A fascinating story of a life lived in the shadow of death, from both personal and professional perspectives. and the impact on himself, his family, the investigations he helps and the answers that only someone as dedicated and determined as he is, can.

I fear I may have requested this book twice as I'm sure i have reviewed it previously. I think i found it patronizing and dull considering the author and the topic. Sorry.

As someone who doesn't read non-fiction I have to say this book was very interesting and I would highly recommend to anybody. Very well written with lots of information and a chance to learn more about the extraordinary work people like Dr Richard Shephard do

Fantastic and unique book from such a intriguing and compelling perspective! I would read more from the author!

Great interesting read
Great detail, kept me reading. Privacy for the actual people kept well and still the stories and details were thorough enough. Really enjoyed this brilliant insight into the role

I think that the students in our school library need to hear lots of diverse voices and read stories and lives of many different kinds of people and experiences. When I inherited the library it was an incredibly sanitised space with only 'school readers' and project books on 'the railways' etc. Buying in books that will appeal to the whole range of our readers with diverse voices, eclectic and fascinating subject matter, and topics that will intrigue and fascinate them was incredibly important to me.
This is a book that I think our senior readers will enjoy very much indeed - not just because it's well written with an arresting voice that will really keep them reading and about a fascinating topic - but it's also a book that doesn't feel worthy or improving, it doesn't scream 'school library and treats them like young reading adults who have the right to explore a range of modern diverse reads that will grip and intrigue them and ensure that reading isn't something that they are just forced to do for their English project - this was a solid ten out of ten for me and I'm hoping that our students are as gripped and caught up in it as I was. It was one that I stayed up far too late reading and one that I'll be recommending to the staff as well as our senior students - thank you so much for the chance to read and review; I really loved it and can't wait to discuss it with some of our seniors once they've read it too!

A brutally honest and detailed account of this highly professional and experienced forensic pathologist, the book touches on some very serious subjects; mental health, PTSD, death and trauma. Also dealing with the triggers that lead Richard Shepard to realise that he was suffering from PTSD from the years of dealing with many of the most horrific and traumatic cases that hit the news in the latter part of the 20th century, incidents that singly would be enough to terrify anyone, yet Richard Shepard dealt with dozens of them without a single thought for his own mental health.

This is an excellent and well written memoir.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. Dr Shepherd is a supremely intelligent man who not only is an exceptional forensic pathologist but also a great author. His trials and tribulations in the world of pathology were not only interesting but touching, and I have nothing but admiration for his 40 years of unimaginably difficult, but utterly necessary, work.

Thank you Netgalley for the review copy of this book.

Found this book completely fascinating. I had no idea what forensic scientists have to go through and what conditions they have to fight through in society. Full of detail with a little humour thrown in where he can, Richard Shepherd brought his work to life (sorry for the pun). Don't often go back to non-fiction books but this one I will. Purchased a copy for my college library and recommending to everyone - it has gone out numerous times already.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Despite the subject matter, this was an enjoyable read. It was interesting and engaging, insightful and considered, in parts harrowing and in others fascinating without being in the least bit sensationalist or gratuitous. A lot of its appeal is due to the breezy and forthright writing style that, when necessary, adopts just the right level of gravitas without becoming pompous or ghoulishly indulgent. It has a nice balance between the author's private life, his career path as well as the development of forensic pathology in general and the discussion of individual cases and several well-known disasters. The author conveys the sense of horror and wasted life very well especially when discussing emotive and distressing cases such as Hungerford, the Clapham rail disaster and the Bali bombings. I also enjoyed the author's ruminations on the nature of truth and his conviction that a dead body is neither gross nor scary. His respect for the dead and his assertion that bodies "tell their truths" is strangely reassuring. Recommended.

I am a fan of medical memoirs and find it fascinating to read about the personality and skills required to make a success of a career so intimately linked to trauma and death.


Shepherd qualified as a doctor in 1977 and completed his postgraduate training as a forensic pathologist in 1987. During the course of his career he has performed over 23,000 post-mortems including victims of crime, natural disasters, accidents and terrorism.


Shepherd discusses death as a process, detailing the changes that happen to a body, the manner in which post-mortems explore injuries and disease to establish cause of death etc but alongside the day job he weaves in the impact on him, colleagues and his family. 


Shepherd notes that unlike his fascination, some of the police officers required to be present at the mortuary and observe his role experience shock and revulsion. In an effort to reduce the impact he decides to treat a post-mortem as a learning experience, narrating his actions as he goes in the hope that knowledge can offer a way to view the situation as a chance to solve a puzzle rather than a traumatic experience.


