calliope722's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Very interesting book.
Very cool and interesting cases. 
The author was on the forefront of the most well-known cases in the UK and it is inspiring.

The writer's love of forensic pathology is clear and I appreciate the candid way in which he talks about his mental health 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

azsm's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

2.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

julesreadsstuff's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

grace_9613's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

absolutely fascinating memoir. Dr Shepherd has been involved in managing the aftermath of so many criminal cases and mass disasters throughout his career and still holds empathy and respect for all of the victims. Truly moving read.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pageswithamber's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nojerama's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

A follow up from reading Beyond The Tape by Dr Marie Cassidy last year. A fascinating book that captivated me from the get go, and the more reflective tone and focus on Dr Shepherd's mental health was an interesting perspective to pair alongside the clinical case studies. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alisonannk's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

_shonahenderson's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

heyitsashleigh's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Unnatural Causes tells the life story of Dr Richard Shepherd, an experienced forensic pathologist. The book describes a lot of past cases of Dr Shepherd's, many of which are very harrowing and sad, including cases of infanticide, femicide and deaths as a result of police brutality, mass homicide or man-made disasters. It also covers some famous cases such as the deaths of Stephen Lawrence, Rachel Nickell and Princess Diana. As you can imagine, this work took a huge toll on Dr Shepherd's mental health and personal life, and this is covered in the book too. 

I found this book to be a really interesting insight into lots of things - the workings of the human body for one, and the process of a post-mortem and the work of pathologists. But I also found it interesting in its descriptions of how some of the systematic failures we have experienced (and continue to experience) in society have contributed to the deaths of many people. How lack of training on how to safely restrain people has led to police officers suffocating detainees (including the part race plays in this); how previously held attitudes towards child protection issues have led to the unexplained deaths of babies being largely ignored, meaning parents go on to inflict abuse on future children; and how human error and lack of adequate safety procedures has led to hundreds of people being killed in transport disasters. 

Overall I enjoyed this book. I found it a bit too graphic and technical in parts, but I found it really thought provoking on a lot of important topics. Also I love a good murder mystery so that element came into play throughout which was great! 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

eliel's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings