Barbara Butcher (2)

Barbara Butcher pulls no punches in "What the Dead Know," a riveting account of her career as a New York City medicolegal investigator. The opening chapters are shocking. We learn to our dismay that Barbara is a recovering alcoholic who, for years, drank so heavily that she could barely function. When she finally hit bottom, she joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober ever since. Barbara, a former physician assistant and hospital administrator, had training in science, anatomy, and public health. In 1992, she was hired by Dr. Charles Hirsch, New York City's Chief Medical Examiner. Barbara grew to admire her wonderful boss, who became her mentor and role model.

The mission of medicolegal investigators is to determine the cause and manner of death. At any hour of the day or night, Barbara would report to the scenes of homicides, suicides, accidents, and "naturals" (death by natural causes). Her anecdotes may upset sensitive readers, since she meticulously describes—in graphic terms—some of her most disturbing cases.

Furthermore, Barbara offers her perspective on the harrowing events of 9/11 and its aftermath. She and her fellow volunteers dug through the rubble and tried to identify those who perished in the Twin Towers. This effort cost them dearly. First, they breathed in the toxic fumes from the fires and debris. In addition, they had to cope with the terrible trauma that affected so many first responders. Butcher's writing is crisp, realistic, hilarious at times, and heartrending. This book is tough to get through because of its macabre subject matter. However, those who can handle Barbara's unflinching commentary will be enlightened, riveted, and haunted by this work of nonfiction. In "What the Dead Know," Barbara Butcher eloquently and poignantly demonstrates the fragility of human existence.
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"What the Dead Know" by Barbara Butcher is the memoir of a New York City death investigator. I read it because I wanted to find out more about death investigations, however, I think it speaks more to the trauma of the author. In the beginning of the book, she describes her early days as an investigator for the coroner's office. Her memories are sharp and clear. She tells war stories about interesting cases and talks about the connections she makes with her co-workers. As the book goes on, her descriptions of her actual job become more and more vague. As she undergoes years of working with those deceased by homicide, suicide, neglect, and despair, the reader can watch as she disconnects from her emotions and becomes less and less able to have a perspective on her life and what her job is doing to her. I was interested in reading this book because I wanted to read war stories, understand the nuts and bolts of how the job is performed, and to have an overview of how coroner's officers can handle mass casualty events. The author was in the thick of the aftermath of 911 and subsequently became an expert in death investigation responses to mass casualties. However, this is more a memoir of the disintegration of a mind under repeated exposure to trauma leading to PTSD. Interestingly, while the author does understand that she had a psychotic break and ended up in a mental facility, she doesn't seem to have a perspective on how the trauma of her job led to her mental issues. She doesn't seem to understand how she became alienated from her co-workers, lost her job, and then became unable to function despite being a leading expert in her field.… (more)

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.”… (more)