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Skeletons in the Closet: Stories from the County Morgue
For more than two decades, Dr. Stephen D. Cohle has been solving vexing forensic mysteries as the medical examiner for Kent County, Michigan. As a whole, the cases he considers represent a cross-section of crime in mid-America, often committed by a macabre cast of "Jekyll and Hyde" alcoholics who turned homicidal; killers who resorted to the most bizarre methods in concealing their crimes; and the rarest species in the zoo of criminology, a two-woman team of serial killers.
Based on his work with Dr. Cohle, true-crime writer Tobin T. Buhk recounts twenty-one riveting, real-life stories, each with a unique forensic twist. Offering a glimpse into the strange sights, sounds, and smells of the county morgue, these tales of intrigue, deception, and murder will fascinate true-crime buffs, fans of CSI , and readers of mystery and detective stories.
Based on his work with Dr. Cohle, true-crime writer Tobin T. Buhk recounts twenty-one riveting, real-life stories, each with a unique forensic twist. Offering a glimpse into the strange sights, sounds, and smells of the county morgue, these tales of intrigue, deception, and murder will fascinate true-crime buffs, fans of CSI , and readers of mystery and detective stories.
408 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 30, 2015
A collection of stories from the county morgue in Grand Rapids Michigan which would be of interest to crime buffs and fans of Discovery ID (I am guilty on both counts). The collection included details on a prolific serial killer I knew nothing about and a story about a man who killed his wife that I have seen on two different true crime television shows, so it was a good variety. Fans of CSI: Miami will appreciate the one-liners and bad puns at the beginning and ending of the stories (ala Horatio Caine). I see that the authors have written another book about working at the same morgue that I will likely keep an eye out for.
April 8, 2018
3.5 Stars
A pleasant, pleasant surprise! I loved how the majority of this took place in Michigan, so I found I was able to understand a lot of the landscape descriptions and recognize town names. Who knew so many crazy things have happened in this state! The science was FASCINATING, and I loved how in depth the cases were. I thought the author did a good job of looking at both the prosecution and the defenses' arguments, but a lot of his references and facts seemed repetitive and over-used.
A pleasant, pleasant surprise! I loved how the majority of this took place in Michigan, so I found I was able to understand a lot of the landscape descriptions and recognize town names. Who knew so many crazy things have happened in this state! The science was FASCINATING, and I loved how in depth the cases were. I thought the author did a good job of looking at both the prosecution and the defenses' arguments, but a lot of his references and facts seemed repetitive and over-used.
October 5, 2024
Written for adults. The writing style was weak, with repetitive phrases such as “A warm sensation, like a warm water bottle, filled his stomach and chest” (p9).
The author does a lot of speculating about various cases before revealing the truth. This speculation is often lurid and wild, making the reveal feel like a let down to me. The author was trying to educate the audience about what evidence might indicate. However, something about the way some of the speculation was presented struck me as overly sensationalized because he jumped straight to some unlikely scenarios, like the idea that a drunk snowmobiler who crashed and died might have been killed by his twin and then subsequently replaced by his twin. That is a pretty wild first thought to take seriously without any evidence to lead you there. Some of these scenarios needed more evidence for me to buy into the speculation but that build up wasn’t present due to the constraints of the book format (ie many short cases instead of a deeper dive into fewer cases).
I think the book being a compilation of cases meant that the reader didn’t have time to become invested in any of the cases and that a book drawing out four or five cases would have led to more engagement.
All that aside, it was an easy read with the short cases and I do live in Michigan, so it was interesting to read about places with which I am familiar.
The author does a lot of speculating about various cases before revealing the truth. This speculation is often lurid and wild, making the reveal feel like a let down to me. The author was trying to educate the audience about what evidence might indicate. However, something about the way some of the speculation was presented struck me as overly sensationalized because he jumped straight to some unlikely scenarios, like the idea that a drunk snowmobiler who crashed and died might have been killed by his twin and then subsequently replaced by his twin. That is a pretty wild first thought to take seriously without any evidence to lead you there. Some of these scenarios needed more evidence for me to buy into the speculation but that build up wasn’t present due to the constraints of the book format (ie many short cases instead of a deeper dive into fewer cases).
