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

Butcher, the chief of staff at New York City’s office of the chief medical examiner, artfully integrates her personal struggles into this riveting debut memoir that doubles as an inside look at the work of medicolegal investigators. As as a teen, Butcher dealt with her suicidal depression by turning to drugs. She blew multiple opportunities, including a college scholarship, but was transformed by a chance intervention: the director of a nursing home on Long Island who hired Butcher to help orient dementia patients suggested she look into becoming a physician’s assistant. That led Butcher to land an entry-level investigative position with New York’s chief medical examiner in 1992, and she eventually rose through the ranks to become his top aide. Butcher shares some of the grisly tricks of her trade, such as how best to roll over a corpse to look for evidence, and gravely recounts her more sensitive inquiries, including her efforts to identify remains from 9/11. Throughout, though, she employs welcome doses of dark humor and makes even the more complicated aspects of her work fully accessible to a lay audience. Readers interested in how real-life CSI functions will be rapt. Agent: Kathy Schneider, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June)