UNNATURAL CAUSES

by Richard Shepard

(December, 2019)

UNNATURAL CAUSES by the English forensic pathologist Richard Shepherd (translated into Swedish as Onaturlig död. Liv och död - en rättspatologs memoarer).

This is a warm and reflective autobiographical book, covering many internationally significant cases from the author's long career.

Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, while enjoying a well-deserved break amidst the festive chaos, I found myself chatting with my dear and highly respected friend, Prof PW. Post-glühwein-ish, we somehow found ourselves attempting to summarise the international developments in our field and ended up discussing the idea of the "psychological autopsy" – a concept still in its infancy here in Sweden. I reckon this ties in nicely with the themes of Shepherd's book.

Forensic Medicine isn’t just about postmortems, autopsies, or microscopes. It’s much broader, holding up in court despite personal limitations and the often murky fog of investigative slip-ups, incomplete reports, and sketchy crime scene documentation. It’s about getting the context right—going through medical, psychiatric, and legal records, notes, letters, diaries, anything that sheds light on a case. And in court, amidst all the uncertainties, it’s about delivering conclusions "beyond reasonable doubt" about the cause of death.

On top of all that, there’s the delicate task of handling grieving families with care and compassion. And all the while, trying to keep your own mental health intact – a point Richard Shepherd touches on towards the end, describing the cumulative strain, like a slow-burn PTSD, that comes with years of tough experiences and constant stress.

This is a deeply personal and truly remarkable book.