Author Sue Black narrates her fantastic nonfiction book on what clues the human bodies leave behind when we die in the audio book adaptation of Written in Bone. Black’s professional work in forensic anthropology comes across not just in her confidence while discussing solving crimes with even the smallest body part, to the fact that she literally wrote the textbook on juvenile bones. For listeners fascinated by forensic science, true crime, or even just the function of the human body, Black is fascinating to listen to. Her delivery is sharp, smart, and entertaining to listen to. There is nothing boring in Written in Bone and Sue Black does a fabulous job narrating her own book, even though she’s definitely not a fan of human bone jewelry or skeletonized foot Instagrams.

“I was able to determine that the skull had been removed at the time of death…a forced separation”

Words like those stay with you. For fans of true crime or scientific non-fiction, Written in Bone provides an in depth look at the core anatomical science behind the forensic analysis of human skeletal remains. This was a hyper specific and knowledgeable accounting of the clues and stories left behind by bones made that much more interesting by the details of the relevant investigations the author, Sue Black, has participated in as an expert throughout her career.

They had me saying “Oh my god!” out loud. I also particularly appreciated the structure of the book which was broken into body parts starting with the head—creepy? Yes. Cool? Absolutely.

I listened to the audiobook, and I do wonder if the hard copy of the book contains any helpful imagery or photographs as there were times when the author was describing bone conditions or densities in great detail that were hard for a novice like myself to imagine. However, I quite enjoyed that the author herself was the narrator; it definitely added to the intrigue for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and DreamScape Media for granting me a listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[4 Stars]

This was quite fun. I think that it started feeling a little drawn out towards the end, but overall I enjoyed the different stories that Sue Black told and all the fun facts about our body that I had never heard about.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The narration is good and it flows at a good speed. That being said it is not a book for everyone. If you queasy thinking about decay, rot and missing body parts this is not the book for you. If you like to learn what happens to a body in various stages of decay or how people are identified simply by bones being examined this is an excellent book.

This was my first book by Sue Black. I must know go buy a copy of her other book! This book was interesting, funny and I love that she narrated it herself. If you are interested in forensics, this is a book you should add to your "to read" list.

One of the best books I've listened too in a long time. The author proves herself to be both a fascinating storyteller and a natural-born educator. And she provides her own terrific narration too! Highly recommend.

My rating system equates 5 star reviews to "Bury me with it" and nothing else would fit this book more than that (and of course, a 5 star review). I was lucky enough to receive an arc of the audiobook from NetGalley and have thoroughly enjoyed listening. Sue Black takes the reader through the entire skeleton and talks about how each bone starts, grows, and what they look like in death - in murders and naturally. I have learned SO MUCH. I have always been obsessed with forensic anthropology and thought I knew cute little factoids for dinner parties (am I weird??) but this book has given me so many more. It was intelligent, informative, and wildly interesting.

A fantastic in depth take through the human body, highlighting some wild cases for each body part listed. As a kid I was obsessed with forensic anthropology and this took me right back to that obsession, thanks to the author’s world-renown knowledge.

Absolutely fascinating book. I loved hearing a lot of the science behind our skeletons, and hearing about how it has been applied to actual cases really scratched my True Crime itch in a delightful way. Susan Black's voice is also surprisingly calming given the subject matter being discussed, and I think she injected an appropriate amount of light humor throughout the book so that it wasn't as dark. Listening to this book felt like hanging out with a spooky Auntie who had an awfully cool job and lived an amazing life. Can't wait to get my hands on "All That Remains" so that I can read that too.

The reason that I only gave this a four-star rating is because there are some parts that are dry because of the amount of science injected into them that went a bit over my head.

After reading and loving Sue Black's other book, All That Remains last year, I was delighted to find out she was coming out with another nonfiction, and I'm happy to say this completely lived up to my expectations.

Starting from the head and working downwards, Written in Bone unveils to readers the things that our skeletal remains can tell forensic anthropologists working in the field, and in doing this, Black weaves in various stories from both historical cases and from her own experience working as a forensic anthropologist. I already was interested in the subject matter of this book to begin with, but the way it was written also made for a very engaging read. The cases mentioned were very interesting and the way Black recounts the various things she has seen throughout her career was also really enjoyable to read about. In approaching the topic of death in such great detail, Black is clinical and extremely respectful while also including humour when appropriate to prevent this book from feeling depressing at all. The writing was also very digestible despite the book being very informative.

