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Trail of Bones: More Cases from the Files of a Forensic Anthropologist
A fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and an expert on the human skeleton, Mary H. Manhein assists law enforcement officials across the country in identifying bodies and solving criminal cases. In Trail of Bones, her much-anticipated sequel to The Bone Lady, Manhein reveals the everyday realities of forensic anthropology. Going beyond the stereotypes portrayed on television, this real-life crime scene investigator unveils a gritty, exhausting, exacting, alternately rewarding and frustrating world where teamwork supersedes individual heroics and some cases unfortunately remain unsolved.
A natural storyteller, Manhein provides gripping accounts of dozens of cases from her twenty-four-year career. Some of them are famous. She describes her involvement in the hunt for two serial killers who simultaneously terrorized the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, region for years; her efforts to recover the remains of the seven astronauts killed in the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003; and her ultimately successful struggle to identify the beheaded toddler known for years as Precious Doe. Less well-known but equally compelling are cases involving the remains of a Korean War soldier buried for more than forty years and the mystery of “Mardi Gras Man,” who was wearing a string of plastic beads when his body was discovered.
Manhein describes how the increased popularity of tattoos has aided her work and how forensic science has labored to expose frauds―including a fake “big foot” track she examined from Louisiana's Kisatchie National Forest. She also shares ambitious plans to create a database of biological and DNA profiles of all of the state's missing and unidentified persons.
Possessing both compassion and tenacity, Mary Manhein has an extraordinary gift for telling a life story through bones. Trail of Bones takes readers on an entertaining and educating walk in the shoes of this remarkable scientist who has dedicated her life to providing justice for those no longer able to speak for themselves.
A natural storyteller, Manhein provides gripping accounts of dozens of cases from her twenty-four-year career. Some of them are famous. She describes her involvement in the hunt for two serial killers who simultaneously terrorized the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, region for years; her efforts to recover the remains of the seven astronauts killed in the Columbia space shuttle crash in 2003; and her ultimately successful struggle to identify the beheaded toddler known for years as Precious Doe. Less well-known but equally compelling are cases involving the remains of a Korean War soldier buried for more than forty years and the mystery of “Mardi Gras Man,” who was wearing a string of plastic beads when his body was discovered.
Manhein describes how the increased popularity of tattoos has aided her work and how forensic science has labored to expose frauds―including a fake “big foot” track she examined from Louisiana's Kisatchie National Forest. She also shares ambitious plans to create a database of biological and DNA profiles of all of the state's missing and unidentified persons.
Possessing both compassion and tenacity, Mary Manhein has an extraordinary gift for telling a life story through bones. Trail of Bones takes readers on an entertaining and educating walk in the shoes of this remarkable scientist who has dedicated her life to providing justice for those no longer able to speak for themselves.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2005
4 people are currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
Mary H. Manhein
16 books41 followersMary H. Manhein is a forensic anthropologist. She is the retired creator and director of Louisiana State University’s Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) Laboratory, and former deputy coroner of East Baton Rouge Parish. Manhein has used her expertise to help law enforcement agents - locally, nationally, and internationally - solve their most perplexing mysteries.
Managing Member of Os Liber Press LLC Publishing Company, Manhein is the author of three non-fiction books on forensic anthropology: The Bone Lady, Trail of Bones, Bone Remains; author of the novel Floating Souls, The Canal Murders; co-author of award winning non-fiction account Fragile Grounds, Louisiana’s Endangered Cemeteries; and author of Claire Carter, Bone Detective: The Mystery of the Bones in the Drainpipe, the first book in a new series for young readers at the 10-14 reading level.
