Customer Reviews

Forensic Pathology, Second Edition (Practical Aspects of Criminal & Forensic Investigations)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

MISSING INFORMATION IN THE BOOK ABOUT SHOTGUN WOUNDS, AUTOPSY PROCEDURE,BLOOD SPOTS ETC.

This book pales in comparison to Spitz's Medicolegal Investigation- what I consider to be the Bible in forensic investigation in any field regarding death. This book rides on the coattails of Spitz's 50+ years of academic and field research. The book may cover a few more bizzare scenairos, but anyone can find these cases on the internet. This book lacks many fields of study that should be covered, i.e. gunshot, bloodsplatter, discovery at autopsy, etc. Technically written to the point that one needs a reference book in order to follow the author. While photos in the book may be fascinating to some 'readers', I was hoping to gain more knowledge from it.

An excellent resource to forensic pathology. I would recommend you have some reference of medicine, however, before reading it. It's difficult to understand some of the terminology if you're picking up the book and reading without prior knowledge.

This book didn't beat around the bush at all. It took you right into the morbid details of death. Every subject I can think of regarding death was explained in this book. The pictures were mostly black and white but the detail in them was still enough to stir my stomach.

This book went from babies to burns, from rapes to stabbings, from gunshots to suffocation. It told you how things were done and why evidence was placed the way that it was.

This book was in textbook form and I believe that it is actually used for students to learn with. In saying that, you can not only learn with this book but you can also keep yourself interested with having some death questions answered.

Overall, a wonderful book for someone looking to get into the forensic field, or for someone just interested in death and how some things happen.

This is an excellent basic/reference book, which by no mean can be compared with wider and more detailed textbooks (such is Knight's Forensic Pathology); as it does not cover some fields as gunshot wounds or blood spot pattern analysis.
But let's remember that is concentrates on the pathology; and in that sense it is rather informative and useful. Abovementioned topics are elaborated in the other publications of the same publisher.

This seems to be pretty good, comprehensive, and easy-to-read text on forensic pathology... but there is *nothing* at all on gunshot wounds... not even basic guidelines on entrance and exit identification. You have to buy his separate text on gunshot wounds to get anything on the subject. This book is cheaper than Spitz and Fisher, but when you find that there is nothing on gunshots, the price advantage is lost.

This was one of the novel text books that I had, now I am using it for completing one of my graduate classes