The Cause Of Death

Strange and shocking stories of death and murder in provincial New Zealand You won't believe these stories happened in New Zealand... Forensic and coronial pathologist Dr Cynric Temple-Camp lifts the lid on some of the most fascinating cases he's worked on during his 30-year career as a corpse investigator. Written with all the gritty detail of a Patricia Cornwell novel, the intrigue of Making a Murderer, and the horror of True Detective, this is a brilliantly told collection of true stories from a rural pathologist, including the high-profile Lundy murders. Told with great skill, full of suspense, cliff-hangers and bizarre and surprising twists in the narrative - most of the examinations are at crime scenes, and there's a real sense of adventure as Dr Temple-Camp heads off, often in the middle of the night, into the unknown. A forensic pathologist is, in Dr Temple-Camp's own words: 'Someone who cuts up the dead to find out why they died.' Dr Temple-Camp's stories of spontaneous combustion, a gruesome murder right beneath the control tower at Christchurch Airport, a mysterious death in an historic homestead, rare diseases, drug-mules, devil-worshippers, cot-deaths, land-mark cases, exhumations, are all from our own backyard. This book will shock and entertain, make you squirm but also occasionally pull at the heartstrings.