A review by bookishwelshie
All That Remains by Sue Black

5.0

It proved to be a good choice to read All That Remains: A Life In Death a chapter at a time between my other reads. As even though I have an interest in this topic of Forensic Anthropology, this subject can get heavy, especially if one is dealing with their own grief. It is so important that the process of death isn’t mystified though, and topics surrounding death are talked about, and more normalised. As it is the one certainty for us all in life.

”To be perfectly honest, I have never been spooked by the dead. It is the living who terrify me. The dead are much more predictable and co-operative.”

The book begins quite slowly, describing the author Sue Black’s life growing up in Inverness and Dundee, and what sparked her interests in Forensic Anthropology and Anatomy. Leading to her getting a career in this field.

The pace of the book picks up during the chapters where she talks about her work, of course. She discusses cold cases of human remains that had been found, but yet to be identified. The main unsolved case highlighted here is ’The Man from Balmore’. At the end, there are further details about this case, including photographs of the clothing he was wearing, incase anybody out there has any further information. I think it’s human nature to be fascinated by unsolved mysteries such as this. 

The processes of body decomposition, and of as death as a whole, are discussed in length. Also, there is a lot in here about donating the body to science after death. Sue expresses how she wishes for her body to be donated to the University of Dundee, but her husband is against it. There are some elderly people who visit the University wanting to donate their bodies once they pass away, but who want to view the cadavers there first so they can see the process themselves of what will happen to their bodies.

Overall, this is filled with interesting information, told with an intellectual perspective - both academically and emotionally - which is good when surrounding the topics covered in here.

Books about death do bring me a sense of comfort, and I will most definitely be reading more in the future, as I have done previously. They are always insightful and well-written.

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