Morgue

A Life in Death

By: Vincent Di Maio, Ron Franscell

Narrated by: Tony Ward

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Forensic science is booming. TV dramas, books, and movies have made morgues cool. Complex technology and intricate research can take curdled blood, bone shards, and flakes of skin and turn them into justice. And Vincent Di Maio, MD, son of a famous New York City medical examiner, is one of the lions of forensic science in his own right. In this clear, gritty, and enthralling narrative, Di Maio himself guides us into the inner sanctum, through the cases that have made him famous, from the exhumation of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and the racially charged shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin to the unmasking of a serial baby killer and the mysterious death of troubled genius Vincent van Gogh. Along the way, one of the country's most methodical and intuitive criminal pathologists will dissect himself, maintaining a nearly continuous flow of suspenseful stories, revealing anecdotes, and enough macabre insider details to rivet the most fervent crime fans.

©2016 Dr. Vincent Di Maio and Ron Franscell; Foreword: 2016 Dr. Jan Garavaglia (P)2016 Recorded Books

Highly Recommend!!!!

Very interesting! I could not stop listening! He details several crimes, and describes how he approached each autopsy, what he found, and what the findings meant.
His involvement with the case of the West Memphis Three can be somewhat graphic.

Entertaining and informative read.

Great narration. As an outsider in forensic pathology, this was enlightening. Good stories. Everyone should look at themselves and ask questions about facts in cases instead of spouting off emotionally about cases in the news. I didn't want it to end.

Thoughtful Frankness

This book about the life and times of a medical examiner contains all that one would expect from such a manuscript: tales of autopsy, murder, suicide, and courtroom testimony. It also contains some special examination of a few famous suspicious death, murder, and potential suicide cases. All of the material is presented thoughtfully but with an honesty that helps paint a frank picture for the reader of what the author is describing be it a sight, smell, or emotion.

hard to finish

at times interesting and informative but mostly takes a case or story and beats it in the ground. I will carry away with me facts I've learned while trying to stay awake and finish.

just okay

author is rather bragging not much humility there. narrator is the worst.should enunciate and not drop ends of words.

Excellent!!!

Love the authors writing style. One of those books that is a great read not only for content but the word crafting to tell the story!

interesting and educational!

narration was fantastic and the stories of recent and old cases Dr. Di Maio has worked on were thrilling! makes me want to be a forensic pathologist.

Love it!!!!

Very educational and fascinating!! I always wanted to be a forensic pathologist but couldn't do the intensive science and math so I became a forensic psychologist instead. Love this book!!! Learned a lot about autopsies and misperceptions as well as what it truly means to be an expert witness. Highly recommend this book to anyone into forensics!

Captivating

I was captivated by the true crimes and how they were solved. I decided to listen to this while driving to Colorado to drop my son at college

Expected a different kind of book

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Expect something a bit different than what you think this book will be about. A lot of back story to each case, sometimes too much, and for the length they probably could've covered more cases.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator was fine but there were a handful of instances where it was extremely obvious that they had forgotten something in the book and decided to go back and splice in certain words or parts that just takes you out of the book. At times it even sounded like a different person.

Was Morgue worth the listening time?

I was 50/50 on this book. From the summary I was expecting to just hear/learn about what happened in the morgue involving some of his cases throughout the years. Instead I found myself sitting through times where I felt what he was talking about was not relevant to the subject at hand. Too in depth on details that didn't matter and not enough attention to some things that would've been much more interesting given the title of this book.