Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd – A must read!

As a busy parent, I do not get to read as much as I used to. This does make me sad and actually as we entered into a new year, I made damn sure that I had at least one goal for the next 365 days. And that was quite simply, to read more. For Christmas, rather aptly, my Husband bought me a new book and I have to say, he hit the nail on the head with it. It was Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd and after reading the synopsis, I could not wait to start flicking through those pages.

A booklover from fifteen

Since the age of 15 and I signed up to my local library, I evolved into a bookworm. I cannot remember being an intense reader before that age. But I vividly remember 15 being ‘the age’ when I was rarely seen without my nose in a book. Everywhere I went, I had a book in my hand. Whether I was walking to the school, the local store and shamefully admitting, as I walked across the road! I am just as surprised as you that I am still here because that is so careless. However, bookworms out there might be able to relate a little.

Thankfully, nowadays, I am more aware of my surroundings and can just about tear myself out of the story for a few moments to adhere to road safety! But shamefully, that wasn’t always my focus. I never wanted to remove myself from those pages. And that exact feeling is how Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd makes me feel.

An intense fascination with forensics

I have always had an intense interest in forensics and pathology. In fact, I myself wanted to be a Forensic Pathologist, however, life being life, it just wasn’t in the stars for me. But the love for it is still very must active and there. My keenness for the subject i.e pathology, biology, human anatomy, criminology and of course, forensics goes back as far as I can remember. At 15 I applied, through my school, to go to the Lisnasharragh Police Station here in Northern Ireland for work experience. It did not disappoint. I absolutely loved it.

We spent a few days in Gardnaville, which is where young recruits go to train before qualifying as new Police Officers. It included getting us involved in road runs, learning how to perform arrests as an officer and civil arrests as a civilian and so much more. From there, we spent some time at the Forensic Headquarters, which is where I shined {and perhaps smiled a little too much!}. It was just ‘my place’, you know? I loved looking at all of the specimens i.e. body parts etc that they had stored in the fridge within the Forensics Lab. None of it was recent evidence but more there {nowadays} for educational purposes.

The guys taking us, at the time, I remember them looking around the small group to see who would go pale first. I was the last person standing and loving every second. Analysing, through the glass jar and murky fluids at the specimen inside. Whether it was a finger that still had pink nail varnish on the nail, that was found in an alleyway. Or the heel of a shoe, with the heel of the charred foot still attached from a man, found burnt to death in a skip, I loved it all. Nothing phased me. And the same applies to this day.

Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd

This was my first mutual connection with Dr Richard Shepherd as I read his book. His excitement for the job, his experiences over the years, how they made him feel and how I could understand where he was coming from. How he managed to make his way into the most high profile of cases – his whole experience thus far has been incredible.

I loved being taken on a journey into a world that we only ever see a certain side of. We hear about the injuries etc in papers or on the news. But to metaphorically see, through his eyes via the words on the pages, inside that mortuary room where all of the action happens. Having the sights and smells described, as well as learning about the roles of other mortuary employees are really cool. And not forgetting it has an educational standpoint, too! I myself wasn’t fully aware of how Rigour Mortis worked, not fully. And to read how even the elements could disrupt it, to not be able to provide an exact or even rough time of death, was really interesting to me.

There are so many little notes of interest within the pages of this book. And quite frankly there are too many to count! But each one made me go “huh” because it was a realisation of knowledge to me. And I just loved that a book like this could do that. It was an unexpected bonus for me. And it does not surprise me, after reading this book, that Dr Richard Shepherds skills are still in demand, around the world.

If you even have a remote interest in forensics, pathology, crime and murders then I cannot recommend Unnatural Causes to you enough. It was a gripping read for me personally. Really interesting, inspiring and even educational. I cannot wait to read more from Dr Richard Shepherd in the future. In fact, The Seven Ages of Death has just been added to my Amazon basket!

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