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Rating: 
Summary: Geez it's awfully thin...
Review: This is the first book in the Forensic Pathology: Causes of Death Atlas series. My first thought when this arrived in the mail was geez it's awfully thin. The entire book is 112 pages. Having looked through the whole thing my opinion is that for $19.95 this would be a great book, unfortunately it's $35.00. In the first chapter we have fourteen pages of text discussing time of death determination and decomposition. The text is not footnoted and there is no list of references or supplemental reading. The fourteen pages of text are followed by 71 pages of black-and-white photographs. The photographs would be far more useful if they were in color. One photograph in particular notes that one of the first signs of decomposition is green discoloration of the skin, especially in the abdomen. Unfortunately without a color plate none of these signs are visible in the photograph. The remaining photographs are of average quality but they do they do a good job of depicting various manner of death and decomposition subjects. The second chapter on identification has seven pages of text and 24 pages of photographs. Chapter two includes nine references. Chapter three consists of four pages containing three case studies. The extensive collection of photographs used in the book cannot alone justify its cost. Were the photographs in color, or their production value of higher it might make a difference. I would recommend the book for those of you that may be visual thinkers. However, for more in depth treatment I would recommend Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal investigation of Death which covers a far greater variety of death related issues and is more than worth it's somewhat higher price.
Rating:
Summary: Geez it's awfully thin...
Review: This is the first book in the Forensic Pathology: Causes of Death Atlas series. My first thought when this arrived in the mail was geez it's awfully thin. The entire book is 112 pages. Having looked through the whole thing my opinion is that for $19.95 this would be a great book, unfortunately it's $35.00. In the first chapter we have fourteen pages of text discussing time of death determination and decomposition. The text is not footnoted and there is no list of references or supplemental reading. The fourteen pages of text are followed by 71 pages of black-and-white photographs. The photographs would be far more useful if they were in color. One photograph in particular notes that one of the first signs of decomposition is green discoloration of the skin, especially in the abdomen. Unfortunately without a color plate none of these signs are visible in the photograph. The remaining photographs are of average quality but they do they do a good job of depicting various manner of death and decomposition subjects. The second chapter on identification has seven pages of text and 24 pages of photographs. Chapter two includes nine references. Chapter three consists of four pages containing three case studies. The extensive collection of photographs used in the book cannot alone justify its cost. Were the photographs in color, or their production value of higher it might make a difference. I would recommend the book for those of you that may be visual thinkers. However, for more in depth treatment I would recommend Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal investigation of Death which covers a far greater variety of death related issues and is more than worth it's somewhat higher price.
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