Product Description

Medicolegal investigation of death is the most crucial and significant function of the medical examiner within the criminal justice system. The medical examiner is primarily concerned with violent, sudden, unexpected, and suspicious deaths and is responsible for determining the cause and manner of death, identifying the deceased, determining the approximate time of death and injury, collecting evidence from the body, issuing the death certificate, and documenting these events through an official autopsy report. The basis of the medicolegal investigation is forensic pathology.Written for both medical and investigative professionals, Forensic Pathology, Second Edition presents an overview of medicolegal investigative systems. Completely updated, the book examines investigative techniques and procedures that lead to obtaining accurate conclusions of death by homicide, accident, or suicide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35018 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 592 pages

Review
About the first edition:

The range of conditions described emphasizes the massive combined experience of these authors, and the objective style of the text makes this an extremely valuable reference for every forensic pathologist and an excellent teaching medium for those who are working for their boards or other qualifications.
- Journal of the Forensic Science Society

Customer Reviews

Excellent Reference Book
One cannot help comparing this book with "Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death", which is in the same price range.

This book is smaller and thinner, but it covers more exotic cases in the field, such as crucifixion and an asphyxiation by python. It also contains more data from academic research.

While "Spitz and Fisher" is generally considered the required textbook for students and the ultimate authority in courtrooms, this one by Messrs. Di Maio (father and son) should be the required reference book for students in the field.

Excellent sourcebook for readers
This book, originally loaned to me by a police professional, is an excellent resource for a variety of readers who are involved with criminal investigations but don't really have all the tools and training of a full-time medical examiner. In my case, as a crime author, the text was an invaluable reference, putting some highly technical material into easily digested context. The collection of photographs, while occasionally grisly, provides an excellent visual reference. Recommended for laymen of all kinds who need a good reference work on forensic pathology.

Good reference
If your idea of forensics is CSI on television, this book is not for you. If you are studying forensic science, or need an excellent reference book, by all means - buy it. This book gives one a strong foundation, and the photographs are an excellent source of information, of which to look at after reading the descriptions.

The second edition is a definite improvment over the first.If you are looking for a chapter on gunshot wounds, it is not here. However, DiMaio has written the standard on evaluating gunshot wounds: Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques.