Unnatural Causes: Gripping true stories from the Sunday Times bestselling forensic pathologist

I read a review about Shepherd’s book in the London Sunday Times. I’m a sucker on the subject and bought the Kindle at an absurd price the same day. The first thing I noticed is that Shepherd is one hellacious good writer. From the first sentence and paragraph, I was reading a gifted writer. The writing just gets better as you progress. He incorporates his family, related social and technical debates in time and place, and everyday details in an extraordinary effective manner. He traces an increasingly vile trial evolution into withering defense 'personal incompetence' strategies. Shepherd grabs first sentence attention as he narrates his approach into Hungerford, England in his Cessna 170 in the current day. He has a panic attack. He writes one of the best written witnesses to an attack that I've seen in writing. Boom! He doesn’t call it a panic attack but that’s precisely what he describes I have the damn things at the strangest moments like this. After 30-some years as a leading forensic voice in some 28,000 autopsies, Shepherd begins here with his career recollection of his last visit to Hungerford. Shepherd writes his images precisely … first cadaver, first autopsy, etc. Fantastic fidelity. His style transports you into the seen without notice. A secondary theme is understanding the nature of "truth" and its perspective intensive demands to understand. "Truth" matures. Shephard is keen enough to notice the nuance. Here’s a genuinely unique 5-star read that's on the way to best seller. Here is the story of raw yeoman work. Life. Death. The author has the master skill of the storyteller and forensic expert. It’s a rare combo to produce such a grippingly interesting read. Surely among the years top non-fiction reads.

I enjoyed this quick read. I find the subject matter interesting, and to hear of his life struggles with work and home life was relatable.

Dr. Shepherd gives his life to the world in many ways. Along with the rubber-neckers who can't resist the gore there are the few scientists, seekers of truth. Truth was a constant theme throughout, along with fairness and a will to progress and improve which seem almost ironic in the face of the actual "progress" that occurred later in his career. I award five stars as one who admires these values and the grace with which he pursued them and wrote of both his successes and his failures. Well done, Doc.

My interest in forensic pathology started when I was a little girl and the only reason I didn't pursue it as a career is because I later found out just how much schooling and training was involved. Nope, not for me. I found Dr. Shepherd to be such a likeable person and a gifted author. I loved the way he wove his own personal life into the book and the story kept me on edge from page one. I'm an avid reader who rarely gives five stars to any book, but this one certainly earned them.

Dr Shepherd offers an engrossing look at the lives of cadavers. First, I thank Dr Shepherd for various tidbits about death: that the abdomen decomposes first, and that babies are more likely to mummify than adults. Shepherd also knows how to write, such as this sentence about the 9/11 coroners’ setup in NYC: “The bodies were treated with great respect and the trailers were kept clean and well ordered, the Stars and Stripes a reminder of the state and the containers of flowers a reminder of the people.” Unfortunately, Shepherd frequently lapses into the passive voice, making for poor scene setting: “However, my denials were ignored and my protests taken as somehow incriminating.” Had Shepherd focused on his wordsmithing, I might understand how he became a forensic pathologist instead of a coroner (and why that difference matters). His quests to help corrections officers better learn to restrain prisoners might have formed a nice arc, rather than meriting a few pages at the outset and an occasional mention thrown in thereafter. And perhaps, told in stronger words, his description of the privatization of forensic pathologists in the UK would have made sense to this American. I can’t fathom how the UK would ever need fewer forensic pathologists. Also, he taught at university? When did this happen? Finally, his experiments with meat, pillows, and knife wounds also eventually fizzles out. Why on Earth did he not apply for funding to create a lab devoted to splatter science? And why didn’t he spare a chapter to explaining (with diagrams) the basic science of knife wounds and blood splatter? That aside, the Shepherd’s life removed comes full circle in the last 10%.

This book was an interesting read. The documentation as regards his professional work, his patients, their stories and the processes behind his work is fascinating and really interesting. The author is very good at explaining his involvement in prestigious cases, and new processes in his field and I learnt a lot from reading this book, but I would argue there's a lack of responsibility throughout the book when he writes about things that didn't work out so well (his marriage, some difficult cases, etc) I didn't particularly enjoy learning about his personal life, and the more he discussed it the more frustrated I felt with him (refer back to the ownership comment above). I also felt uncomfortable when he was discussing colleagues of his and felt like he used this opportunity to complain about them.

Dr Shepherd, I enjoyed this book thoroughly. You taught me so much about forensic pathology and how it affected you personally as a human. You took us along an amazing journey across your entire career and it was fascinating. I applaud you for sharing your experience with PTSD, depression and slowly coming out of the darkness. Thank you for such a great book. I crave more!

Dr Shepherd is an excellent writer. His memoir is a fascinating journey through a field of medicine that is often ignored, and a honest recounting of the toll dedication to one’s profession can take. Few physicians have written so humbly and with so much insight. As a physician, this book has made me reflect on my own career and how it affects my patients, my family and me. Even now, Professor Shepherd remains a teacher to other physicians.