Autopsy: Life in the trenches with a forensic pathologist in Africa

by Ryan Blumenthal

Overview

As a medical detective of the modern world, forensic pathologist Ryan Blumenthal's chief goal is to bring perpetrators to justice. He has performed thousands of autopsies, which have helped bring numerous criminals to book. In Autopsy he covers the hard lessons learnt as a rookie pathologist, as well as some of the most unusual cases he's encountered. During his career, for example, he has dealt with high-profile deaths, mass disasters, death by lightning and people killed by African wildlife. Blumenthal takes the reader behind the scenes at the mortuary, describing a typical autopsy and the instruments of the trade. He also shares a few trade secrets, like how to establish when a suicide is more likely to be a homicide. Even though they cannot speak, the dead have a lot to say – and Blumenthal is there to listen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781776190195
Publisher:	Jonathan Ball
Publication date:	08/12/2020
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

RYAN BLUMENTHAL is a forensic pathologist at one of South Africa’s leading universities. He has published widely in the fields of lightning, suicide and other areas involving the pathology of trauma. He has been involved in the publication of numerous articles and textbooks. His chief mission in life is to help advance forensic pathology services both nationally and internationally. Ryan lives in Pretoria.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

1 So you want to be a forensic pathologist? 13

2 My last living patient 25

3 Autopsies and exhumations 36

4 Time since death 52

5 African wildlife deaths 63

6 Lightning and environmental deaths 78

7 Every contact leaves a trace 89

8 Risking life for death 99

9 Ways of dying, part I 112

10 Ways of dying, part II 127

11 Fighting crime with science 138

12 The perfect murder … 149

13 Animals and death 161

14 Life in the witness box 171

15 On equality in death 177

16 The Lindy Effect and forensics 184

17 Ten lessons for the living from the dead 190

18 On death and dying 204

Acknowledgements 214

Glossary 215

Notes 219

About the author 224