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The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist

Unnatural Causes

THE TRUE CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR AND SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER 
 
 'One of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. Engrossing, a haunting page-turner. A book I could not put down' The Times, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 
 __________ 
 
 Meet the forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd. 
 
 He solves the mysteries of unexplained or sudden death. 
 
 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. 
 
 Unnatural Causes tells the story of not only the cases and bodies that have haunted him the most, but also how to live a life steeped in death. 
 
 Thoughtful, revealing, chilling and always unputdownable, if you liked All That Remains, War Doctor and This is Going to Hurt you'll love this. 
 
And catch Dr Richard Shepherd's new book THE SEVEN AGES OF DEATH out now 
 __________ 
 
 'Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice' Evening Standard 
 
 'A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating' Nigella Lawson 
 
 'An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 
 
 'Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel' Guardian 
 
 'Fascinating, gruesome yet engrossing' Richard and Judy, Daily Express 
 
 'Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate' Observer

Unnatural Causes gives a sense of the toll that dealing with so many dead bodies takes. It's a very human book that looks at the cases he has been involved with, from the Hungerford massacre to the murder of Stephen Lawrence

An unputdownable record of an extraordinary life

One of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. Engrossing, a haunting page-turner. A book I could not put down

Fabulous . . . The UK's top pathologist investigating high-profile deaths such as that of Diana, Princess of Wales

Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel

Professor Sue Black, author of All That Remains

A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology.  Human and fascinating

Partly an autobiography, but also a love letter to pathology. It's dignified and graceful and painfully honest about the human and emotional cost of so much time with the dead. Insightful, moving and mesmerising

This book holds within its pages the story of a life told with honesty, and this is partly why it is such a pleasure to read. A fascinating autobiography. Unputdownable.

A unique insight into a remarkable profession

His experiences, from morgue to court, are sometimes gruesome, always gripping

The true crime book of the year; a thoughtful, revealing, chilling and bizarre record of an extraordinary life and profession

He recounts experiences in a gripping memoir that melds the personal and professional

A brilliantly written and compelling account of a medical detective who has worked on many appalling crimes and human tragedies

Medical science books are rarely as gripping as Unnatural Causes. It's grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice.

Meet the forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd. 
 
He solves the mysteries of unexplained or sudden death. 
 
He's a detective in his own right. 
 
And he has one, ultimate and pressing question to answer: 
 
How did this person die? 
 
Unnatural Causes is an unputdownable record of an extraordinary life, a unique insight into a remarkable profession, and above all a powerful and reassuring testament to lives cut short.

Richard Shepherd

This sequel is more ruminative, more meditative . . . Full of sharp observations about what life and death do to the human body

Enlightening, strangely uplifting . . . Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective

Each chapter is like a finely crafted detective story in which he expands on the causes of death as revealed by the post mortem, or the hidden reasons that precipitated it. Some are ordinary, others extraordinary. Shepherd writes beautifully, and despite its subject, the book is very funny in parts

Deeply insightful . . . Shepherd is unflinching in his self-dissection

Fascinating. He has the ability to examine himself and other people with the same forensic eye that he applies to corpses - one of the reasons why his books feel so life-enhancing

Grippingly elegiac yet wonderfully life-affirming, full of pithy observations about the inexorability of death and the marvels of existence

One of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. Engrossing, a haunting page-turner. A book I could not put down

Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice

A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating

An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating

Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel

Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate

‘Every chapter is like a detective story’ Telegraph

Through 24 intriguing, never-before-told cases, Britain's top forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd takes us on a journey through life in death. From old to young, murder to misadventure, and from illness to accidental death, each body can reveal something: about human development, about mortality, about its owner's life story, and even about Shepherd himself. 
 From the bestselling author of Unnatural Causes comes a powerful, moving and above all reassuring book uncovering the secrets of death - how to understand it, postpone it, and, when our time comes (as it must), how to embrace it as the last great adventure.

Richard Shepherd

Praise for The Seven Ages of Death

This sequel is more ruminative, more meditative . . . Full of sharp observations about what life and death do to the human body

Enlightening, strangely uplifting . . . Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective

Each chapter is like a finely crafted detective story in which he expands on the causes of death as revealed by the post mortem, or the hidden reasons that precipitated it. Some are ordinary, others extraordi ...

This sequel is more ruminative, more meditative . . . Full of sharp observations about what life and death do to the human body

Enlightening, strangely uplifting . . . Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective

Each chapter is like a finely crafted detective story in which he expands on the causes of death as revealed by the post mortem, or the hidden reasons that precipitated it. Some are ordinary, others extraordi ...

This sequel is more ruminative, more meditative . . . Full of sharp observations about what life and death do to the human body

Enlightening, strangely uplifting . . . Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective

Each chapter is like a finely crafted detective story in which he expands on the causes of death as revealed by the post mortem, or the hidden reasons that precipitated it. Some are ordinary, others extraordi ...

Books by Richard Shepherd

Articles featuring Richard Shepherd

Books with ideas that could change your life

Videos

Top Forensic Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd breaks down autopsy scenes in film & TV

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