It was really interesting to read about the FBI from an artist's perspective. I wish there had been more focus on the cases than the discrimination/harassment that unfortunately seems to be part of all workplaces, federal government not excluded.

This book hooked me right from the beining. I was a county ME and so there's that then throw in one of my favorite characters is Eve Duncan and this tells the really l life experiences as a forensic sculpture. I tore through this book so fast I loved it and hearing all the stories first hand. This was a great book!

Thanks to independent publishers group and NetGalley for the free ARC in return for my honest review.

From the book cover to the story, this is one memoir that everyone should take the time to read. The author, Lisa Bailey, was one of the first female forensic artists at the FBI, and she delivers a powerful look into both her profession as well as the many issues that surrounded her lengthy employment at the FBI. It is an insiders look into forensic artistry, as well as how the FBI operates, and to put it mildly, the FBI does not come off looking very good in this book.
Lisa had a lifelong love of art and landed a job at John Hopkins University. But she wanted more of a challenge for herself, and therefore applied to the FBI when an opening was advertised for a forensic artist. I took almost 9 months before somebody contacted her, but after her interview, she was offered the job. Unfortunately, she had to wait two years to actually begin working for the agency because there was a hiring freeze on even though they needed forensic artists and therefore they were not allowed to hire anyone. Finally, she got her chance and found out that politics was not just in the capital. Along the way she worked on some very high profile cases, as well as many lesser cases which are just important to the families of victims. She became an expert in facial reconstruction and facial aging and we learn a lot about the skills that are required to do both of those jobs. We learned about something called a "Body Farm" where the forensics people go to try and hone their skills. But, you're only as good as your supervisors, and boy did she has some lousy supervisors. It seems that the FBI does not want to promote the most talented people into management and so what they do is they take people who are not so well suited for management and then when things go wrong, they refused to do anything to correct the situation, and this is something that followed Lisa throughout her career. We even find out why one person was "demoted" into a management position, which was really a promotion, but it's all due to his lack of expertise in the courtroom which resulted in a huge opinion as to it's lack of expert qualifications. Now you would think a person like that might very well be sent to the rear, but no, he is promoted to a supervisor and there he seems to go out of his way to pick on Lisa, and provide an extremely unhealthy workplace atmosphere. It's a fascinating look and sometimes one wonders why things don't get done properly and why we seem to be a little behind the 8-ball when it comes to investigations, but if you read this book, you'll understand that a lot of things need to change in order to keep the FBI running smoothly. Hopefully this will happen sometime in the future.
This is a fast read book that grabs your attention from the first page and keeps it to the very end. I wish we would've been able to learn more about the high profile cases that Lisa worked on, but on the other hand we get a lot of really fine information about how a forensic artist does their job, as well as how they are able to help solve cold cases that have been sitting for years and years. Those are things that are gratifying, the garbage that goes on with the supervisors is not gratifying. But through it all, Lisa Bailey had provided us with a wonderful look at her life and her time at the FBI. It is a book that we should all read, and we should all shake our head in wonderment that this still continues in our government and especially at the FBI. 4.5****

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend and I can’t wait to buy a copy for myself 🙂

Rating 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A lover of Bones and the Kathy Reichs novels I was excited to find this book written by an bona fide forensic scientist!

I really enjoyed the chapter where she goes to study with an artist she's admired from childhood and would've loved to learn more about what she had learned there rather than just that they got along well and both enjoy chocolate and wine. I loved the chapter where they visit The Body Farm, where she goes into quite a lot of detail about some of the bodies that they saw as well as photographed and studied, and I was hoping for more gruesome details of cases or other interesting details about different forensic practices.

Instead this turned out to largely be about the sexual harassment and discrimination that Bailey suffered at the FBI and the steps she took to fight back against management who protected the abusers. It's quite disheartening to learn about the horrendous behaviour that goes on in such a well known and respected agency.

All in all an interesting read, though not quite what I was expecting.

**Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I found this memoir very insightful as told by an FBI forensic artist. The story follows Lisa G. Bailey as she gives the reader a glimpse into the fascinating world of forensic artistry and the intricate process of reconstructing faces from skeletal remains. Bailey shares her experiences working with law enforcement agencies by assisting in solving cold cases and identifying unknown individuals through facial reconstructions. She describes the painstaking process of reconstructing faces from clay, Bailey delves into the human stories behind the remains. Her passion and dedication are obvious as she works the painstaking process of reconstructing faces from clay, Bailey delves into the human stories behind the remains, so she can bring closure to families and seek justice for victims. This is a gripping true-crime memoir, and I suggest you pick up a copy for yourself.

I really liked this book! the way it was written was amazing and super interesting! there was some rage and some parts that made me angry because of the things that happened to her! I would really recommend it especially if you like the temperance Brennan series and know my name by Chanel miller!

Lisa has got the be the baddest woman around. Her retelling of her life and career struggles will sadly remind you of your own struggles.It's sad to read that a woman in such a monument position in the FBI was treated the way she was by men who had authority over her, and by men who just were assholes. Goes to show that where ever you may work, there will always be issues because of our gender. Lisa tells her story though by showing how she kept her poise, her dignity and never stooped to the level of those arrogant men. Reading how she basically created the training of how to correctly map and build a face on a skull, and how her knowledge and growth have helped so many unidentified remains be identified, just proves that a woman can do anything a man believes she cant, and better. Thank you Lisa for paving the way for the next generation and thank you for sharing your triumphs!

The books about forensic investigation always fascinates me and this is a good one as there's humour but it's also informative and entertaining.
Well done
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I found Lisa Bailey’s account of working as a forensic sculptor for the FBI to be fearless and fascinating. Fearless, in that she tells of her disillusionment about the realities of the job she’d always dreamed of, including harassment, outdated computers, and a generally dismal, frought work environment, filled with clashing egos and discrimination. This was not the job she idealized while working hard to hone her skills in college. A fascinating read, in that her capabilities and drive to succeed are remarkable. It is an honest and sometimes painful and relatable recounting of realities intruding on dreams.

This was a really interesting memoir to read. Forensics has always been incredibly interesting to me, so I always try to grab books about it when I can. Facial reconstruction is a topic that I hadn't read much about before picking up this book.

While it was really interesting, by the time I was halfway through the book I was confused about what the point was. The beginning about Bailey's research at the body farm was insanely fascinating. Her story of discrimination and harassment while working at the FBI was captivating. And her explanations of the process of facial reconstruction was easy to follow and incredibly interesting. I would have loved to see either this book structured much better, or three different books about all of those things.

I had a different expectation of what this book would be about. I find anything in forensics to be fascinating, and thought this book would be filled with stories of cases Lisa Bailey worked on while employed with the FBI. While the book does have some of this, it focuses more on her sexual discrimination at the FBI. Her story is important and should be told, however, the book feels misleading with the cover and title. Overall, I found her job and techniques to be fascinating, but I was left underwhelmed.

Lisa does an amazing job of talking about her work as a forensic artist and as a high school forensic science teacher those parts of the story were really educational. The personal part of her life in the FBI and the the abuse, while important to shed light on the injustice, felt like it was two different books. I would have like to have just the forensic work in the book so I could have possibly used in my classroom.

Bones is one of my all time favorite TV shows, and although Lisa is a forensic artist rather than a forensic anthropologist, I was so excited for this book! I'm sure for all Bones fans, we wondered about Angela just as much as Temperance. So going into this, I expected more of Lisa's story to pertain to her journey in her work and cases, but rather it was a lot more about her terrible time dealing with the men of the Agency. At one point after a turn at work, she writes that at night, when she couldn't sleep, she was furious and started to write down "a free flow of words as it all spilled from [her] brain." At times, that's what this book feels like, so it becomes a repetitive stream of consciousness and while I understand the therapeutic benefits of that and truly hope Lisa is in a wonderful, peaceful place now, it didn't make for an engaging read for me. Even still, it was informative and thought provoking to gain insight into working in this field and in the government and the struggles it takes to try and be a successful woman, uninterrupted by spiteful men and apathetic bystanders who don't speak up for those who need it.

*Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you to NetGalley and Independent Publishers Group, Chicago Review Press for an ARC of this memoir.

Wow. I LOVED this memoir. All caps loved. What a fascinating subject to learn about and a fascinating badass lady to learn from. This book followed two different story lines in Lisa Bailey’s life: forensic anatomy and sculpture and the mistreatment of women in the FBI (and probably other government agencies historically run by only men).

I wanted to read this book from a weird art kid who finds true crime horrible, yet fascinating perspective. This was a memoir where I felt like I learned so much about what goes on behind the scenes in helping identify both victims and perpetrators (this book was definite brain candy in the learning category). Although I left as though I learned a lot, I was very invested in Bailey’s life and her cases. It was fascinating learning about how one may make age progressions as well as all the little details (and layers of clay) which go into the finished product of a facial approximation sculpture which the public might see.

I never knew that a skull could tell you so much about what a person might look like. Between nasal passages showing the size and slope of a nose, brow lines, and even fullness of cheeks, I was shocked at how individual each skull is to the individual.

Reading from a perspective of a woman in the FBI, also definitely gave some Clarice Starling vibes (for any Silence of the Lambs fans) throughout the book both with the unfair treatment as well as the protocols going into cases. Unfortunately for Bailey, her career in the FBI was riddled with misogyny and abuse of power by the men overseeing her departments. At times the level of abuse and the FBI’s inability to take action against the abusers was so frustrating that I almost had to stop reading. I mean even an idiot would be able to spot where the problem lies from miles away…but unfortunately the boy’s club still persists. Fingers crossed that this memoir is able to shed some light on the discrimination suffered by women in government agencies traditionally staffed by men.

10/10 you should 100% read this fascinating story.

What a fascinating chance to peek into the life of the first female forensic sculptor in the FBI, and the book's author. I was intrigued by the blurb, and when I started reading the amount of forensic science information in this book, I was so captivated by it, that I couldn’t put it down. Intertwined with that information, I had a chance to read about the workplace environment and the way she was treated throughout her career.
I love to read crime stories and watch crime movies, and this book was so engaging and interesting to read, even more interesting for me because I had a chance to read about real work.
I recommend this book to everyone who likes to watch Bones and similar series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this book as a whole, there were lots of tidbits of really interesting information (who knew that about Sprite?) and both the author's talent and dedication to her work and the victims, was inspiring. Thank you Lisa.

That said, it was different than what I expected. The overarching theme of bullying within the workplace and the toxic-male dominance of the suit-toting dumbasses are important conversations worth having, but it felt like two different stories trying to mesh. For someone outside of the US, the very specific detailing about how the FBI works on a bureaucratic level was a taxing read for me personally.

An interesting reflection on how the artist mind can be utilized to solve the most gruesome mysteries. Highly recommend and it felt reminiscent of Angela's character in Bones.

Clay and Bones, written by Lisa Bailey, tells the story of her experiences as a forensic artist for the FBI. The title refers to the methods used to create a recognizable visage for identification. Lisa is an expert in the field and has been featured in interviews and on television. I thought her fascinating cases would be the subject of this memoir. They are not.

Working conditions for Lisa, one of the few women in the FBI, are horrendous. The harassment by her superiors is difficult to read. Her boss yells at her, coopts her work, gives her assignments that are nearly impossible to in a certain time frame and, in one case, sends her to a foreign country without allowing her time to have the necessary shots for protection. When she fights back, making complaints to HR sources as directed, she is disciplined. She believes that women in management positions will help her. They do not. Clay and Bones presents the FBI as a nest of interoffice intrigue, of discrimination and harassment. Lisa Bailey is to be admired for shining a light on this. I only hope her experiences, described so well in this searing novel, will bring necessary changes. 5 star.

Thank you to NetGalley, Independent Publishers Group and Lisa G. Bailey for this ARC.