Dead Reckoning - by Michael Baden & Marion Roach (Paperback)

About the Book

Considered one of the world's leading pathologists, Baden is host of the popular program "Autopsy" on HBO. Along with award-winning writer Roach, Dr. Baden, takes readers on a you-are-there tour of the morgue to demonstrate how the advances in forensic science are helping to solve crimes as never before.

Book Synopsis

For most people, the forensic sciences are something reported on the news when a crime is solved through DNA evidence, or used as a plot twist for television shows. But behind the crime-scene tape and the doors of the morgue is a world never seen by the public. Now famed pathologist and medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden and award-winning writer Marion Roach take readers into the laboratory, above the autopsy table, onto the witness stand and out in the field to show how advances in forensic science can solve crucial questions in a criminal case, often with startling accuracy.
Baden and Roach reveal how a key clue to the killer of Nicole Brown Simpson was lost when her body was moved to the morgue, and why the JonBenet Ramsey case can never be solved. They show how no clue is too small to be analyzed and no case too old to be reopened. Full of behind-the-scenes drama and surprising revelations, Dead Reckoning is a fascinating look at how forensic science is changing the way we convict the guilty and free the innocent.

Review Quotes

Ann Rule author of "And Never Let Her Go" and "The Stranger Beside Me" Few readers know what a medical examiner's world is really like. Now they will. The secrets of the dead and the way Dr. Baden discovers them taught me so much that I never knew -- even after decades as a true crime writer. "Dead Reckoning" is like no other book you've ever read. Intensely readable! Marvelous!

Jeffrey Toobin author of "Too Close to Call: The 36-Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election" Yuck! Gross! But, especially, gee whiz! Michael Baden can make dead bodies say more than most talk-show guests. "Dead Reckoning" is a completely fascinating study of modern pathology, and Baden-on-autopsies never fails to astonish, educate, and (I swear) entertain.

Kathy Reichs author of "Deadly Decisions" Candid as a Y-incision. "Dead Reckoning" describes forensic science in vivid, living color.

Patricia Cornwell If you've ever wanted to explore the mind of a brilliant chief medical examiner and wander through the secret rooms of the morgue with their gleaming stainless steel tables and tragic tales of naked truth, this is your chance. Dr. Baden is honest, relentless -- simply one of the best!

Tracy Kidder This book is about the work of one of our era's foremost forensic pathologists. It is a fascinating window into the world of the medical detective.

Vernon J. Geberth, M.S., M.P.S. author of "Practical Homicide Investigation: Tactics, Procedures, and Forensic Techniques" (3rd edition) "Dead Reckoning" is a must-read for anyone who has a passionate enthusiasm for forensic science and its application to the investigative process. A captivating read.

William Kennedy Marion Roach and Michael Baden have written a genuinely fascinating and entertaining book of tales that reveal just how garrulous the dead really are. This is the most fun you'll ever have in the morgue.

About the Author

Michael Baden, M.D., was the chief medical examiner of New York City for more than twenty-five years. He is a forensic pathologist and currently codirector of the New York State Police Medico-Legal Investigation Unit. He is the host of the popular HBO series Autopsy and is the author of a previous book, Unnatural Death. He lives in New York City with his wife and three children.