Seven Ages of Death: A Forensic Expert’s Journey Through Life

Richard Shepherd is the leading forensic expert in the UK with over 40 years of experience, having conducted around 23,000 autopsies. He has been recognized as the chief expert on knives and has participated as a forensic expert in high-profile investigations of the 20th century, including the death of Princess Diana, the September 11 attacks, and serial killer cases. He is the author of the book “Unnatural Causes.” For Richard Shepherd, death has become a lifelong profession, and in this book, he explores this topic from a completely unexpected and new perspective. He shows how vulnerability to death differs at each stage of human development from birth to old age and explains why certain causes of death are more likely at specific ages. What do very young children typically die from, and what outcome does a fight between young people lead to? Could a sixty-year-old man recover from injuries if he were younger? The author reflects on how aging changes each of us and what happens to our bodies at each stage of life. “Richard Shepherd’s new book 'Seven Ages of Death' will be interesting to both professionals in the field of forensic medicine and criminology, as well as those far removed from medicine but fascinated by crime investigation. Readers will learn about high-profile, often unusual and convoluted criminal cases, and the specifics of a forensic expert's work both at the crime scene and directly at their workplace—in the autopsy room of the morgue. Alongside this, the book contains many excursions into normal anatomy, physiology, the pathogenesis of certain diseases and pathological conditions, presented in simple and understandable language. The author's personal experiences and parallels drawn through his life and work make the book even more candid and engaging.” — RESHETUN ALEXEY, forensic expert, author of books and the blog @mossudmed