the specifics science of forensics (yawn) but does give enough info. to keep forensic science enthusiasts interested. This isn't a textbook but rather a fast-paced look at the lives of people intersecting through a topic that is endlessly fascinating but not often discussed: death. And it takes place in Pittsburgh, not Philadelphia. That's enough reason to read this on its own. This isn't the type of book I would normally pick up (I'm more of a Jane Austen, Larry McMurty reader) but I'm glad I did. The only bad thing about this book is that it didn't go on longer.