Readers’ Advisory Matrix: Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist
by William R. Maples, Michael Browning
1. Where is the book on the narrative continuum?
Highly narrative (reads like fiction)
✔A mix (combines highly narrative moments with
periods of fact-based prose)
Highly fact based (has few or no narrative moments)
2. What is the subject of the book? Forensic Anthropology
3. What type of book is it? Science, True Crime, & Memoir
4. Articulate appeal
What is the pacing of the book? Leisurely paced, but a pretty quick read.
Describe the characters of the book. The characters are primarily victims/perpetrators of murder and of course Maples himself as he is describing cases he worked on.
How does the story feel? Dark, but hopeful.
What is the intent of the author? To share his experience as forensic anthropologist and educate readers about the field.
What is the focus of the story? Various cases Maples encountered in his many years as a forensic anthropologist.
Does the language matter? Yes.
Is the setting important and well-described? The settings are important in so much as they affect the condition of the remains that are being analyzed by Maples. Yes, they are well described.
Are there details and, if so, of what? Yes, lots of details about cases, remains, locations, and conditions surrounding the death of the victims.
Are there sufficient charts and other graphics materials? Are they useful and clear? There are pictures pertaining to the cases Maples talks about. They are clear and useful in aiding the reader in visualizing what is being discussed.
Does the book stress moments of learning, understanding, or experience? Yes, all three. Learning how someone was killed and understanding why they were killed using forensic anthropology. Experiencing some of what Maples experienced when working on his cases.
5. Why would a reader enjoy this book (rank appeal)? This book would appeal to readers who are interested in forensic anthropology and true crime. It would also appeal to readers who enjoy TV shows like Bones.
1. Learning/experiencing 2. Subject 3. Detail
Hi! Lovely annotation! I love how you write that the feel is "dark but hopeful". Just those words alone are enough to entice me! The only hesitation for reading this would be that you say it would appeal to readers who enjoy TV shoes like Bones- I did not like that show at all unfortunately!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I did enjoy reading your response so thank you :)
Hi Ramah,
DeleteI thought it was a fascinating read, but it is definitely not for the squeamish. I suppose it depends why you didn't like Bones. It's one of my favorite shows, but I'm a total science nerd. :)
This book/matrix instantly caught my eye because I literally just finished reading a book about people who work in the "death industry" and forensic anthropologists were mentioned but the author didn't shadow or interview one directly. Basically, everything I know about forensic anthropology is from TV shows like Bones and NCIS, but now that I've read about real people who examine bodies postmortem, I'm definitely curious to read more. It sounds like Maples has a lot of experience to share, so I might just continue my macabre reading journey with this!
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia,
DeleteI thought it was a really interesting read. He even has a chapter on the Romanovs. Apparently he was one of the forensic scientists brought in to examine what were believed to be the remains of the Romanov family in order to figure out if one of them could be Anastasia. How cool is that?!
Full points!
ReplyDelete