I think the book being a compilation of cases meant that the reader didn’t have time to become invested in any of the cases and that a book drawing out four or five cases would have led to more engagement.
All that aside, it was an easy read with the short cases and I do live in Michigan, so it was interesting to read about places with which I am familiar.
August 19, 2018
If you enjoy forensic science, or true crime this is a good book for you. I read this book for the #2 prompt in the 2018 Read Harder Challenge from Book Riot. The author is a teacher colleague of mine. I live in the greater GR area so many of the crimes I remember from the news. My husband worked at the hospital in Traverse City and remembers helping in the treatment of one of the police officers that is killed in one of the stories. This book provides great insight on job of the folks who do autopsies for the county morgue.
February 12, 2018
Well, I made it to page 107 before I gave up. The book is probably great for someone into true crime who can stomach the detailed descriptions of murder and autopsies. My imagination is much too vivid. Ugh. So it’s a one star for me because it is just too gross and gruesome.
October 10, 2018
Between this book and Cause of Death: Forensic Files of a Medical Examiner (also by these authors), this one is my favorite. I found it to be enlightening and entertaining and, of course, gruesome.
Read
June 28, 2022the stories themselves, are interesting, but the telling of them, is anything but. there is a ridiculous amount of repetitiveness.. and just so much babble.. instead of saying that no identification was found on a body, the author goes into a long spiel of there not being a drivers license, credit card, library card, receipts, store club cards, etc.. yes, the list goes on to anything anyone has ever carried in a wallet or pocket of their jeans.. and he does this many times..
and the constant questions, the author added so many hypothetical situations and presents questions that don't make any sense at all..
example '' It began to look like no one was missing jane doe, perhaps no one was. as strange as it sounds, maybe no one had filled out a missing persons report for her. how could this happen? how could someone disappear and no one miss her? maybe she was murdered and her killer did not want her to be missed? or perhaps a mermaid had died and floated to the surface.
i love forensic stories, true crime and such.. but it has to be better written.. i found myself skimming so much.. trying to get to the facts, to the story..
and the constant questions, the author added so many hypothetical situations and presents questions that don't make any sense at all..
example '' It began to look like no one was missing jane doe, perhaps no one was. as strange as it sounds, maybe no one had filled out a missing persons report for her. how could this happen? how could someone disappear and no one miss her? maybe she was murdered and her killer did not want her to be missed? or perhaps a mermaid had died and floated to the surface.
i love forensic stories, true crime and such.. but it has to be better written.. i found myself skimming so much.. trying to get to the facts, to the story..
November 21, 2013
I found myself annoyed on a regular basis while reading this book, and it had to do with the writing style. In some places, the analogies ran thick and nonsensical. This happened so often I found myself skipping paragraphs to avoid it.
In other places, text was repeated unnecessarily. For example, pages 96 & 97:
(96) In the very near future, Randy Kraft will take the long walk to the execution chamber - the last chapter of his biography already written by a California jury.
(97) The last page of Randy Kraft's biography has already been written... by a jury in Orange County.
I mean, the two paragraphs were separated by one paragraph. Poor, poor editing.
One other thing about the book - apparently by Michigan state law they could not use photographs of the actual people mentioned in the book. This was unfortunate. They did insert sample photos, sometimes several of the same type of wound.
The stories were all right once I got past the repetitiveness and the analogies, but eventually I gave up and did not finish the book.
Description:
A mother calls 911 because her child, despite a fetal monitor, stopped breathing. She didn’t know it, but the fetal monitor her doctor prescribed had a memory chip. Would the monitor’s memory chip preserve evidence of a tragic accident or a murder?
A young couple’s marriage is crumbling, but they decide to take one last family trip. She will never return home. A pool of blood suggests she died from injuries caused by an accidental fall from a boat dock. So how did she wind up face down in the lake?
For more than two decades, Dr. Stephen D. Cohle has been solving vexing forensic mysteries as the medical examiner for Kent County, Michigan. As a whole, the cases he considers represent a cross-section of crime in mid-America, often committed by a macabre cast of characters: "Jekyll and Hyde" alcoholics who turned homicidal; killers who resorted to the most bizarre methods in concealing their crimes; and the rarest species in the zoo of criminology, a two-woman team of serial killers.
Based on his work with Dr. Cohle, true-crime writer Tobin T. Buhk recounts twenty-one riveting, real-life stories, each with a unique forensic twist. Offering a glimpse into the strange sights, sounds, and smells of the county morgue, these tales of intrigue, deception, and murder will fascinate true-crime buffs, fans of CSI, and readers of mystery and detective stories.
In other places, text was repeated unnecessarily. For example, pages 96 & 97:
(96) In the very near future, Randy Kraft will take the long walk to the execution chamber - the last chapter of his biography already written by a California jury.
(97) The last page of Randy Kraft's biography has already been written... by a jury in Orange County.
I mean, the two paragraphs were separated by one paragraph. Poor, poor editing.
One other thing about the book - apparently by Michigan state law they could not use photographs of the actual people mentioned in the book. This was unfortunate. They did insert sample photos, sometimes several of the same type of wound.
The stories were all right once I got past the repetitiveness and the analogies, but eventually I gave up and did not finish the book.
Description:
A mother calls 911 because her child, despite a fetal monitor, stopped breathing. She didn’t know it, but the fetal monitor her doctor prescribed had a memory chip. Would the monitor’s memory chip preserve evidence of a tragic accident or a murder?
A young couple’s marriage is crumbling, but they decide to take one last family trip. She will never return home. A pool of blood suggests she died from injuries caused by an accidental fall from a boat dock. So how did she wind up face down in the lake?
For more than two decades, Dr. Stephen D. Cohle has been solving vexing forensic mysteries as the medical examiner for Kent County, Michigan. As a whole, the cases he considers represent a cross-section of crime in mid-America, often committed by a macabre cast of characters: "Jekyll and Hyde" alcoholics who turned homicidal; killers who resorted to the most bizarre methods in concealing their crimes; and the rarest species in the zoo of criminology, a two-woman team of serial killers.
Based on his work with Dr. Cohle, true-crime writer Tobin T. Buhk recounts twenty-one riveting, real-life stories, each with a unique forensic twist. Offering a glimpse into the strange sights, sounds, and smells of the county morgue, these tales of intrigue, deception, and murder will fascinate true-crime buffs, fans of CSI, and readers of mystery and detective stories.
February 15, 2010
This book is definitely not for the faint hearted. From plain rage murders to complicated gruesome homicides, Buhk explains how each of these crimes unfolded to their conclusions. I would say that 75% of this book was intriguing with a few minor annoyances.
While the beginning of the book had an attention grabber, the random tangents broke my focus. It also irritated me that Buhk put cliched sayings throughout various cases. When a pregnant woman is killed by a jaguar, Buhk makes the comment that both the mother and child had already left the building before the paramedics arrived. This tendency was very annoying and frustrating. Other than that, the book was definitely interesting.
While the beginning of the book had an attention grabber, the random tangents broke my focus. It also irritated me that Buhk put cliched sayings throughout various cases. When a pregnant woman is killed by a jaguar, Buhk makes the comment that both the mother and child had already left the building before the paramedics arrived. This tendency was very annoying and frustrating. Other than that, the book was definitely interesting.
January 24, 2016
Not at all bad! As the authors explain, these are not full-length treatments of true crimes, but something more akin to one swift punch in the gut after another. All kinds of gruesome situations that have to be solved by dissecting the rotten, burned, hacked and/or bullet-riddled remains of some poor person whose name may not even be known. Every story is really, really interesting and many are quite unusual. My only quibble with the book is the need for a final edit -- this is the kind of author who uses the word "mulligatawny" 5 times in the same sentence without ever substituting "soup" or "first course." It's a little distracting.
July 11, 2008
Interesting! Stories in this book are set in Michigan, where according to the book jacket, there is room for crime and plenty of places to bury bodies.
But, what do all of these stories have in common? The authors of this book are exploring the everyday world of the Kent County Morgue in western Michigan. Most of the stories were interesting -- some were intriguing such as "No Tombstone for Jack".
It's interesting to "see" the processes that the doctors, forensic anthropologists and others go through to solve the deaths of everyday people.
But, what do all of these stories have in common? The authors of this book are exploring the everyday world of the Kent County Morgue in western Michigan. Most of the stories were interesting -- some were intriguing such as "No Tombstone for Jack".
It's interesting to "see" the processes that the doctors, forensic anthropologists and others go through to solve the deaths of everyday people.
October 15, 2008
Interesting cases as covered by the ME in Kent County Michigan, which were deaths I had read in my local newspaper and thus made the cases more intriguing. There is nothing left to the imagination regarding the autopsy procedures and if you are okay with that, then I would say you would find this book interesting as reasons are revealed for the cause of death in several cases.
November 13, 2008
Hey, Mr. Buhk - I'm looking at YOU. Put down the fancy fountain pen with the purple ink. Seriously. (This is my snarky way of swaying that there is a great deal of what can only be called purple prose in this book.) The author's previous collaboration with Steven Cohle, Forensic Files, is better for its discussion of morgue operations. Like that one, this has graphic autopsy photos.
January 5, 2009
Well, I tried. Normally, this sort of thing would fascinate me, and I can see that the stories included in this book could make a good book, but this isn't it. I found it strangely disorganized, and filled with weird internal citations which were intrusive and distracting. I couldn't even finish. Blech.
January 22, 2009
For more than two decades, Dr. Stephen D. Cohle has been solving vexing forensic mysteries as the medical examiner for Kent County, Michigan. These are stories of more than 20 of his most famous, perplexing, and unbelievable cases. An interesting read, especially if you like Thomas Noguchi or the original body farm guy from Tennessee Bill Bass.
October 19, 2009
I'm a big forensic science fan (isn't everyone these days thanks to CSI and Law and Order-type shows?) so this appealed to me. Some of the stories are a bit graphic (like the one where the teenager cuts off a boy's head and skins it while being taped by a video camera...discusting) but it's a very good glimpse into the everyday goings-on of a morgue.
September 24, 2019
Hm....Well, I'd say "average." Some reviews dissed on Tobin's writing. I think his writing was "ok," but agreed -- a bit of better editing would have lowered the repetititousness througout. It was an interesting book, though, and I feel like I have had my head in the sand. All this stuff happened in Michigan???? Where have *I* been??
January 30, 2009
Okay, I just could not finish this book. I got to about page 50 and just couldn't stomach the descriptions any longer. (Don't even mention the pictures) So the 1 star isn't because it was a bad book, it is because it was a bad book for me.
December 16, 2008
The bite-sized morsels this book offers up are nothing special and there are other books in the genre that are far more engaging. I gambled on the book for a couple bucks at our book sale at work and am quitting at page 150.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales and Death's Acre are far superior.
Dead Men Do Tell Tales and Death's Acre are far superior.
March 3, 2009
It is interesting that these are all Michigan cases. Author bounces around a bit and is sometimes hard to follow; puts in unnecessary details. "Stiff" is a better book on a related subject. But I still enjoyed the book.
July 30, 2013
I am very interested in forensic science. The cases were interesting. The only real complaint I have about this book is how often the author uses the word "macabre." Could his editor not give him a thesaurus?
July 20, 2014
The content is very interesting and the autopsy photos fascinating in a morbid way, but the writing itself is hackneyed and riddled with cliches. As a nearly lifelong-Michigan resident, I was surprised how few of the crimes I was familiar with.
June 16, 2014
An enjoyable read of interesting forensic cases in Michigan. There were a few places where the court case part of stories seemed to REALLY drag on and on, but overall I enjoyed reading this.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews