Teasing Secrets from the Dead : My Investigations at America's Most Infamous Crime Scenes

Rating:
Summary: Personal journey and scientific triumph
Review: Emily Craig started her career as a medical illustrator, working at a top orthopedic clinic. Significant success led to her assisting on a forensic problem and, wholly intrigued, she went back to school in her early 40s and became one of the nation's leading forensic investigators.

She has worked on "small" crimes (she is chief forensic anthropologist for Kentucky) and big - establishing, for example, the truth about what happened at Waco.

The book can be very clinical and isn't for the faint of heart. But Craig tells her tales with a blend of scientific integrity and enormous compassion, proving and entertaining and enlightening read.

Rating:
Summary: Self-Aggrandizing Pap
Review: Emily Craig's book is about Emily Craig mostly, with some interesting tidbits about famous cases she's work on thrown in to sell it. She spends most of the pages talking about herself, what a great artist and scientist she is, how amazed everyone is at her genius, etc. Very tiresome. I guess she works mostly in a man's world (Kentucky crime scenes) and has developed some twisted ways of thinking of herself to deal with it. I'd hate to be her therapist.

Biggest problem with this book is that there is *very little* about crime or criminals. She describes only her own role, working on bones and their treatment at crime scenes, but the reader never finds out anything about the crimes!! If you like CSI or New Detectives, you will HATE this book.

The final indignation is the last chapter where she describes her weeks in the morgue at ground zero in NYC. The whole chapter is about Doctor Craig (have you ever met someone who was not a medical doctor and who insisted on being called Doctor who was other than an insecure blowhard?) and how important she is, supervising the night shift and cleverly identifying a pork chop in a body bag. Spare me.

Rating:
Summary: ZERO stars for this ego trip
Review: Emily Craig's egotism was a mild distraction during the first few chapters, but I kept reading hoping for improvement. Midway through the book it was just plain irritating. By the end of the book it was infuriating! Chapter after chapter I was reminded (by DOCTOR Craig herself) how talented, dedicated, and extraordinary DOCTOR Craig is.... uhg! Enough. These adjectives are nice compliments from someone other than YOURSELF.

The most insulting part of this book was the final chapter dealing with DOCTOR Craig's participation in the post-September 11th recovery/identification. Talk about delusions of grandeur. Someone should impress upon DOCTOR Craig the fact that she was a small (replacable) part of the monumental efforts put forth therein New York. Her self-serving discription of her post 9/11 role was an insult to the others who worked along side her. Even when she is praising fellow professionals, it is nauseatingly phoney.

I usually enjoy crime/forensic non-fiction works. "Teasing" had some interesting anthropology/autopssy moments. But they were overshadowed by DOCTOR CRAIG'S ego.

I appreciate a strong, educated professional woman. But not DOCTOR Craig, I think DOCTOR Craig appreciates herself enough for the rest of us!

Two last points: Does DOCTOR Criag really believe that her dying father held on to precious life until she had completed her post 9/11 work? Aand what kind of woman leaves her dog in a kennel for more than a month?

Please do not buy this book, it will only further inflate DOCTOR Craig's already ENORMOUS EGO!

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating--and entertaining--read!
Review: Emily Craig's story is both very personal and very universal. She began to study forensic anthropology late in life and has since gone on to become one of the field's most respected scientists. Her stories from crime scenes like Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center are compusively readable, not only because of the science and detective work involved, but also because they are a personal story and Dr. Craig is honest about her emotional involvement in the work. There are also some other great stories from her case files--as the state forensic anthropologist for Kentucky, she often runs across many southern gothic-seeming murder cases. Just those alone are enough for a couple good episodes of Law and Order or CSI. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good true crime read or a compelling read about the science of forensics. It's well-written and just as entertaining as a TV show.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!!
Review: Emily's "tour of duty" in the forensic world have indeed been amazingly described in "Teasing Secrets from the Dead"...

It will be a fascinating and informative read for both the professional and the layman alike...brought to you by one of the BEST in the field. Emily brings the mysterious forensic world to the human level for all to understand and admire.

Amazingly detailed descriptions...as seen through the caring eyes of a lady with a passion for the cause.

-Todd Matthews
Media Director for
DoeNetwork
OutpostForHope


Rating:
Summary: NOT A BOOK FOR THE FAINT AT HEART
Review: Have you ever heard of a forensic anthropologist? This autobiography gives you great insight as to the training and the complex duties of many specialties comprising crime detection as to death by devious means. This author is able to determine much information looking at bones and the surrounding area where they are found and usually determining many facts about the person that used to be. Believe it or not there is intuition involved and it is always backed up by scientific proof. An interesting, though somewhat gory story...in parts, life rundown showing of what you can accomplish when you just love what you do! 'Tis amazing what can be determined by just looking at a human bone.

Rating:
Summary: A waste of time and money.
Review: I bought the book, read it, and am clueless as to how anyone can rate it higher than one star. It fails to hold your attention, I found myself skimming ahead to hopefully find something interesting, and I wanted to throw it across the room every time Emily Craig reminds the reader what a marvel she is. Plus it's full of awful composition. ...

Rating:
Summary: a true-life story that makes for great reading!
Review: I was really caught up in this book from the moment I started reading it. Emily Craig has had an amazing career and she tells her story in a way that sucks the reader right in. There are some absolutely fascinating stories from her work in Kentucky on cases you've never heard of, as well as groundbreaking revelations from major crime scenes like Oklahoma City and the Branch Davidian compound at Waco. This is a woman who has really made a name for herself as a scientist and investigator, and for my money, she has one of the most interesting--and important--jobs in the world.

I highly recommend Teasing Secrets from the Dead. If you like true crime, or TV shows like Cold Case or CSI, you'll enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time and money
Review: The Waco and Oklahoma City chapters are the best known cases in this book, with Waco being about the longest as well.
This book is full of government propaganda about the Waco situation. Its the exact same version of events the government gives. This lady toes the government line as tightly as you can get.She claims to have been an independent investigator but the book is rife with bias and prejudices against the Branch Davidians.I felt like I was reading an official government publication.And contrary to her claims she did NOT put the mystery of an unmatched leg in OK. City to rest once and for all.Yes, 2 legs were mixed up and an African American girl who died in the bombing was buried with the wrong leg and she helped solve that, but there is still the leg of a white male that is still unmatched to anyone and is still a mystery! Guess she didn't want to publicize that fact in her book as thats not something the government to this day can come up with a believable explanation for. Could it belong to another bomber? Well, the feds sure wouldn't admit that!
I was thoroughly unimpressed with this book. Its glowing reviews puzzle me. The people who wrote them must not know anything about Waco except the official story or not much about Waco period.


Rating:
Summary: Teasing Secrets From The Dead
Review: There's really a short list of books I can name that have touched my life in a significant and interesting way over the course of twenty some years. This is one of them.

Ms. Craig's enormous capacity for empathy and meticulous attention to details along with her down-to-earth persona, make this book more than simply a "good read."

She's portrayed the many experiences in her life in such a way that as the reader, I'm right there with her. I cried when she cried and laughed out loud about the pork chop bone, for example.

I felt her struggles, desires, epiphanies, frustrations and fears. Not only did I feel them, but she has a way that makes me really care about the outcomes to the many cases and experiences she's encountered.

It's interesting, educational, touching, and fascinating. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in forensic science, especially anthropology. As well as anyone interested in behind the scenes glimpses of 9/11, Waco, Oklahoma City and the less sensationalized instances of every day crime.

A remarkable life that's lead to remarkable results and an outstanding accounting in this book. Keep up the great work Ms. Craig!