Blood on the Table_Greatest Cases of New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner

Read Blood on the Table_Greatest Cases of New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Storyline:

For almost a century, New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has presided over the dead. Over the years, the OCME has endured everything-political upheavals, ghastly murders, bloody gang wars, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and non-stop battles for power and influence-and remains the final authority in cases of sudden, unexplained, or violent death.
Founded in 1918, the OCME has evolved over decades of technological triumphs and all-too human failure to its modern-day incarnation as the foremost forensics lab in the world, investigating an average caseload of over 15,000 suspicious deaths a year. This is the behind-the-scenes chronicle of public service and private vendettas, of blood in the streets and back-room bloodbaths, and of the criminal cases that made history and headlines.
**From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In its ninety years, the OCME of New York City has investigated over one million deaths and earned recognition as "the finest facility of its kind in North America, and as good as any in the world." Evans (The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes) makes a fascinating story of its operation, complete with clues to be discovered, internal intrigue, cut-throat politics and lots of local color. He writes with vibrant detail about eccentric criminals such as Abraham Becker and his friend Reuben Norkin who, in 1922, accused each other of murdering Becker's wife-a deed for which both were brought to justice-and a surgeon who killed the patients of his rivals-and who nonetheless was acquitted. Highpoints include the epic battle between Elliot Gross and Michael Baden for the post of Chief Medical Examiner and the thousand-suspect murder of a violinist backstage at Lincoln Center. The book ends with a tribute to the bravery and tireless efforts of the OCME staff who identified victims from 9/11. Evans keeps things clicking while sticking to the facts; true crime buffs will not want to miss it.
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From Booklist
Tapping into the popular interest in murder cases solved by forensic pathology, Evans tours the history of New York City’s pros in the detection of suspicious deaths. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has had only seven leaders since its creation in 1918, and their tenures structure Evans’ readable narrative. The first was Charles Norris, whom Evans credits with putting the OCME on professionalized, incorruptible feet. Amid his delivery of pithy portraits of Norris and his successors, emphasizing their manner of coping with NYC’s maw of media and politics, Evans delves into a representative sensational case that occurred on their watch. Whether by intent or by chance, most of Evans’ selections involve a classic framework of murder, a woman done in by a predatory man. Rendering these grim stories with verve, Evans shows how a forensic detail cleared the case if not always persuading a jury to convict. Culminating with the OCME’s ultimate crisis in responding to the mass murder of 9/11, Evans again taps a loyal readership amassed by titles such as The Father of Forensics (2006). --Gilbert Taylor