Richard Froede (ed):

Handbook of Forensic Pathology (2nd ed), 581 pp, Northfield IL, College of American Pathologists 2003 ($85.00).

This is the 2nd edition published by the College of American Pathologists. The new edition contains 236 additional pages and 15 new chapters. The many useful new chapters include important topics such as terrorism, emerging infectious diseases, multiple fatality incidents, and elder abuse. The old chapters have been rewritten, combined or updated and are greatly improved in many instances.

Each chapter is organized along similar lines, with head notes indicating the scope of the chapter. Some chapters go into considerable depth and all chapters contain the basic information needed to approach the topics covered. Many of the chapters include extensive ‘how-to's’ that range from securing and photographing the crime scene, to special techniques for retrieving evidence from the body and the crime scene. Most of the chapters end with ‘pitfalls’ and ‘pearls’ or ‘key points’ that are practice tips for each area of inquiry. Some chapters are organized in ‘bullet’ format, while others are written in traditional paragraph style. Some of the chapters have extensive reference lists. The appendix contains numerous forms and body diagrams that would be suitable for copying and use in most jurisdictions.

Within some of the chapters, there are diagrams; however, there are no photographic examples, which would have greatly increased the price and size. We would like to see a companion atlas to this book. The text assumes some basic knowledge and skills that the reader would need to have gained in a pathology residency or fellowship, or in law enforcement training programs in the case of death investigators.

This book is a pleasure to read as well as a great reference, making it valuable to death investigators, residents, fellows, hospital pathologists and forensic pathologists. This book covers lots of ground and it is very affordable, making it accessible to a large audience. We would highly recommend it for those learning or practicing forensic pathology as well as those who investigate death or have an interest in forensics.