Despite compassion for others, Shepherd is less kind to himself. He is candid about the negative impact that resulted from decades of cultivating a professional detachment and the dangers of failing to address his own emotions. He also ponders the nature of truth, showing how his initial idealism and enthusiasm is impacted by growing experience, appearing in court as expert witness and being bruised by the adversarial nature of our criminal justice system, and advances in scientific techniques.


I found this to be a intriguing insight into a specialist job, a study of humanity, an exploration of truth, an honest portrait of mental illness, and an example of the way the criminal justice system works. Shepherd discusses bereavement, trauma, truth, criminality and dedication, and in doing so he has presented a snapshot of Britain in late 20th century.

Wow, what a fabulous insight into the work done by Dr Richard Shepherd and a behind the scenes glimpse of many of the tragedies we have learnt of and heard about on the news. I found this book very interesting and didn't want to put it down.

This was a super fascinating book about the journey that the UK's most famous forensic pathologist took. It is a little gruesome in parts, so be warned. However it is so interesting to understand the story about those who uncover the mysteries of death. I would really recommend this book.

A really interesting read about death and pathology but told in a really accessible way.
Although it does feature tough subject matter it is very readable.

Educational, interesting, attention-grabbing.

Great read.

It took me two attempts to get into this book. At first I stopped half way as I felt it was too much about Dr Sheppard's own life rather than actual stories about cases. After much encouragement from a few people I tried again and realised the book really took off a few pages after where I had stopped. I really enjoyed the second half of the book and it was so interesting to hear about the serious and devastating cases he was involved in. Very glad I took a 2nd chance on this one.

Dear Penguin.
Thank you for the opportunity of reading and reviewing this title.
Unfortunately, I'm returning a DNF @ 50%, my reasons being that I just didn't feel engaged by this book and it was too slow for me. I didn't find myself reaching for it. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right head space as I know that others have loved it. For this reason, I won't be writing a full review and I won't be sharing my thoughts on social media.
Thanks again for the copy that you sent to me.
Kim

I wanted to be a pathologist when I was younger and while I really enjoyed this book and found it fascinating I now realise I never would have made it 😬

Dr Richard shepherd writes about the highs and lows of being a top forensic pathologist and I have been fascinated, intrigued and horrified in equal measures! I loved reading about cases I’ve heard about from another perspective. Hungerford, Stephen Lawrence , princess Diana just to name a few!
I also enjoyed hearing about the processes and procedures and I found it very interesting seeing how those have changed over the years. It was also eye opening to see how the job affected his life.
Would 100% recommend for anybody wanting to look behind the curtain and see what actually happens during post-mortems and beyond.

A fascinating look at some of the most high profile cases of this lead forensic pathologist. And the effect his consuming dedication to his career had on his marriage, family and his own personal health.
Told in a sympathetic manner which many will find comforting it is a very touching read.
Most readers I am sure will take some new knowledge from the peek in to forensic pathology that Dr Shepherd gives us with his extensive expertise in this field.
A very unique and interesting account.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for honest review.

Meet the forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd. A detective in his own right, he must solve the mystery of sudden and unexplained deaths. He has performed over 23,000 autopsies, including some of the most high-profile cases of recent times; the Hungerford Massacre, the Princess Diana inquiry, and 9/11. He has faced serial killers, natural disaster, ‘perfect murders’ and freak accidents. His evidence has put killers behind bars, freed the innocent, and turned open-and-shut cases on their heads. Yet all this has come at a huge personal cost.

What a read this is! I am going to be recommending this to many people and am disappointed that it took me so long to pick this up. Shepherd details his professional life with great care and sensitivity and I found it incredibly informative and so interesting, I cannot stress how interesting this was and how much I learnt reading this. Alongside this, Shepherd details his personal life and it is clear to see how his job impacted this, as well as helping to flesh out Shepherd as a person, it really assisted me in developing an understanding of him, and what a life he has led, interesting yes but incredibly intense as well.

This is pretty obvious but I will say it anyway, clearly there are scenes that if you are squeamish you are not going to enjoy but if you can push past this you will be rewarded, or just do not read this. Shepherd has worked a lot of high profile cases and the way he describes them is very powerful, his writing on the Marchioness disaster was particularly powerful and the words will stay with me for a long time. All of Shepherd’s cases are fascinating and I loved getting the chance to delve into his work and soak up everything he describes. I only hope Shepherd writes more, he has a knack for accessible, beautifully written anecdotes that are highly informative as well.

‘Unnatural Causes’ is my new obsession, I absolutely loved this book and really recommend you to read it. This is informative, fascinating and very realistic. There is something for everyone in this highly addictive read and I urge you to give it a try.