Unnatural Causes
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Narrated by:
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Dr Richard Shepherd
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Written by:
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Dr Richard Shepherd
About this listen
Meet the forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd, in the true crime book of the year - brought to you by Penguin.
'The dead do not hide the truth and they never lie. Through me the dead can speak....'
He solves the mysteries of unexplained or sudden death.
He has performed over 23,000 autopsies, including investigating 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 disasters, '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.
Written and narrated by Dr Richard Shepherd, 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.
©2018 Dr Richard Shepherd (P)2018 Penguin AudioYou may also enjoy...
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narration ruined it for me
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Dame Sue Black is an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist. She has lived her life eye to eye with the Grim Reaper, and she writes vividly about it in this book, which is part primer on the basics of identifying human remains, part frank memoir of a woman whose first paying job as a schoolgirl was to apprentice in a butcher shop, and part no-nonsense but deeply humane introduction to the reality of death in our lives. It is a treat for CSI junkies, murder mystery and thriller fans, and anyone seeking a clear-eyed guide to a subject that touches us all.
-
-
narration ruined it for me
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Written by: Sue Black
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Working Stiff
- Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
- Written by: Judy Melinek MD, T. J. Mitchell
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- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
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Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband and their toddler holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation-performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, and counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking listeners behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple.
-
-
Wish it had never ended
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Written by: Judy Melinek MD, and others
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The Seven Ages of Death
- A Forensic Pathologist’s Journey Through Life
- Written by: Dr Richard Shepherd
- Narrated by: Dr Richard Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What can death teach us about life? Conducting many thousands of post-mortems has given Dr Richard Shepherd the opportunity to examine death at every stage of life. Each autopsy is its own unique investigation, providing evidence of how, through life, the risks to us ebb and flow. From old to young, from murder to misadventure and from illness to accidental death, each body has taught him something: about human development, about mortality, about its owner's life story, about justice and even about himself.
Written by: Dr Richard Shepherd
-
All the Living and the Dead
- From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
- Written by: Hayley Campbell
- Narrated by: Hayley Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.
-
-
Couldn't "put it down"!!
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Written by: Hayley Campbell
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Complications
- A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
- Written by: Atul Gawande
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
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-
-
A very interesting insight into medicine
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Written by: Atul Gawande
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- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Ken Holmes worked in the Marin County Coroner's Office for 36 years, starting as a death investigator and ending as the three-term, elected coroner. As he grew into the job - which is different from what is depicted on television - Holmes learned a variety of skills, from finding hidden clues at death scenes, interviewing witnesses effectively, managing bystanders and reporters, preparing testimony for court, to notifying families of a death with sensitivity and compassion.
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Overall
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Performance
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In her memoir All That Remains, internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist Dame Sue Black recounted her life lived eye to eye with the Grim Reaper. During the course of it, she offered a primer on the basics of identifying human remains, plenty of insights into the fascinating processes of death, and a sober, compassionate understanding of its inescapable presence in our existence. Now in this book, Black builds on that memoir, taking us on a guided tour of the human skeleton and explaining how each person's life history is revealed in their bones.
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on and on
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Performance
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In this absorbing narrative, Dr. Chris Honey, an accomplished neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital, weaves his personal journey together with case studies that reflect the thrill of scientific discovery and the limitations of medicine. Operating on a terminally ill child amid an Ebola outbreak in Liberia, he questions his preconceptions about what it means to "win" against a disease. Reflecting on his own path into neurosurgery, he brings to life a relatively new, high stakes field of medicine—one that historically demanded emotional detachment and often attracts extreme personalities
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Michelle Williams, an attractive young woman with close family ties and an active social life, describes her first extraordinary year in her unusual new job as a mortuary technician. It’s a year in which, with innate good humour, she encounters death at its most tragic, bizarre, and hilarious. Her tale, neither gruesome nor sad, is enlivened by a range of colourful and eccentric characters, from pathologists and coroners to hospital porters and undertakers, giving us a glimpse of life - and death - that few of us will ever experience.
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Not for the squeamish
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Stiff
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- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
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Interesting, respectful yet funny
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Written by: Mary Roach
What the critics say
"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." (Obersver)
What listeners say about Unnatural Causes
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Emma
- 2019-11-10
Exceptional
I couldn't stop listening. This book was truly fantastic look into the life of forensic pathology and I highly recommend it to those who even have the slightest interest in death.
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- Paul B
- 2022-01-12
Very good book
At the beginning I wanted to return it. After I could t and I got to the second chapter it started getting good. He actually goes into details which is great. He keeps you interested throughout the book.
I recommend it.
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- Raina Mermaid
- 2021-07-22
I Wish He Wrote More
I bought this on a whim and wow it was SO interesting, without being too graphic or shocking. I loved hearing about how his work and personal life overlapped, and it was interesting to hear about his PTSD struggle. I learned so much. I wish he had more books on audible. He's also a great narrator.
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- Anonymous User
- 2023-08-03
A must read!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this informative and entertaining book. Dr. Shepherd provides information about what happens when one dies ‘unexpectedly’ as well as the stories behind the cases he worked on throughout his illustrious career. It was certainly book that I had trouble putting down and would highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject matter.
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- C.Beer
- 2024-03-28
A Very Personal Story, Surprisingly
I loved that Dr. Richard Shepard read his own audiobook - it was evident that he added a lot more meaning behind the words because they were his own.
Then book itself is well-written, interesting, and it covers some tough cases (i.e., shipwreck victims, emergency services, SIDS infants, etc.). That was astoundingly fascinating, expressed in respectful ways, and well worth a listen.
At the risk of sounding insensitive, I wasn't prepared for the amount of personal narrative there was - surrounding his family dynamics and personal journey of self-discovery (in terms of his patterns and brief mention of PTSD). But, we're all allowed a way to express ourselves.
Definitely worth the time, but know it can be a touch personal.
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- Angela
- 2022-12-17
Excellent book
Entertaining, love this story and all the details about different cases, great book! Thanks for sharing your life long work.
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- Not like the pictures
- 2023-05-05
Amazing
Dr Shepherd doesn’t shy away from how hard working with the dead actually is on your mental health. The book is well written and his narration is outstanding.
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