Ooh, something interesting and a wee bit gripping to chuck on in the background while you work...? Hm. Sort of, but instead of a casual listen, this one manages to grip, thrill, devastate, and enthral. There's very little casual about it at all. I found myself intermittently stopping what I was doing today to sit beside the radio and listen a touch more closely. John Sackville is a silky-smooth Derek Tremain. His voice, and his steady reading style, are perfectly suited to what is essentially a pathologist's textbook sharply detailing some of the most frightening and fascinating bodily woes. Even while describing horrific details of his work, his tones are calm and respectful. (Is it possible he got through this without a gasp or two!?) ... Kim Hicks is equally good as Pauline Tremain, and the back and forth within their chapters here creates an intriguing picture of a husband and wife team with a one heck of a psychologically taxing job. Readers with an interest in crime and criminal detection will love this, as well as those fascinated by the history of forensic science. This is all about the body: the physical workings of the flesh, the blood, the brain, and more, and how the behaviour of our internals can reveal secrets and create mysteries. An excellent day's listening.

I've always had an interest in forensics and the process of crime solving. This is another book that is a must read for anyone who is similarly inclined. With a story woven with facts, this book takes you on an elegant path through the author's professional lives. Written and read with wit and genuine passion, both the book itself and the narration are superb.

I received an advance copy of this audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As someone with an interest in true crime I was intrigued by this title and decided to give it a listen. The book follows the careers of a couple who work in forensic pathology over several decades, with frequent in depth explanations of the various processes they use.

This book goes into significant amounts of detail and is not one for anyone remotely squeamish. I found some of the information given interesting but ultimately did not particularly enjoy the book. This may be because I am more interested in the psychological aspects of crime, though I did struggle with the pacing of the book and some of the views shared by the authors, which felt a little dated.

I’d recommend this book to those particularly interested in the physical side of crime but would otherwise give it a miss.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm a quite a crime junkie and this book just fascinated me, I felt like I was able to learn so much about how forensic science works through the eyes of two different positions, from a medical view and a secretarial views because it's obvious that both positions are just as important to get everything done in an efficient way. The book goes into brilliant detail without getting too gory and putting me off. A wonderful book that I would strongly recommend.

This is more so a memoir of the two authors than a behind-the-scenes of forensic workers. I was expecting in depth talk about cases and insights on how they were solved...this was not that. This was more a telling of how the authors came to be in the professions they have. I was a bit disappointed as this is not what I was expecting going in to the book (more a true crime casebook collection or something more like Mindhunter).

I wanted more of the in depth analyses of the cases than what we got, or more of them - there was a few of these in the last third of the book.

There was a lot of "extra" information from both authors that had nothing to do with pathology. There was a few tangents about things of no interest (I don't need to know you wore mini skirts and stilettos to work...). The authors found need to mention the IRA as a threat multiple times during the book...but it wasn't relevant. It was just "the IRA was a threat but here's something that has nothing to do with them".

Specifically for the audiobook - I enjoyed both narrators.
I enjoyed the use of dual narrators for the dual POVs of the book.

I was very excited to get my hands on this audiobook and loved the idea of hearing from a married couple within the forensic pathology field. The first part of the book was fascinating, especially Derek's sections. I found the sections from Pauline quite dull in comparison with a lot of extra unneeded and irrelevant information. I ended up switching back and forth between the audiobook and the kindle version. This helped as there was photo's included in the kindle book. Overall an interesting book/audiobook for people who are interested in the subject but don't know a lot already.

I absolutely loved this book. It took me back to my day's in the 80's when I started as a junior technician. Being taken to lunch and then onto the museum. Obviously the intent was so I would see my lunch again, however it just made me fall in love with the subject. Being based just round from the mortuary we often got to know the staff in there. The people the Tremain's wrote about I saw in the people I knew. I loved their memories' as it was exactly as the NHS was in those days.

They have managed to make their story interesting and humorous. (Patricia's skirt incident and Derek's missing maggots). Loved the narrators on the audiobook.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to listern to this book.

*Listened to the via Audiobook*
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in review for an honest opinion.
I picked this as I like these kind of stories and always reading about cadavers and pathology in fiction.
I thought this would be interesting, I found it gripping in places and liked how it was in places that I knew and could relate to.
I did find out a few interesting facts like a pig is most like a human in body type and gall stones don’t disburse and break down in acid? Who knew!
My interest went up and down on this one, not sure if it’s to do with the audio and the voices. Was lacklustre in areas. I had heard of some of the cases and it was interesting for me but not all of them peaked my interest. I think I expected more from the title.
I liked how the couple made strides and created development for the way pictures and evidence is shown in court and the documents to the jury. Sadly I’ve never done Jury Service.
I don’t know if the book has pictures in places or if this is a novel. But I would like to see some of the things they described and see how they pioneered it.

I think you need to be into forensic science a little bit more than just fiction and watching Silent Witness to appreciate this

Television Police procedurals and forensic dramas have set us up with a certain image of forensic scientists, their lives and their work. But this book sets the record straight in many ways, about how fast or slow the procedure actually is and how conclusive the work.
The book is from both perspectives of the two authors, and the audiobook has appropriate voices for the same. There are copious amounts of details for the Forensic Science and Pathology that the authors participated in or witnessed, but this is not a scientific or even true crime book. This more like an autobiography, but specific to the professional lives of the authors, the book traces how the authors entered into their professions, and the various experiences they had along the way. The book is peppered with hilarious anecdotes like the author volunteering for tests involving ingestion of certain medicines along with alcohol, but it also has grave moments where they confess that the levity, blase attitude to death or pranks around their office was a mechanism to help them cope with the horrific situations they faced everyday, especially in cases of unnatural deaths.
This was a wonderful audiobook, but I would definitely enjoy reading it more, where I could imagine the expressions of the authors when they crack jokes while recalling incidents.

This is one book that every Mystery lover would want to read. This must not be missed. Dear reader, if you live for Mystery, go listen/buy this audiobook right now!!! The details are revealed in such a manner which will satisfy the hunger and love for Mystery. All future detectives, science lovers this is a must listen. Even if you are not used to narration or audiobook, go go go get your hands on this book.

**listened via audiobook**

This book felt completely up my street. I love all things crime, and forensics fascinate me!
I was surprised to find that a lot of the book talks about my local area, so immediately I was engaged.
However, the more the book went on the more I lost interest. I'm unsure whether it was the audiobook narrators that felt a little lack-lustre or the writing itself.

I was expecting more exciting cases, and insights but this just didn't happen. Maybe, I went into the book with wrong ideas but based on the title and based on other books I have read similar to this - I just was left a little bored and wanting more.

Very interesting account from a couple of forensic scientists. I really enjoyed their stories (please note I'm not squeamish). My only 'complaint' and it's not even really one is that the narrators (I had the audiobook) were almost too good at narrating this, I kept forgetting that this wasn't a fictional story but a real one. Would recommend if you are interested in forensic science.