TY - JOUR T1 - Books: <em>Unnatural Causes: the Life and Many Deaths of Britain’s Top Forensic Pathologist</em> JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 512 LP - 512 DO - 10.3399/bjgp19X705881 VL - 69 IS - 687 AU - Maryam Naeem Y1 - 2019/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/69/687/512.1.abstract N2 - Richard Shepherd Penguin, 2019, PB, 464pp, £8.99, 978-1405923538Unnatural Causes begins with the words of Alexander Pope written in 1709: “Tis not enough, Taste, Judgement, Learning, join; In all you speak, let Truth and Candour shine.’Dr Richard Shepherd is a leading forensic pathologist with over 30 years and 23 000 postmortems under his belt. Unnatural Causes charts his relentless pursuit of the truth in determining how each of his patients died.From the victims of mass disasters, to homicides, to those who have died in police custody or in their own homes from unknown causes, it is Shepherd’s job to ascertain a cause of death. Each case is described with intrigue and detail, and it is surprisingly satisfying to learn of the methodical approach and routine that each postmortem entails, and even more satisfying to learn of Shepherd’s verdict.From a medical perspective it was … ER -