“Through the series, young readers will be introduced to the skeleton and all the many things we can learn from both human and animal bones, such as: the impact of disease and trauma; determination of age, sex and ancestry; and differentiation of species. Readers will also learn about the diverse people of Louisiana, as well as the abundant and unique flora and fauna of our state. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to start a children’s book series based on my experiences over the last 30 years in the field of forensic science, and I am thrilled to embark with eager young readers on the adventures of Claire Carter, Bone Detective.” - Mary H. Manhein
Managing Member of Os Liber Press LLC Publishing Company, Manhein is the author of three non-fiction books on forensic anthropology: The Bone Lady, Trail of Bones, Bone Remains; author of the novel Floating Souls, The Canal Murders; co-author of award winning non-fiction account Fragile Grounds, Louisiana’s Endangered Cemeteries; and author of Claire Carter, Bone Detective: The Mystery of the Bones in the Drainpipe, the first book in a new series for young readers at the 10-14 reading level.
“Through the series, young readers will be introduced to the skeleton and all the many things we can learn from both human and animal bones, such as: the impact of disease and trauma; determination of age, sex and ancestry; and differentiation of species. Readers will also learn about the diverse people of Louisiana, as well as the abundant and unique flora and fauna of our state. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to start a children’s book series based on my experiences over the last 30 years in the field of forensic science, and I am thrilled to embark with eager young readers on the adventures of Claire Carter, Bone Detective.” - Mary H. Manhein
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 7, 2018
Mary Manhein is a (now retired) forensic anthropologist whose expertise helped identify the seven Challenger disaster astronauts. Before she retired she operated out of Louisiana and her accounts of her work are fascinating. Her narration is extremely straightforward-if you are expecting elaborate whodunits prepare for disappointment this book is fact not fiction. And yes some victims are never identified, despite her best efforts-again we are dealing with reality here. There are very interesting insights into the science of identifying human remains, a grim but necessary task.
November 21, 2017
A neat way to scratch the surface of forensic anthropology! I’ve taken a few classes with Mary Manhein, and I️ love how she talks about these cases.
April 6, 2021
The author is a forensic anthropologist with decades of experience dealing with corpses and crime scenes. In this book she describes, in numerous short chapters, her work and what it constitutes, how her department cooperates with other law enforcement agencies and what the workflow is like, cases she's covered worth mentioning, etc.
The majority of cases involve her looking for scattered and decomposing/decomposed body parts, then attempting to identify the victim, from things like telling skeletal attributes (e.g. male vs female hipbone, young vs old skull/teeth, Caucasian vs Asian skull, etc) and other clues, so that the police can proceed with solving the case. Essentially, this is what the entire book is about: victim identification. There is heavy focus on facial reconstruction and its purported effectiveness.
The author doesn't detail each case in its entirety; she mostly just describes the parts in which she's involved, then stops. Some times she briefly mentions the outcome of the case (e.g. victim still unknown or body still unclaimed, murderer still at large, perpetrator caught & later died in prison, etc), but other times she doesn't (e.g. "I let the police take it from there..." then chapter ends), so if you want to know more, you have to google. (I only managed to find search results on ~4-5 cases she talked about though.)
I would have given this a higher rating if not for the numerous spelling/grammatical errors I came across (e.g. "hist" instead of "his", "shattered" instead of "shuddered", missing prepositions, etc). One of the errors even involved misspelling the victim's name: "Marie" was misspelled as "Maria" in Erica Michelle Marie Green's name. I only found out because I googled to find out more about this case (since the author didn't even tell us how the toddler ended up getting beheaded).
Even though the author doesn't tell us much about each case aside from her involvement in it, some still managed to make an emotional impact: e.g. the 2 children who ended up dead because the system failed to catch their abuse, the still-unclaimed body of a man with a whole body full of nautical tattoos, etc.
If you enjoy a walk on the macabre side while doing a bit of sleuthing, this book might be worth picking up. Otherwise, it's not very compelling and the writing leaves much to be desired.
The majority of cases involve her looking for scattered and decomposing/decomposed body parts, then attempting to identify the victim, from things like telling skeletal attributes (e.g. male vs female hipbone, young vs old skull/teeth, Caucasian vs Asian skull, etc) and other clues, so that the police can proceed with solving the case. Essentially, this is what the entire book is about: victim identification. There is heavy focus on facial reconstruction and its purported effectiveness.
The author doesn't detail each case in its entirety; she mostly just describes the parts in which she's involved, then stops. Some times she briefly mentions the outcome of the case (e.g. victim still unknown or body still unclaimed, murderer still at large, perpetrator caught & later died in prison, etc), but other times she doesn't (e.g. "I let the police take it from there..." then chapter ends), so if you want to know more, you have to google. (I only managed to find search results on ~4-5 cases she talked about though.)
I would have given this a higher rating if not for the numerous spelling/grammatical errors I came across (e.g. "hist" instead of "his", "shattered" instead of "shuddered", missing prepositions, etc). One of the errors even involved misspelling the victim's name: "Marie" was misspelled as "Maria" in Erica Michelle Marie Green's name. I only found out because I googled to find out more about this case (since the author didn't even tell us how the toddler ended up getting beheaded).
Even though the author doesn't tell us much about each case aside from her involvement in it, some still managed to make an emotional impact: e.g. the 2 children who ended up dead because the system failed to catch their abuse, the still-unclaimed body of a man with a whole body full of nautical tattoos, etc.
If you enjoy a walk on the macabre side while doing a bit of sleuthing, this book might be worth picking up. Otherwise, it's not very compelling and the writing leaves much to be desired.
January 6, 2011
I've read other non fiction books about forensic anthropology cases, and they were all more satisfying than this one. Most of her cases left me with more questions than answers, even when the bodies were identified.
The writing style, too, was not to my taste. It didn't flow.
An example in one chapter is that she spends several paragraphs talking about how she was introduced to the burial site and her assessment. Then, in a new paragraph she says "I quickly assessed the situation" which she followed two sentences later with the sentence "Yet my archaeological training had taught me that haste makes waste"
Why say you assessed the situation when you spent paragraphs writing about your assessment of the situation? Why use the word quickly when you say haste makes waste a few sentences later?
In the chapter about Precious Doe the author ends by saying Precious was identified and that she attended the funeral. A paragraph or two about how she died would have provided better closure to the chapter.
It was a short book, and some of the cases were okay, but I think I will quickly forget that I ever read it.
The writing style, too, was not to my taste. It didn't flow.
An example in one chapter is that she spends several paragraphs talking about how she was introduced to the burial site and her assessment. Then, in a new paragraph she says "I quickly assessed the situation" which she followed two sentences later with the sentence "Yet my archaeological training had taught me that haste makes waste"
Why say you assessed the situation when you spent paragraphs writing about your assessment of the situation? Why use the word quickly when you say haste makes waste a few sentences later?
In the chapter about Precious Doe the author ends by saying Precious was identified and that she attended the funeral. A paragraph or two about how she died would have provided better closure to the chapter.
It was a short book, and some of the cases were okay, but I think I will quickly forget that I ever read it.
April 16, 2015
There wasn't really anything wrong with this book, but something didn't feel right, as if the short accounts were incomplete. Some good information. Some were heavy, especially those involving kids. Too many went unsolved. I do enjoy learning how new technology and techniques help catch criminals. But there really didn't seem to be much new here.
May 24, 2020
I enjoyed the book. It seems like you are just sitting down with Mary and she is just talking to you about her cases.
June 11, 2022
Stories were interesting, but some didn't have the details of the cases, and almost none had any closure. Perhaps this is on purpose, or the nature of the job, but as a book, I wish I knew how each of the cases turned out.
May 26, 2018
Though I really love reading about forensic anthropology, Mary Manheim's writing leaves me rather cold. She may be an excellent forensic anthropologist but she is not a great writer.
February 1, 2024
this left me feeling unfilled and wanting more
January 2, 2017
I first have to say that this woman is someone I would want at my dinner table. Her work sounds awesome and fantastic, and she does a great service to the state of Louisiana and to the victims and their families. This book makes me want to get a degree in forensic anthropology so I can do this kind of work. It makes me squeal on the inside with delight because it's about solving mysteries...yet I probably shouldn't feel any joy about dealing with dead people.
Now for the bad part:
I did enjoy reading the book, but sometimes things were repeated in multiple chapters or they felt out of place. It's along the lines of "Here I am creating an emotional story--and here's some scientific information that disrupts the building of pathos." Sometimes Manhein does a great job explaining the scientific terms, but at other times, I have no idea what she's talking about. Considering it's a book aimed at a general audience, I think it would have benefited from more layman's terms.
In general, each chapter focuses on a specific case study or set of specific case studies that have similarities. The stories reminded me a lot of Bones the TV series even though the author said that her job wasn't like what people see on TV. I liked the stories, but it would've been nice to have the last few stories fleshed out. When she discusses the serial killer cases, it feels like she rushes through it. Perhaps she did that because serial killers are gruesome and she didn't want to freak out her audience, or perhaps she did it because she didn't have all of the story but only some of it.
This book was particularly cool for me since I went to LSU, and I used to drive by the lakes and Nicholson often. I lived close to those areas. I even worked by the lakes, which, by the way, the sorority houses and the freshmen sorority dorm are right by those lakes. Scary, really. My brain is slightly amazed and yet grossed out that a serial killer was attacking women in my community (but that was before I moved there). Students actually somewhat talk about the serial killer on campus. We just know that there was one and that's why you shouldn't run the lakes at night or so the advice goes. A lot of people say "Oh, the killer was caught. It's safe now, but you should still use the buddy system." Manhein names the women that the serial killers attacked, so it feels more personal than the warning people gave us on campus.
The Louisiana aspect of the book was also cool for me. It felt like a piece of home, but I wish she had explained more about the way Louisiana's climate affects body decomposition--though that may be an entirely different book.
I would recommend this book if you like to watch Bones and/or have an interest in Louisiana.
Now for the bad part:
I did enjoy reading the book, but sometimes things were repeated in multiple chapters or they felt out of place. It's along the lines of "Here I am creating an emotional story--and here's some scientific information that disrupts the building of pathos." Sometimes Manhein does a great job explaining the scientific terms, but at other times, I have no idea what she's talking about. Considering it's a book aimed at a general audience, I think it would have benefited from more layman's terms.
In general, each chapter focuses on a specific case study or set of specific case studies that have similarities. The stories reminded me a lot of Bones the TV series even though the author said that her job wasn't like what people see on TV. I liked the stories, but it would've been nice to have the last few stories fleshed out. When she discusses the serial killer cases, it feels like she rushes through it. Perhaps she did that because serial killers are gruesome and she didn't want to freak out her audience, or perhaps she did it because she didn't have all of the story but only some of it.
This book was particularly cool for me since I went to LSU, and I used to drive by the lakes and Nicholson often. I lived close to those areas. I even worked by the lakes, which, by the way, the sorority houses and the freshmen sorority dorm are right by those lakes. Scary, really. My brain is slightly amazed and yet grossed out that a serial killer was attacking women in my community (but that was before I moved there). Students actually somewhat talk about the serial killer on campus. We just know that there was one and that's why you shouldn't run the lakes at night or so the advice goes. A lot of people say "Oh, the killer was caught. It's safe now, but you should still use the buddy system." Manhein names the women that the serial killers attacked, so it feels more personal than the warning people gave us on campus.
The Louisiana aspect of the book was also cool for me. It felt like a piece of home, but I wish she had explained more about the way Louisiana's climate affects body decomposition--though that may be an entirely different book.
I would recommend this book if you like to watch Bones and/or have an interest in Louisiana.
