A riveting, behind the scenes look at Maryland’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Goldfarb brings a unique take on the genre as a former paramedic who becomes the executive assistant to the chief medical examiner and public information officer for OCME. The book is part historical, with an exhaustive look at how OCME was formed, then grew and became the gold standard in forensics; these parts were interesting. The bulk of the book is a stream of consciousness mishmash that jumps from topic to topic with no real connection. I felt as if he had kept little notes over the years of interesting or weird things that went on and then, during COVID, finally had time to slam it all together into a book. I don’t mean that to malign the book-it was good. If you are a fan of forensic shows like CSI or Quincy, M.E. then this book is right up your alley. There is a ton of science and death investigation in here. There are also looks at high-profile cases that put OCME in the middle of family/press/police and how they navigate the drama by remaining true to speaking for the dead. Well worth a read if you can roll with Goldfarb’s style. Three stars, I was given a copy of the book and this is my own opinion.