Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

Review by Clayton R.

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek was a very interesting book that gives insight to the life of a medical examiner in New York City, and all of the crazy stories and lessons that come with investigating people’s deaths. If you are interested in the medical field, or like watching crime shows, this book is great for you. It is packed with story after story that makes you want to keep reading.

I loved the book; however, there are somethings that I did not like. For example, I like how there are plenty of interesting stories, I wish she would have talked more about her personal life. Also, I did not enjoy that there were times that the story kind of jumped around a bit in the storyline and was a little confusing. Other than those two things there is nothing I would change about the book, it was a very enjoyable read.

One thing that I would like to ask the author after reading this book is what type of mental effect does the job of doing autopsies have on you? I wonder this because some of the stories in this book are somewhat gruesome, and learning out how these people died, what would that do to you? Personally, if I were to have her job, I feel that I would have nightmares about some of the stories if I was in charge of learning how someone died. Overall, Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek was a great book that I would recommend to anyone who likes crime shows and wants to learn more about what a medical examiner does.