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

I love reading books that make you think and wonder. This book is great explaining the process that A forensic anthropologist takes while solving cases.... some stories are straight out crazy interesting! Recommend for anyone that is curious on what happens at crime scenes

I bought a copy of this book when it first came out and it remains one of my favorites. Dr. Maples presents the story of his life in this book: how he became a forensic anthropologist, clues on how people are identified and his most famous cases. The cases that come to mind are his identification of the Tsar's family, his investigation into the death of President Zachary Taylor and his thoughts on the Elephant Man. His dedication to solving impossible problems makes fascinating reading. Along with the riveting detective story quality of the book, you come to know Dr. Maples, and an interesting man he was. I count my interest in forensic science from the day I read this book; it is the kind of book that you stay up to 3 in the morning to finish.

For nearly a century the science of forensics has grown from a barely understood art to a marvel of modern science. From development of finger printing in the early 1900's, to DNA gene matching of today, forensic pathology and anthropology have blossomed into the law's best weapons against criminals that stalk our world. In `Dead Men Do Tell Tales' we enter the world of Dr. William Maples, PhD of the C A Pound Human Identification Center in Gainesville, Florida-an often brutal and ghoulish realm of dismembered corpses, hastily torched cremains of hapless victims or those dumped in septic tanks to rot and putrify in the other detritus of man's remains. Dr. Maples' own study is the field of forensic anthropology-the study of the human skeleton, and this man's expertise in that field has cemented my interest in amateur study of forensics. Told in the first person, Maples comes across as brilliant and personable, if a little supremely confident in his own abilities as an investigator. And like Stephen Hawking's `A Brief History of Time', isn't afraid to admit when he has erred. Where the book shines, aside from its plethora of information, is in the presentation of that information-Maples never uses terms that he doesn't explain, knowing full well that the book is going to be read more by laymen like me than a peer within the profession. So do not expect detailed treatises on anatomy, pathology or pages of chemical breakdowns. Instead, Maples presents an easy to understand work that is surprising in its level of detail, and a credit to himself and his co-author, Michael Browning, for making it understandable. Though it is a book on anthropology, one cannot write about one subject without at least touch on the pathology end, since the two are intimately related. After explaining his own origins from his birth in Dallas, Texas, his schooling and odd jobs he held in order to pay for his college-mostly that of riding shot gun in an ambulance while working for a mortuary as they sped from accident to accident, trying to scoop business away from competing funeral homes. He majored in English, but took a course on anthropology on a lark at the suggestion of his university counsellor. In so doing he met Tom McKern, who impressed Maples with his skill as a teacher, mentoring himself to the older professor. Past the first chapter we enter Maples' job, past his trapping baboons in Africa in 1960s to his eventual relocation as Gainesville and the C A Pound offices there. Florida, he describes, is a living organism with highways making up its arterial system, and a place where criminals, like blood cells, pass through, dumping their often mutilated cargo of human debris. In many ways I believe he softened the blow in his descriptions of finding the body of man in a septic tank where it had been for over a decade or that of three murdered drug dealers near a golf course who had been executed by fellow criminals then unceremoniously tossed into a pit to be buried.

Prior to his death in 1997, Dr. Maples was a forensic anthropologist at the University of Florida. Forensic anthropology is a thrilling science in which you determine from skeletal material how somebody died, when he or she died, and who the person was. Forensic anthropologists are often called in to investigate bombings, plane crashes, war crimes, and crime scenes where the body is substantially decomposed. In this book Dr. Maples takes the reader into the Human Identification Lab and tells her about the most celebrated cases of his career.While an anthropology student at the University of Florida I had the opportunity to meet and get to know Dr. Maples. His love for the science was touching and he inspired me more than any other teacher or professor I have ever met.

This book is excellent reading for anyone with an interest in how crimes are solved with forensics. Dr. Maples walks the reader through each case explaining how bones really DO TALK.

As a victim's sibling in one of Dr. Maples' cases, I know first-hand what excellent work he did to make sure the case was solved based on forensic evidence, not assumptions. The book also helps survivors understand the hard work it takes to learn the truth-- and ease one's mind.Dr. Maples' legacy is that he helped families cope with tragedy, and his book is good medicine for the soul. It was an honor to know him.