Overall, I would really recommend this book (and All That Remains) to anyone even remotely interested in forensic science. I can safely say that I will most likely be picking up whatever Black comes out with next because so far, both of the books I have read from her have been exceptional. The audiobook was also wonderfully narrated by the author which very much added to the reading experience.

I truly enjoyed this book. Black does a wonderful job combining scientific information and data with real-life stories from her career as a forensic anthropologist. I loved that the story was told by the author herself. This always makes for the best kind of nonfiction audiobook. As a science teacher, this book would be a fantastic supplement for both our Anatomy and Physiology course and our Forensics course. This would be a great way for students to take what they've learned in our class and apply it to real-life examples. Highly recommended read/listen.

**I was provided an audio ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Professor Dame Sue Black (whose plethora of other titles I dare not list) returns with her second non-textbook publication with Written in Bone. If I enjoyed All That Remains (and I did), I found that I enjoyed Written in Bone all the more.

Written in Bone recounts aspects of what forensic anthropologists and anatomists can learn in their assessment of human skeletal remains. The book is broken up into segments by area of the body focused upon. Not only does Black discuss facts of her field, she also reinforces those concepts by recounting various cases in which such knowledge was relevant.

This is the true treasure of this book. Not the knowledge conveyed, which I am sure is well and good and accurate, but such knowledge can be better learned through textbooks that Black likely co-authored. The joy is in sharing, for a brief time, in the lifetime experiences of such an accomplished scientist in various instances through her career. Consuming this book in audio format, which was narrated by Black herself, made the experience all the more special.

As a professional in the field of forensic science and criminalistics, I can only hope to have such an impact over the course of my career.

I would recommend this book to anyone in forensics, law enforcement, or to those who have general curiosity about forensic anthropology.

What a good read! The fact that the author, Dr. Sue Black, was the narrator makes this even better. I love when authors narrate because it’s their story, if the listeners are lucky, like I was, you get a little extra from the author. Her wit, accent and personal cheekiness that was added is amazing and made this read ever better.

So, Dr. Sue Black is a forensic anthropologist who has many years of experience. Meaning she knows how to “read” bones, to learn more about the person and even how they died. Like you see on T.V. forensic anthropologists work with law enforcement to examine skeletal remains for law enforcement to help find human remains, determine the identity of unidentified human remains, interpret cause and time of death. Actually, what I never realized is that recognizing whether the remains are human or not is also part of the job. I, someone who has no business in the field, thought it would be obvious. I am so wrong.

I loved the way Written in Bone is set up. It well organized and hits every single body part- ending with our feet, who knew they could tell so much! I learned so much from Dr. Sue Black and highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone that has a slight interest in bones and the stories that they will reveal once your dead.


Thank You to Sue Black and Dreamscape Media, for the digital audio ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for a candid review!

Thank you Netgalley for this audiobook edition of Written in Bone, by Sue Black.

First off, the narration is done by the author. Whenever I find out that the author will be reading their stories, I tend to cringe a bit. The author has EVERY right to read their own book, but just because they are writers, does not mean that they are narrators. However, listening to Black's soft Scottish accent was not a bad way to spend a few rainy days. Plus, she has some cheeky inflections to her tone while telling stories that makes it much more personable.

Sue Black is a forensic anthropologist with years of experience finding what our bones have to tell us after we're dead, or less fortunately, killed. Black dispels a lot of forensic myths (being able to tell exactly how old a body is, or how easy it is to tell if a bone is actually human etc), as well as shining a light on the fascinating world of forensics. Her book is full of horrifying, yet captivating stories of all that she has seen and learned in the field.

Not being a science buff AT ALL, sometimes I wanted to speed up into the cool stories, but overall this was a very interesting read.

Brilliant! This is not not the book of delving into the minds of the psyche of serial killers or murderers, though some of it’s stories relate to such happenings, rather it tells the stories left behind of the victims through forensic examination of their bones. I found it rather fascinating and educational and most likely would appeal to anyone interested in forensic science, particularly in the medical forensic anthropology field, and how this specialty helps solve and identify the most most puzzling of true crimes. Dr. Sue Black, takes the reader on a a special journey of her work cases in this field, with explaining what many of the victims suffered, how the police and others reacted to her work, then oddities she sometimes encountered, and then shares a most intimate part of herself and her own life that led her down this career path she followed.

Sue Black narrates her own story; every medical pronunciation is spot on, but NOT over the lay person’s head. Wonderfully explained, and simple to digest her thoughts through her work.

5 STARS

My thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher, and Sue Black for an advanced Digital Audio Version in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

This book was a little dry and a little slow in places, but overall, I enjoyed it. It was worth a solid 3.5 stars, which I rounded up to four. The information contained in the book was actually really informative and interesting. I loved learning all about the bones in the body and how the way we live and the things we do can affect them.

I also loved the way the author, Sue Black, related the things she was talking about to actual cases she had worked or been consulted on as a forensic anthropologist.

I decided to give this book a listen because I love "Bones" so much. Dr. Brennan is one of my fictional heroes. I think that I liked the book even more because I could hear a little of Dr. Brennan in Sue Black. They both have that quirky, somewhat dry sense of humor, coupled with a true reverence for life that shines through in everything they say and do.

Although, I have to admit, Sue Black is somewhat cooler since she did all this stuff in real life. :-) (Although, the author of those books was a forensic anthropologist, too, so I guess Brennan, if based off her, is also really cool.) Anyway! That's neither here nor there.

The point is that I did enjoy this book, although I wish it hadn't dragged so much in a few places. I also liked that Sue Black was also the book's narrator. I feel like that always adds something to the story because the author is the only person who really knows how something should be read and where the inflections go.

This wasn't the very best book I've read all year, but I enjoyed it, and I didn't feel like I wasted my time reading it. I would definitely check out more of Black's books in the future.

Ahhh, I love getting back to nonfiction! And this was such an interesting listen! Could one say it's morbid at times? I suppose. The author does discuss how skeletal remains can be used for identification throughout the book. But this book is full of fascinating information. Who knew that childhood stress could be seen in our bones? Makes sense but I'd never thought about that. The author also includes stories about murders and how the killer tried to cover up either the cause of death or the identity of the victim and how the mysteries were solved. I love a book that teaches me something new. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

The only thing better than reading this book was having it read by the author!
I was enchanted by the author's wit and fascinated by her pronunciations of anatomical words in an accent not Midwest American. OK, so that was the frosting on this very informative cake. This informal collection of lectures was perfect for this granny of a nurse with a fascination for the development of forensics/forensic anthropology and an interest in the pursuit of justice. This book kept me company all day because I just didn't want to stop!
I requested and received a free temporary audio copy from Dreamscape Media via NetGalley. Thank you!

“Sometimes, a bone is just a coconut” - From Written in Bone

3 stars

Warnings: graphic description of violence to adults and children, rape

If you like true crime stuff, this book is probably for you. Also if you are choosing between which Black Book (between this and All that remains) to read--choose this one. The format is much better, and more relevant to what I think most readers are looking for. I still am struggling with the detached tone she uses to desribe everything (and this may be made worse by the audio book, as you can't misinterperate her tone). No warnings are made before she dives into the subject, though maybe most people know what they are getting into. Also there is almost a relish in descibing most of the time the horrible thing that happened to the person, that is really unsettling. Including her description of the crime done to her. I just wish there was more empathy, or human emotion included in these cases- not each case laid out in that fashion. Outdated terms for sex workers add a further bitter taste, along with her stating she hasn't been the victim of gender discrimination in the field- then goes on to describe a time where in fact she was discriminated for being a woman. That sort of blind (inaccurate) statement doesn't help combat gender bias in this, and other, scientific fields. I think at one point she 3D printed a bone brocken from a hanging and gave it out to several people, seemingly like a party favor- it was seriously offputting; but I unfortunately can't find this again to verify exactly what was described.

Maybe it is because my focus was cultural anthropology, but to me this reads less like a work by an anthropologist, and more like a pathologist or coroner. I'm always surprised at how much "true crime" vibe comes off in Black's books.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was okay. If you already have some knowledge of forensic anthropology, then I would recommend it. I just didn't like the info-dump writing.