Review:
This is Barbara Butcher's memoir of her experiences as a New York medicolegal death investigator (MLI). She started off working with the living, in a hospital, but alcohol ended that. She went to AA meetings and got sober, which somehow led to her getting an interview and offer for a death investigator position. From there, she spent 20ish years investigating "naturals" (death by natural causes), homicides, and suicides. She mentions a few memorable cases, the things she learned from them, and the effect they had on her. She also talked about her experience with 9/11.
This was a very engaging read, even if the cases Butcher discussed sometimes seemed like a weird assortment. Don't expect there to be resolutions to everything, either - many of the cases went unsolved. I was reminded of why I generally prefer mystery and crime fiction over true crime. I want those loose ends tied up, darn it. Still, it was interesting reading about things Butcher saw and discovered at various scenes.
Butcher managed to hit rock bottom not just once but twice in this, and she somehow got back up each time. It was definitely not the career progression I expected. I feel like it'd be great reading for some of my library's student workers - one had a bit of a breakdown a while back, worried that she hadn't figured her career path out yet (girl, you're only 20! it might not be a straight line, and that's ok).
No comments:
Post a Comment