March 10, 2010
Ok. So this woman is everything that I want to be in life. She has the career of my dreams, she is obviously smart and competent enough to carry out the duties of her job, she gets called in to help put faces and maybe names to the dead... I wish I was her! But... she cannot write. I enjoyed the few technical details that she included about forensic anthropology and I also liked hearing about real life cases (most of them went unsolved in this particular collection). What I didn't like was the overdramatic emotional portraits she made about people and social problems. She glorified people (perhaps rightly so) in a way that took away from the actual telling of the story. I know that soldiers are heroes... I don't need it beaten into my head as I am reading a description of their literal bones. It felt more political and calculated than what I believed her to be really feeling anyway... The other thing that really bothered me was how she continually gave herself credit for everything. I mean, jeesh, you are obviously amazing at what you do, you wrote a book about it, we know! I suppose what it really comes down to is that I don't like reading about someone else's cliched emotions and jilted writing. I just barely finished this one despite its short length and what should have been incredibly interesting subject material.
March 27, 2008
Here's what I love about forensic anthropology. I read this in the preface this morning.
'I can do nothing to bring back the dead, but I can help provide justice for those who can no longer speak for themselves. I am an advocate for the victims. I examine their bones to make sense out of who they are and to try to determine what happened to them in their last few moments before death. I strive to tell their life story from their bones.'
I quite enjoyed this book. Each case was a true story, but the author did not give the victim's names. This was a very easy non-fiction read, and I learned a lot from it.
'I can do nothing to bring back the dead, but I can help provide justice for those who can no longer speak for themselves. I am an advocate for the victims. I examine their bones to make sense out of who they are and to try to determine what happened to them in their last few moments before death. I strive to tell their life story from their bones.'
I quite enjoyed this book. Each case was a true story, but the author did not give the victim's names. This was a very easy non-fiction read, and I learned a lot from it.
October 9, 2011
I read another book published by this author some years back and liked it very much. I found this book in the library and realized instantly that I had to read it. More tails of body remains from true murder victims and victims of tragedy. If you have not read 'The Bone Lady' by the same author and you like reading this kind of 'how did they figure that out' type of book, then you have to read these two books. Also, try 'Stiff' by Mary Roach, which is also very similar in reading and good. This book is a very quick read and will only take you a day to finish once you've started because it is so interesting.
November 8, 2008
Leave it to me to pick something so cheerful. This is a series of short case studies from one of the leading forensic anthropoligists in the field. Basically, her work involves reconstructing cases based on what the bones say about the victim. It's a fascinating field of study, had I two or three lifetimes, I'd have gone into it myself. The stories are a bit brief, I would like a bit more of the story and more description of the processes and studies. however, it's overall a fascinating look into crimesolving and science, and the way the dead speak.
May 8, 2016
I'm crazy for anything related to anthropology and, more specifically, forensic anthropology, and while I have no doubts that Mary H. Manheim is an amazing anthropologist, she is not an engaging writer. One of the blurbs on the back of the book says "she never loses sight of her main intention, the spinning of a good story," but no good stories exist - the narratives are truncated, the education is for the entirely uninformed, and the conclusions are cliche. I really wanted to like this book, and I was hoping to follow it up with Manheim's 'The Bone Lady,' but now I'm not so sure I will.
September 26, 2007
Manhein returns to her more recent cases, including the serial killers that terrorized Louisiana.
An improvement on her last book ( The Bone Lady), but it's still short and feels unfulfilling.
An improvement on her last book ( The Bone Lady), but it's still short and feels unfulfilling.
February 24, 2010
Interesting stories, but the author's writing style is stilted. I skipped many sections. Her coverage of the Baton Rouge serial killings was limited and unsatisfying. Manheim would have been well served by a ghostwriter.
July 7, 2011
Very interesting. Brought back a lot of osteology knowledge. I wish she had gone into more detail about what happened with the cases, how the people died, etc. I guess that's not really part of her story though. I liked the writing style, and actually finished the book in a few hours.
March 13, 2017
Fascinating study of Mary Manheim and her FACES lab at Louisiana State University.
June 27, 2009
This "sequel" to her first book is so much better. More forensic details and a lot more story. I enjoyed it.
July 4, 2009
ok, did not read the whole thing
October 31, 2015
I will definitely be reading her other books!
January 12, 2013
I love "The Bone Lady" and her books. Could use a bit more humor, but I really enjoyed this book.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews