If you can look past the author's often self-important and arrogant tone, this book is an interesting look behind the scenes of death and the marks it leaves on us. ( )

Há mais de 40 anos, ele desvenda segredos daqueles que já se foram, muitos de forma misteriosa e violenta. Não há nada de místico em seu trabalho. Devoto da ciência, o Dr. Vincent Di Maio é um dos mais renomados médicos forenses dos EUA, e ele resolveu dividir tudo o que aprendeu com os mortos em seu livro O Segredo dos Corpos.CSI, Dexter, O Silêncio dos Inocentes, True Detective. A medicina forense tem sido uma fonte constante de inspiração para grandes narrativas policiais. Uma tradição que remonta às primeiras histórias de Sherlock Holmes no século XIX. Mas será que a arte imita mesmo a vida ― ou, nesse caso, a morte? O que realmente acontece numa autópsia? Você não precisa mais morrer de curiosidade. Ler O SEGREDO DOS CORPOS é como estar dentro do necrotério, participando de uma verdadeira aula sobre patologia criminal. Sem o inconveniente cheiro do formol.PEGUE SEU BISTURI:O SEGREDO DOS CORPOS disseca casos surpreendentes que ajudaram a construir a reputação do legista. Como a exumação de Lee Harvey Oswald, suposto assassino do presidente Kennedy. Ou a investigação pela morte do adolescente Trayvon Martin, em 2012, na Flórida, crime que acabaria impulsionando o movimento Black Lives Matter, de denúncia contra o racismo na sociedade norte-americana.O livro apresenta ainda casos reais de serial killers que ainda aterrorizam o imaginário popular. E num capítulo especial, o autor questiona o alegado suicídio de Vincent van Gogh. Atendendo a um pedido de Steven Naifeh e Gregory White Smith, coautores de Van Gogh: A Vida, biografia do pintor, Di Maio analisou o caso e acredita que a marca da ferida revelara que o tiro não poderia ser “auto-infligido”.A verdade nua e crua é o que você pode esperar em O SEGREDO DOS CORPOS. Escrito a quatro mãos, duas delas no bisturi do Dr. Vincent Di Maio e as outras duas do veterano escritor Ron Franscell, parceiro de Vincent Bugliosi (autor de Helter Skelter), o livro revela surpresas a cada página. Conheça a história da medicina legal, as curiosidades de uma profissão que aparenta ser tão mórbida e sombria, e as razões que levam alguém a dedicar toda sua vida a pesquisar os mortos.O SEGREDO DOS CORPOS é um dos finalistas na categoria de não ficção do Edgar Allan Poe Awards de 2017, e chega ao Brasil pela DarkSide® Books. O livro faz parte da coleção Crime Scene®: histórias reais, indicadas para quem tem o espírito investigador e não se assusta facilmente. Entre os títulos da coleção estão Casos de Família, Serial Killers – Louco ou Cruel? e Serial Killers – Made in Brazil, os três de Ilana Casoy; a premiada biografia Manson, de Jeff Guinn; e o best-seller Serial Killers, Anatomia do Mal, de Harold Schechter. ( )

This book is written by a forensic pathologist who has worked on some high profile cases in his career. I'm not sure I would have started by saying I was the one who got Zimmerman off in the Trayvon Martin case, though. He explains that he says it like he sees it and people often don't like it, especially if people feel a murder is racially motivated. This, then, is my introduction to Vincent Di Maio. His expert opinion on some of these high profile cases will go against the grain - many times.

There were some interesting stories in the book - the exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald, the West Memphis Three, Phil Spector, even Vincent Van Gogh. What he says the evidence shows is not always accepted or believed.

A funny blurb in here is when he says his deviated septum has prevented the smell from getting too overwhelming!

So, I thought this book was okay. I learned about some crime cases from history. I learned that forensic pathologists are woefully underpaid and therefore scarce. The writing is a bit dry but the details are good. ( )

Interesting stories from a pathologist who was on the front lines for more than 40 years. Once you get past Di Maio’s larger than life ego, his stories are fascinating. Some of his stories involve every day citizens; others involve famous people like Lee Harvey Oswald and Vincent Van Gogh. All are very interesting. In a few instanes, it helps to have a strong stomach since details are often graphic. ( )

When I was in middle/high school I really wanted to be a pathologist. Like really wanted to be one. I can probably attribute my fascination with the profession to Scully of the X-Files, but it soon turned into being interested in the actual career. I read books and online articles about what they did and what it took to be one. I even went to the point of looking up the best college programs for it and getting applications ready. At some point though I realized that the amount of schooling involved just wasn't a good fit for me and dropped that dream, but I still retained the fascination with it.

DiMaio has had a 45 year career in forensic pathology, not to mention causal post mortem experience as the child of one of the first Medical Examiners in NYC. He's had an amazing career not just as a ME but as a consultant on cases around the world. In this book he breaks down a few of the bigger cases he's been part of, and it was a pretty good read.

I liked how in depth he went into his evaluations of the cases, and his thoughts on the profession as a whole were particularly insightful. He starts with the Treyvon Martin case, covers two Munchhausen by Proxy cases, several questionable suicides and many more. He even has a chapter about his theory on Vincent Van Gogh's death (Which, I can't lie, I skimmed over. Not very interesting to me to break down a case so old and with such imperfect evidence left). I wasn't as crazy about his casual writing style (I prefer a more academic approach where I can't determine the authors bias) but that's a personal preference, and I suppose in this instance it was warranted since he had personal connections to the material he was writing about.

Overall, this was a good, fast paced read about a fascinating profession. If you don't have a strong stomach or have triggers about bad things happening to children I would really not suggest reading this book though because he is very graphic about the cases and they can be disturbing.

Copy courtesy of St. Martin's Press, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )