When the Dead Speak. 12 Remarkable Stories of a Forensic Pathologist

Standing over corpses every day? Definitely not for the faint of heart. But for Klas Busmann, this is everyday work. How and when did a person die? Was it natural death or murder? He can uncover the most tangled case from a body—well, or from its pieces.

A mummified foot found in a metro mine… A man transporting his dead wife in the trunk of his car… Such cases aren’t new to an experienced forensic medical examiner. Doctor Busmann has worked in the field many times and has taken part in investigations of crimes alongside investigators. Over years of practice, he has amassed a whole bunch of funny, strange, and of course terrifying cases and unexpected discoveries.

Germany’s leading specialist Klas Busmann boldly breaks the usual image of forensic medical examiners and invites you behind the scenes of this grim profession. Learn what the “hide and die” syndrome is, how the “unliving” differs from the “dead,” and why a cunning killer cuts a victim’s leg instead of striking the head or the stomach. For many years, Klas Busmann has worked in Berlin, Hamburg, and Kiel, and carried out more than 2,500 forensic autopsies. Although in his personal life things are more lively: under the pseudonym “Doctor Boogie-Woogie,” he performs jazz concerts, and after this book became a bestseller, he was frequently invited to television and radio, and he gave interviews to the media.