Teasing Secrets from the Dead

My Investigations at America’s Most Infamous Crime Scenes

By: Emily Craig PhD

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Teasing Secrets from the Dead is a front-lines story of crime scene investigation at some of the most infamous sites in recent history.

In this absorbing, surprising, and undeniably compelling book, forensics expert Emily Craig tells her own story of a life spent teasing secrets from the dead.

Emily Craig has been a witness to history, helping to seek justice for thousands of murder victims, both famous and unknown. It’s a personal story that you won’t soon forget. Emily first became intrigued by forensics work when, as a respected medical illustrator, she was called in by the local police to create a model of a murder victim’s face. Her fascination with that case led to a dramatic midlife career change: She would go back to school to become a forensic anthropologist - and one of the most respected and best-known “bone hunters” in the nation.

As a student working with the FBI in Waco, Emily helped uncover definitive proof that many of the Branch Davidians had been shot to death before the fire, including their leader, David Koresh, whose bullet-pierced skull she reconstructed with her own hands. Upon graduation, Emily landed a prestigious full-time job as forensic anthropologist for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a state with an alarmingly high murder rate and thousands of square miles of rural backcountry, where bodies are dumped and discovered on a regular basis.

But even with her work there, Emily has been regularly called to investigations across the country, including the site of the terrorist attack on the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, where a mysterious body part - a dismembered leg - was found at the scene and did not match any of the known victims. Through careful scientific analysis, Emily was able to help identify the leg’s owner, a pivotal piece of evidence that helped convict Timothy McVeigh.

From the biggest news stories of our time to stranger-than-true local mysteries, these unforgettable stories come from Emily Craig’s remarkable career.

©2004 Emily Craig, PhD (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Very Good! Listened in one day!

I was riveted by the older cases she helped solve. Some of the people she was able to identify just with a couple of pieces of evidence. Amazing!!!

Brutally honest

Dr. Emily Graig managed to capture the essence of a darker side of being disposable in a brilliant narrative of fact, empathy and compassion that is rare. She made it easy to understand the science and and the (he)art of forensic anthropology. I wish for more! And of coarse Carrington MacDuffie is an outstanding narrator who did this masterpiece justice.

Great Read

This line of work has always fascinated me and it was interesting to hear about how Emily got started and the cases she has worked on.

Accurate look at a forensic anthropologist's work

Takes you from her training for the career and stresses the importance of a thorough education in the basics to her being well known and respected in her field. she covers a variety of cases and shares her insights and emotions along the way. The reader was good, but more emotion needed to come through in places. I have read similar books and this is an excellent book. Highly recommend. I plan to check if she has written others.

Interesting Cases

Unique experiences that are explained in sometimes too graphic detail, but that’s what the book is about. I enjoyed hearing about the dr’s experiences and I learned a lot about what goes into identifying human remains.

Interesting career, for sure.

She began her forensic career "late in life" and rose to excellence as a forensic anthropologist. Waco, Oklahoma City, and WTC. Wow!

So inspiring for a forensic anthro student!

I loved every moment of this and I am even more motivated to further my education. Dr. Craig is such an inspiration.

Fantastic Read

This book is well written. It includes the science and explanation to make the stories easy to get sucked into it. Highly recommend!

Excellent Book

very intimate and intricate insights into forensic investigations and what it entails

Listen to No Stone Unturned about NecroSearch Intl. too..... these people are all amazing, driven, smart dedicated and caring

Amazing.....

remember she deals in dead bodies so dont pretend to be surprised there are details about death and the dead in the book!

Fantastic.

I’ve had the unique pleasure of working with Dr. Craig. Unbelievably intelligent and I was honored to work by her side. Thank you for all that you’ve ever done.