Cause of Death : A Writer's Guide to Death, Murder and Forensic Medicine

Howdunit Series

by Keith D. Wilson

Never before has such specialized information been so thoroughly compiled and easily accessible to writers Each book is written by a professional in their respective field, providing the inside details that writers need to weave a credible -- and salable -- story.

Genres: Writing, Reference, Nonfiction, Research, True Crime, Science, History

207 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[William]

This is not a four-star book. It is a wealth of information useful in writing stories that focus on a dead body involving natural and unnatural parting. I marked several passaged for future refences and if a writer is struggling with getting a scene just right it is helpful. But it doesn’t really stand out for me. I have a bunch of these books and a friend gave me this one to add to my collection. Maybe with more years of researching for my serial killer novels I already knew some of this information or maybe it a good starting point for anyone wanting to create a murdered scene.

[Justin]

Picked this up at a library book sale awhile back, and I find myself rather glad I did. Cause of Death is a pretty nice resource for basic information about legal/medical procedures surrounding death, as well as various causes of death and details about them. It is a bit outdated in parts (such as mention of teenagers getting high by huffing typewriter cleaning fluid), but there's enough here that's still relevant enough to be useful.

[Lindsey Duncan]

Another useful guide to the drama of death and injury, with focus on the contemporary process of handling a body. Hospital procedures, autopsy, the physical behavior of the body after death ... all this is in these pages. Like other guides in this line I've read, Cause of Death suffers from being a mile wide and an inch deep - it covers peripheral topics when it might be better served going into more depth on central issues. I wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable relying on the information in this book alone for a death scene. (Also, bizarrely, most of the examples the author picks from fiction aren't terribly good: they're very "tell-y" and obtrusive.) Still, this book creates a great mental "coatroom" upon which to hang further, more specific research.

[Redsteve]

Not in-depth, but what do you expect from a 200 page book that covers A LOT of ground? While geared primarily towards writers, this book provides a good overview of not only death, but injuries, diseases, ER, morgue, police/social services investigation techniques (for accidents, assaults and suicide - among other things), and judicial executions. The ER section includes triage, as well as some quick and dirty diagnostic procedures. Also addressed is funeral and burial practices through history. Warning: while the scientific/medical stuff is valid anywhere, the procedures/laws addressed are generally Western (and specifically US in most cases).

[Kayla]

A writer's guide, this book is a little outdated in some things. As a writer, I do use this a lot and it is fun to have information that the general public doesn't have.

[John]

informative!!!!

[Caroline]

So gruesomely informative!!

[Glen Engel-Cox]

This is part of the Writer’s Digest “Howdunnit” series–aids for the mystery writer when constructing a story. There’s a lot of great information here, from the description of how an emergency room is arranged and operated, to the same for an autoposy, to numbers for ways in which people die by suicide, homicide and accidents. Wilson uses some quotes from books–mystery and otherwise–to illustrate his sections. I can’t say much for his choice of quotes, especially this one from Robin Cook’s Mortal Fear:

Glancing up at the monitor, which still showed normal ECG activity, Jason touched Cedric’s neck. He could feel no pulse.

‘Let me have a cardiac needle,’ he demanded. ‘And someone get a blood pressure.’ A large cardiac needle was thrust into his hand as he palpated Cedric’s chest to locate the ridge of the sternum.

I imagine that it might be difficult to continue to work after someone thrust a huge needle into your hand, eh? Such wonderful writing to be used as a model for would-be authors. I also noticed that Wilson is in love with the M.D. designation following his name. His name never appears in the book without it. From the use of quotes from his own published novels, and from the fiction that he created from this book, it's obvious that the M.D. never helped his fiction writing any, other than provide him the information that makes up this book. Maybe it did help him understand the material presented here; at least enough to present it in a clear and readable manner. I plan to go on and check out the other books in this series, but I hope the other authors are better fiction writers than this guy.

[Michelle]

Useful but not sufficiently thorough to be a one-stop shop. I found the bits about how autopsies are conducted and how whether a death is a murder or suicide is determined, but for each of the broad possible classes of death, the post-mortem symptoms are only lightly touched upon. Good for gathering ideas but you'd really need to do more research to write a scene realistically.



Besides just presenting the facts, the author tries to give some advice on how to write murder/autopsy/etc scenes. I found the examples useful but the specific writing advice is iffy depending on your writing style.

[Sue]

I really enjoyed this book. Easy-to-read and, of course, accurate. He tells it like is, and the illustrations were marvelous. It was wonderful. The only thing I found wrong was the misspelling of navel (for umbilicus) on page 58: they have it as “naval;” no way!

Actually learned some things too: I had never heard the term "sucking chest wound." I thought they were paraphrasing for the "F" word! But no, Dr. Wilson brought the term up again and clearly explained what this means.

[James]

For aspiring writers of crime fiction or any story needing realistic information about how a character dies, this is handy. Writers Digest Book Club is a great professional resource for writers, and this is typical of the high quality of their offerings. Like the others, it's also fascinating just to browse through, if you're in a morbid mood.

[Lee Lacy]

It's basically a reference work, but I wound up reading it straight through like a novel. I'm tempted to keep it with first-aid books on the shelf; it had quite a bit of very helpful info about symptoms and treatments.

Another great estate sale find -- she actually did, apparently, write a mystery novel from her researches.

[Stacy]

Out of date and not incredibly excellent but a decent source if you are writing up a character background. I started reading it right about the time I actually started watching modern TV forensic style shows.

[Fredrick Danysh]

A useful writing reference of various cause of death that can be used in creating stories with symptoms or characteristics. of each. A good addition to the trade craft library of mystery and police procedural writers.

[T.M. Carper]

One of the best books in the Howdunit Series. From the ER to accidental and not-so-accidental deaths, it chronicles everything you'd need to know as a writer when it comes to dealing with bodies (including autopsies).

[Davinia]

Very helpful, filled with explanations about medical and legal processes surrounding death and the moments preceding and succeeding it. Valuable info for writers. Some slightly outdated, but mostly a good read.

[Jacqueline Landry]

I do a tremendous amount of research for each of my novels. Forensics and pathophysiology always play a role in my manuscripts. This book is an excellent guide you need on your shelf if, like you're like me, and write forensics and crime-heavy suspense/thrillers.

[Debra]

This is an excellent book for anyone doing a creative writing project. We used it to help our students create mystery stories for our forensic science class. The students enjoyed adding a little bit more flair to their stories as well as realism. Hopefully this edition will be updated soon.

[CJ Jones]

The whole 'howdunit' series is a valuable resource, whether it's hospitals, police procedure, poisons, whatever. I keep thinking sooner or later I'm going to own these so I have them on hand, but this is a library loaner.

[Kate]

Excellent series of books for writer's reference.

[Jeana]

I may write that mystery novel yet ...

[Rebecca]

Every book in this series that I have is absolutely incredible. I love them! So useful =)

[Jessica]

I really like how the author shows how all the medical information can be written into a scene without having it overload the reader. And sucking chest wounds are gross.

[Bonnie]

I picked this book up as a reference book because I wanted to be a murder mystery writer at one time.

[Janet Jay]

Really specific, helpful guide. Exactly what I was looking for to help me write a novel. Good stuff, though occasionally a little dated (as to be expected, I guess).

[Robert]

Interesting background information

[Anita (Hearts and Whodunits)]

This book is a great addition to any mystery writer's library.