What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator

by Barbara Butcher

Hardcover, 2023

Genres

Audiobooks

Collection

Diamond Building Library

Publication

Simon & Schuster (2023), 288 pages

Description

Biography & Autobiography. Science. True Crime. Nonfiction. HTML:"Butcher chronicles her career path and her journey to sobriety in unflinching detail, while her voice remains deliberate and measured, occasionally slipping into what sounds like a half-smirk when cracking a joke....She has a way with words, telling stories that are at turns hilarious, thought-provoking and, as might be expected, disturbing....This is a story of trauma, yes, but it's also a glimpse into the dark side of a city that most never see up close." �??The New York Times Book Review A riveting, deeply personal memoir of more than twenty years of death-scene investigations by New York City death investigator Barbara Butcher. Barbara Butcher was early in her recovery from alcoholism when she found an unexpected lifeline: a job at the Medical Examiner's Office in New York City. The second woman ever hired for the role of Death Investigator in Manhattan, she was the first to last more than three months. The work was gritty, demanding, morbid, and sometimes dangerous�??she loved it. Butcher (yes, that is her real name, and she has heard all the jokes) spent day in and day out investigating double homicides, gruesome suicides, and most heartbreaking of all, underage rape victims who had also been murdered. In What the Dead Know, she writes with the kind of New York attitude and bravado you might expect from decades in the field, investigating more than 5,500 death scenes, 680 of which were homicides. In the opening chapter, she describes how just from sheer luck of having her arm in cast, she avoided a boobytrapped suicide. Later in her career, she describes working the nation's largest mass murder, the attack on 9/11, where she and her colleagues initially relied on family members' descriptions to help distinguish among the 21,900 body parts of the victims. This is the fascinating and stunning real-life story of a woman who, in dealing with death every day, learned surprising lessons about life�??and how some of those lessons saved her from becoming a statistic herself. Fans of Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, and true crime won't be able to put… (more)

Media reviews

Kirkus Reviews

The author is a witty, gifted observer who approaches her own struggles with mental health with the same keenness and curiosity as she approaches the bodies she encounters on the job. However, while she never shies away from the gruesome details of corpses and crime scenes, she is less than

forthcoming about her personal life, providing only brief glimpses into a history of “depression and suicidal tendencies” that began in her teens. This gap is noteworthy mostly because Butcher’s forays into memoir are heartbreakingly beautiful; their brevity leaves readers wanting more. A gritty, humorous portrait of a strong woman who found sobriety while working with the dead.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member loraineo

In my opinion Ms. Butcher is a very special, unique kind of person. Not many people as dedicated/driven as this woman. She gives a very honest, detailed description of her career as a medical examiner, death investigator for over 20 years,. and her personal life. Well written.

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LibraryThing member AnnieKMD

This is an interesting memoir. The bulk revolves around the author's job as a death investigator. She describes numerous cases that she has worked on and includes the sometimes-emotional challenges in dealing with them. She also writes of her struggles with alcohol use and depression.

I liked the

author’s non-judgmental attitude and observations about people. She is accepting and curious, without being preachy. Though I note she often equates being alone with loneliness, which is not necessarily the case.

It was an interesting read and has made me consider how our careers impact our personal lives, but also how people die & are discovered afterwards.

I was provided with an ARC (thanks to the author & publisher!) and I am voluntarily posting my honest review.

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LibraryThing member twogreys

This memoir is two tales in one. On one hand, it records the life of a New York City death investigator. The stories on this level are descriptions of murder, accident, and suicide scenes in the true crime genre, only without the ‘whodunit’ closing of the cases. On the other hand, it is a

compelling story of a woman who hits rock bottom and how, after becoming a death investigator, she rises in life, only to be struck down again and rising once more. Both tales are intertwined and told honestly and compassionately, and they have much to teach us about life.

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LibraryThing member Twink

Barbara Butcher's memoir, What the Dead Know - Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator, was an absolutely amazing read.

I read a number of fictional forensic series and enjoy the details and clues of determining the causes of death. But, Butcher is the real deal - she was the

second woman ever hired for the role of Death Investigator in Manhattan - and the first to last more than three months.

I was fascinated by this inside look behind the curtain. Butcher recounts a number of deaths that have stuck with her over the years, for different reasons, including the 9/11 attacks. The factual bits are there - and I learned quite a bit. It's the personal part of death that stayed with me as I read, especially those who died alone. Butcher has a dark sense of humor that suits her narrative.

What makes this book a standout is Ms. Butcher herself. She shies away from nothing, exposing her own life for all to see. Addiction and mental health issues are part of her story. She's highly intelligent, driven and successful, working additionally as a speaker, professor, consultant and providing detail for mystery writers.

I literally I could not put the book down. Honestly, one of the best memoirs I've ever read.

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LibraryThing member GermaineShames

An interesting read about a woman living close to the edge. Readers who have struggled with addiction may find Butcher's story relatable.

LibraryThing member Jjean7

The book was well written - the characters were different enough that it kept me interested - it did get a little slow but then as it moved toward the plot it got interesting again - the ending was not what I expected at all...

LibraryThing member jetangen4571

nonfiction, memories, memoir, investigators, NYC, NYPD, FDNY personal-growth, real-horror, cooperation, coping-mechanisms, sobriety, aa, alcohol-issues*****

Riveting insight into what some have to deal with every day. This kind of work is done in every big city worldwide and those who must deal with

it are never given the honor due them. It is often grisly sad work that struggles against many people's view of humanity. Extremely poignant and well written.
I think that you can almost never go wrong with a book read by the author because who knows better how to present the good/bad/ugly?

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LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo

Make no mistake, this compelling collection of true-life tales from New York City’s Medical Examiner’s office is not for the squeamish. Grisly slayings. Decomposing corpses. Heartbreaking child abuse. But readers who are not faint-of-heart will find this memoir by Butcher (talk about ironic

names) incredibly educational and — even with its morbid overtones — absorbing. Butcher chronicles her struggles with alcoholism and depression in a cohesive narrative that doesn’t detract from the book’s primary theme. Some readers have been understandably put off by Butcher’s occasional sarcasm at tragic death scenes — a tendency that even she acknowledges could turn off some folks . But the book is a fast-moving and riveting behind-the-scenes look at crime scene investigations. With every gross and engrossing page, it underscores the fact that “dead men do tell tales.”

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