Dead Men Do Tell Tales : The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist

From a skeleton, a skull, a mere fragment of burnt thighbone, prominent forensic anthropologist Dr. William Maples can deduce the age, gender, and ethnicity of a murder victim, the manner in which the person was dispatched, and, ultimately, the identity of the killer. In Dead Men Do Tell Tales , Dr. Maples revisits his strangest, most interesting, and most horrific investigations, from the baffling cases of conquistador Francisco Pizarro and Vietnam MIAs to the mysterious deaths of President Zachary Taylor and the family of Czar Nicholas II. William Maples is blessed with an eerie but powerful gift. From a skeleton, a skull, a mere fragment of burnt thighbone, he can deduce the age, gender and ethnicity of a corpse, and the manner in which the victim was dispatched; his gift has sealed the doom of many a killer. His skill is to read the tales of death written on the bones of the dead, and in this fascinating book he revisits his strangest, most interesting and most horrific investigations, from gruesome and baffling dismemberment cases to the revelation of the identity of long-buried skeletons. In his work at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida, Dr. Maples has borne witness to every act of cruelty and brutality of which the criminal mind is capable. Yet he never forgets that the remains spread before him were once human beings, and that compassion is as powerful a tool in solving the riddle of bones as is scientific knowledge. Maples has gained an international reputation for his work on skeletons ranging from the family of Czar Nicholas II to Vietnam MIAs to conquistador Francisco Pizarro, but, as he writes in these memoirs, his most satisfying moments come when his investigations lead to "the heavy clang and click of a prison door slamming shut" on the guilty. Dead Men Do Tell Tales is a completely engrossing journey into the world of forensic anthropology, the science of bones, a form of detection equal parts knowledge and empathy

From a skeleton, a skull, a mere fragment of burnt thighbone, Dr. William Maples can deduce the age, gender, and ethnicity of a murder victim, the manner in which the person was dispatched, and, ultimately, the identity of the killer.  In Dead Men Do Tell Tales, Dr. Maples revisits his strangest, most interesting, and most horrific investigations, from the baffling cases of conquistador Francisco Pizarro and Vietnam MIAs to the mysterious deaths of President Zachary Taylor and the family of Czar Nicholas II.

Publishers Weekly

Noted forensic anthropologist Maples, whose specialty is the study of bones, and freelance journalist Browning here recount Maples's criminal and anthropological investigations over the past 20 years. The meandering text combines episodes from Maples's personal life and education with discourses on his philosophy, his teaching at the Univ. of Florida and his work. The book's strength is as a snapshot of the world of forensic scientists, vividly portraying the siege mentality of many of them when their objective data are used for purposes other than ascertaining the truth about how a victim died. Despite the two-dimensional depiction of the people who were the objects of Maples's investigations-including the ``likely'' remains of Romanov Tsar Nicholas II-his memoirs should hold readers' interest. (Nov.)

From a skeleton, a skull, a mere fragment of burnt thighbone, Dr. William Maples can deduce the age, gender, and ethnicity of a murder victim, the manner in which the person was dispatched, and, ultimately, the identity of the killer. In Dead Men Do Tell Tales, Dr. Maples revisits his strangest, most interesting, and most horrific investigations, from the baffling cases of conquistador Francisco Pizarro and Vietnam MIAs to the mysterious deaths of President Zachary Taylor and the family of Czar Nicholas II. From the Trade Paperback edition Overview: From a skeleton, a skull, a mere fragment of burnt thighbone, Dr. William Maples can deduce the age, gender, and ethnicity of a murder victim, the manner in which the person was dispatched, and, ultimately, the identity of the killer. In Dead Men Do Tell Tales, Dr. Maples revisits his strangest, most interesting, and most horrific investigations, from the baffling cases of conquistador Francisco Pizarro and Vietnam MIAs to the mysterious deaths of President Zachary Taylor and the family of Czar Nicholas II 1. Every Day is Halloween 2. Talkative Skulls 3. “Bolts of Bones” 4. “The Enfolding Earth” 5. Flotsam and Jetsam 6. “When Sickness is Your Soul” 7. Outpacing the Fiend 8. Unnatural Nature 9. “A Sunless Place” 10. Flames and Urns 11. Death in 10,000 Fragments 12. Lost Legions 13. The Misplaced Conquistador 14. Arsenic and “Old Rough and Ready” 15. The Tsar of All the Russians 16. “These Rough Notes and Out Dead Bodies”