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I've Seen Dead People: Diary of a Deputy Coroner

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DEATH, FEAR, LOVE, EMOTIONS, SPIRITS Step inside the mind of Donna Francart, a former deputy coroner, as she describes to you her years of medicolegal death investigations. What began as her personal diary written to herself, her way of debriefing, began to form a heartbeat of it's own. She has allowed her innermost thoughts to be shared, with you, Of the fears, tears, and anger she battled with, along the way and the profound lessons she learned, not only from the dead but also from the living. Contains mature themes.

191 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2021

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Donna Francart

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5 stars
36 (26%)
4 stars
33 (23%)
3 stars
34 (24%)
2 stars
17 (12%)
1 star
18 (13%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Petra X.
2,455 reviews35.8k followers
February 24, 2022
I really didn't enjoy this book. It was a real struggle to read. I had thought it was a book about being a coroner, dealing with cases of unusual or unexpected deaths. But it is more dealing with the dead who won't lie down and stay dead. There is her dog who has crossed the rainbow bridge but causes holes to appear in her pants. The clock that chimes when this person who has just died is being removed from her house. The ghost that haunts her she took a picture of that disappeared but keeps reappearing on her phone. And her friend who can communicate with the dead and taught the author to say 'go to the light' to get rid of ghosts.

The author said she was a medical professional. But she seems to give no quarter to science at all. It's all religion, psychics, strange coincidences, and the dead trying to send messages to the living but who still frighten her.

Underpinning the whole book is that the author was fired from her job four years after making official complaints of non-stop sexual abuse verbal and physical from her boss, who was not found culpable, she says all the old boys stick together - and they do - and she was told therapy might help. Her bitterness at losing this abuse case and being fired underpins the whole book.

Which I didn't finish. I was in striking distance of the end until I read, 'the odour of death lingerered. Someone had paid me a visit. I had to light a candle to make the smell." I was overwhelmed by her bitterness, her panic attacks, her self-absorbtion, her belief not only in an afterlife but one where the dearly departed hang around here until dismissed with 'go to the light'. As she says in her book, 'pardon me this is my diary' and so it is, too much author and too little coroner.

If you have a great belief in the afterlife, and you think I am insensitive or won't recognise it, then this might be the book for you. If however, you are interested in the work of a coroner, it probably isn't.
Profile Image for Kirsti.
2,931 reviews127 followers
August 20, 2022
Great title, but the author struggled with shaping the material.

This is a revenge book: Francart got fired, after reporting years of sexual harassment and abuse from a superior, because people at her job believed she was writing a book about her work. She wasn't, but she decided to write one since she suddenly had free time. (Her abuser eventually resigned, but not until after she left the job. It sounds as if nobody was willing or able to back up Francart's complaints, but after she left another person or people reported other bad behavior.)

A deputy coroner is someone who arrives at a death scene, evaluates the corpse for injuries, takes samples to send to toxicology, and talks with the decedent's family members. Francart had worked in the travel industry for many years but started volunteering for the coroner's office. She had just gone through a divorce, she had two sons to care for, and she needed something meaningful to fill the weekends when she didn't see them. Eventually she got a full-time job in a funeral home and continued to volunteer for the coroner on weekends.

The author believes in ghosts (including ghosts of pets), poltergeists, reincarnation, psychics, guardian angels, angel numbers, and many other signs and portents. I don't share those beliefs, but maybe I would if I'd had her experiences in work and life. Francart has been abused and assaulted at many times in her life, and I hope she's able to find peace. At the time of writing, she was hanging out with members of a motorcycle club and felt respected and protected.

I wish there had been more material about her work for the funeral home and the coroner and less about psychics and spirits. Also, I wish her editor had stripped the clichés out of the book and encouraged Francart to find better words than "wonderful" and "amazing" to describe her own mother.
Profile Image for The Horror Report -Angela.
55 reviews3 followers
June 21, 2021
I jumped at the chance to read this when I saw it. I figured it would be extremely interesting to read about the cases the deputy coroner had worked and how she dealt with that kind of job, etc. And it turned out to be that, sort of.

Don’t get me wrong, the author talks about cases she worked all through the book. But it’s more like she grazes over the case, the decedent and the details and fills the pages with her own personal faiths and beliefs.

Now, believe me, these stories could have been a lot more detailed. But you have to remember this is the deputy coroner’s diary. She’s not telling a story per se. This is a collection of her thoughts and feelings expressed in a stream of consciousness writing style. And while the true crime material was extremely interesting, it was overshadowed and lost in the text because of three things in my opinion.

I received a hard copy of this book. Beautifully bound and covered with a fantastic image and an easy-to-read title. But then I opened the book and I immediately saw that it had been printed in double line spacing format. This is the kind of spacing you use when you are printing a draft that is going to be proofread or edited because it leaves a lot of space for the various people to jot down notes. Unfortunately, it seems that this particular part of the writing process was never done. This book was riddled with grammatical errors. Things like no punctuation being used at the end of a paragraph or the lack of using commas or semicolons. Words are missing from sentences a lot. Toward the end of the book the author is purposely evasive and frankly, those chapters just don’t seem to make much sense. The way the stories are grouped together makes no sense. Sometimes there isn’t even a skipped line to let you know it’s a new story. No indents. It truly seems like she typed this up day by day and then just sent it to be published. And you can tell by the hardback cover and paper that a lot was invested in this venture. But it wouldn’t have taken anything to just click the spell check/grammar check option, and that would have solved a lot of the complaints I have.

The worst part is that all that kind of stuff takes away from the material of the book, it’s content and literary value. Not to mention that it becomes somewhat frustrating and annoying for the reader. Being ultra-repetitive is a good way to annoy your readers as well. I understand that this is a woman’s diary. Her own personal private thoughts. Nothing is really date stamped, it’s just the title of a chapter and then the content of said chapter. Which is not what I am meaning really when I talk about being repetitive. There was one theme other than death that was continuously part of the book. And that was religion. God. Not only did she mention God over and over, she kept bringing up ghosts, spirits, psychics and mediums. It seemed to be on almost every page. By the end, reading the last few chapters felt like I was at church getting preached at. I’m not a fan of that kind of feeling. And it’s not that I don’t believe her claims of paranormal activity. That’s not it at all. I just happen to think that she has way more than the average believer has in the quantity of examples of this activity. So, that leads me to question the validity of all her claims. As so often is the case, she really has no proof that these paranormal or spiritual interactions ever took place.

Another thing that I found interesting was her profound belief in her religion and things coming from “the other side” even though she’s a medical professional and as such usually thought to believe heavily on scientific data. Yet in her expression of her private thoughts, this does not seem to be the case. In fact, she seems to focus very heavily on things that not only cannot be proven but also many things that probably have some kind of rational explanation. Again, I’m not saying these things did not happen. I am only saying that it could be possible some of these “spiritual encounters” could be rationally explained.

And yet, I was willing to forgive all of that and continue to read the book with an open mind. But then came the sarcastic comments and complaints about the deceased. Suddenly she would go from a caring and compassionate community healthcare servant into a hardened and cold medical professional that never sees PEOPLE, only injuries, sickness and death. It was as if the dark, gruesome and unattractive side of the profession were finally outed and put right in your face.

But you have to understand, the people that choose these professions, they see the worst of what humanity has to offer. How would you expect someone deal with that and do their job effectively at the same time without getting burned out or overwhelmed by the emotional roller coaster they endure? A lot of people turn to comedy and a kind of detached coldness in order to deal with the horrors they see every day. It’s hard for people to understand that without having been in that position themselves. I have a small amount of insight as my father was a police officer and I grew up around all facets of law enforcement and the judicial system.

It’s hard for these professionals to harbor the burden of the terrors that all manners of society are capable of. It’s difficult to not let emotions get involved and it’s hard to not get a jaded view of the world. Don’t discount the coping mechanisms that people employ to maintain their sanity and some semblance of a normal life when, let’s face it, dealing with death every day isn’t the norm. That is a specialized area that only certain types of people can handle working in.

This book allows a look into the mind of the Deputy Coroner. It’s not really about the cases but instead, it’s about how those cases affect the coroner. It also shows that as someone in such a position they don’t always know how things end. That’s hard to handle too.

It’s an interesting look into the thoughts of a coroner but it’s not for those who are really sensitive about death. If you can’t handle the lighter side of things being pointed out in a time of heart wrenching seriousness, then you may not like this read. However, if you are looking for an honest expression of what one person experienced, then you would definitely find this an interesting book. If you do read this, allow the material to sink in for a little bit before rendering judgement. Allow time for processing of what you are actually reading. This is not a fiction novel. This is truth as one deputy coroner sees it. Remember, she’s doing a job almost nobody wants to do. Might be worthwhile to give her some of your time and respect.

RATINGS
4/5 Stars
Profile Image for Heather.
88 reviews3 followers
October 1, 2023
You have to remember, this was not written by an author. This was a woman's thoughts on her own personal experiences. It was interesting and took bravery.
Profile Image for Kade Gulluscio.
975 reviews64 followers
November 9, 2022
I have such mixed feelings about this one. I listened to it on audiobook, which i think ultimately helped in this case. HOWEVER, the author was ALL OVER THE PLACE in this book. That's the nicest way I can put it. I felt like this book was my adhd in book form, if that makes sense.

The book had amazing potential to be great. The stories the author told were unique and interesting at times, but the book itself just wasn't good. I think she may have benefitted from a professional editor and someone to help gather her story into a better, more professional "story setup."

30 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2021
Eye opening

You don't think about the people who collect your dead body after you are done with it. Today I do think of these dedicated people and thank them in advance since I can't thank them at the time. I hope I have my nightie on, that I am not on the toilet, and I have my pull ups firmly secured. I will be 82 soon so my time is near.
Profile Image for Nichola.
808 reviews4 followers
July 1, 2022
Well that was a waste of time.

I don't want to read a book about self justification or Christian beliefs if I want to read about the experiences of working as a coroner.

Sigh. There is a reader for this book but I am decidedly not it.
Profile Image for Gregg  Lines.
180 reviews2 followers
November 21, 2023
I was disappointed with this one. After having read Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty and Stiff by Mary Roach, I was hoping for another good look into the death industry. What I discovered was an odd mix of paranormal claims, Christian dogma, and rambling about bosses. To be fair, what the author experienced in the way of sexual harassment is not acceptable or to be made light of; however, this book felt like an odd way to vent her feelings of frustration about that whilst discussing her experiences working with the coroner's office and funeral homes. An open letter about the harassment could have achieved that. I felt like here in this book she would have been better off focusing on interesting cases and helping readers learn about the quotidian happenings in the lives of coroners instead of combining it all with her discussion of sexual harassment.

I think the other thing that was a bit jarring was how often the book went into the paranormal/spiritual realm. Especially for readers who approach this wanting to learn more about the practicalities / science involved in forensic science and the mortuary field, it seemed unprofessional and, at times, unhinged.

In fairness to the title, the book reads more like a diary than the other books previously mentioned. It helps explain the style of writing and the musing voice that is created. Were it her journal just for herself that would be one thing; but in my opinion her editors should have tried to smooth it out and make it a more comprehensive collection. The constant use of "my takeaway" also got very tiring by the end.

I think this would be a more enjoyable read for those who like Christian near death experience narratives or discussions of the paranormal. The book does go into some of the cases that she worked, and it's interesting to hear how the police and coroners work together. I also liked the focus on helping the families affected by the death of a loved one.

For those who are more interested in the death industry and forensic science, I think there are other books more worth your time.
Profile Image for Laura Slack.
10 reviews1 follower
March 4, 2024
I wanted a book about what it’s like being a deputy coroner. Instead I got a religious/spiritual book topped with total bitterness over losing a job. While I obviously don’t condone sexual harassment in the workplace in anyway, I didn’t buy this book to read about God, mediums and horrible bosses, I bought it to read about being a deputy coroner. This was a huge miss for me.
Profile Image for Sarah.
89 reviews
October 29, 2024
Enjoyed the stories about her calls

It was nice to be able to read about her calls all throughout her career. Usually it’s just I picked up a seventy year old and that it’s, you never get the coroners feelings about there job.
Profile Image for Kelly Boekeloo.
5 reviews
January 15, 2025
I thought this book gave great insight into the brain of a deputy coroner. It was knowledgeable, sad, honest, and funny. It gave me a lot of perspective about how one approaches this career and handles the job with fidelity and empathy.
Profile Image for Lou-ann.
444 reviews2 followers
Read
June 17, 2023
DNF @ 20%

This wasn't it. I reallllly want to read a memoir by a coroner who doesn't add religion to the mix
Profile Image for Vicky Taylor.
7 reviews
January 29, 2024
Didn't complete, found it focused far more on the author's spirituality and religion than the actual role of Deputy Coroner
Profile Image for Jenny B.
4 reviews
June 28, 2024
Real

This book was so real, you could feel the author’s compassion, sadness and pain. I enjoyed the peek into a profession I will not be a part of. Alive, at least.
Profile Image for LibraryLove.
18 reviews
September 19, 2022
The writing was very interesting and descriptive concerning her job as a coroner. But throwing in the paranormal aspect of it became overpowering, unbelievable, and annoying. I wasn't sure if I was reading a memoir or fiction, and it needed some editing, because the second half was a mixed bag of patchwork.

The coroner author's descriptions about her job are extremely believable, sometimes gross, but also very educational. She throws in her spiritual beliefs, claiming to interact with spirits, believing every noise, feather, or penny is a spirit giving us a sign. She briefly mentions her boss's sexual harassment, but never intertwines it into the story until briefly at the end. I had to skip through most the end of the book, due to the unrelated rambling and rants.

Having been a paranormal investigator, 99.9% of "signs" can be debunked by something in the physical world. Things that can't be explained need physical proof, and the author had NONE. We tell ourselves feathers and sounds are signs to make ourselves feel better, while ignoring the feather someone just brought in off of their shoe from the parking lot. But in this book, the author considers EVERYTHING a sign without any consideration of outside sources. It made the reading unenjoyable.

Profile Image for sequoia spirit.
199 reviews10 followers
February 16, 2021
this was an easy read, started it last night, finished today.. i would love to give it 5 stars, on subject matter alone, i would.. i love the subject matter.. the snippets into the lives and deaths of people, and the paranormal aspect of it..

but the issues i had were with the writing.. it's mediocre.. most of it is almost written in points to remember, to elaborate later.. but there is little elaboration.. there are so many interesting occurrences and happenings that i want to hear more.. not just simply stating a fact.. it left me wanting so much more..

i get it, this is her diary.. so if that is how she writes, okay.. but if she wants to share her stories, well.. share! more! i for one, am hungry for more..
2 reviews
March 24, 2021
This book was intriguing! Donna kept me wanting MORE. I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day! She made me feel like I was there with her, and I felt so many different emotions. Excellent read and I highly recommend it. Although I am not ready to leave this earth, I believe that when I do, I will be greeted by my loved ones.
Profile Image for Grace Galvan.
126 reviews
March 20, 2022
It was an ok book. It was more spiritual Christian based than I would like. I get it started out as a diary for Donna to process what she has seen and experienced. I was so mad at the boys club treatment she endured. I thought it was going to be more gory. It's book #2/11 for my year of women bios.
Profile Image for Betty Harris.
110 reviews1 follower
February 14, 2022
Enjoyed her perspective of her job as deputy coroner and all the details. Had to give her points off for her continual return to her problems and charges with her boss. Understand the huge problem it was/is but it definitely took from my enjoyment of the book.
Profile Image for Amy K.
482 reviews1 follower
December 9, 2022
Interesting for the purpose of approaching life and to not take things for granted. I liked the endiof each chapter with her takeaways. This book has multiple motives and I reads more like a journal, which it is.
Profile Image for Bec.
18 reviews
June 8, 2021
Fantastic Read

Amazing book, so interesting reading about death from a different perspective. Recommend this to anyone who wants a book they can’t put down!
7 reviews1 follower
May 28, 2021
Worthwhile read

Would have given more stars if the format were fixed. This is a very intense writer. Death is ugly. Not for children. Grief has to be resolved. Life goes on.
Profile Image for Tara.
71 reviews
June 28, 2021
It’s her diary. Remember that. Lots of typos, Good content about her experiences, but her feelings about her work relationships pull away from that. Formatting is weird, also. Overall enjoyable
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