This non-fiction book written by a retired Dayton, Ohio homicide detective, gives an inside look at how complicated and difficult that career is. Burke gives accounts of some of his memorable cases, and does a very good job of showing empathy for victims, and revealing the dark side of perpetrators. If one is a true crime fan, this book ticks all the boxes.

I was definitely confused as it is advertised as true crime but the book itself says it is fiction.
Graphic and gritty, perhaps a fictionalization of real cases?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Fascinating look into the world of homicide detective work. I made the mistake of reading this book while eating breakfast and about gagged at the description of the maggots and flies on a decomposing body but I still find it all so interesting.
The stories in this book are told well and really gives the reader an inside look into how depraved people can be. But there were also humorous parts and extremely sad parts.
Doyle Burke gives a basic description on aspects of the investigation which will inform those that aren't familiar with the terminology but most people who read a lot of true crime books will probably know a lot of what he's talking about.
I highly respect police officers and this book shows how they do have to sometimes make split second life and death decisions and also how much of a family these officers are with each other.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. This book was both emotional and eye opening fir the different cases that were shown in this book. The job of a detective is no easy feat.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. Despite the disclaimer at the beginning that all stories, characters, etc. are fictional and created by the author, the book is advertised as true crime. It appears that the stories are largely true but enough identifiers have been changed to protect privacy. I think I expected a more hard-core treatment of the stories, Detective Burke comes across as a mild-mannered person and his writing style is consistent with that. Sometimes his descriptions of crime scenes are given with a light touch, which surprised me. Other cases, such as the opening one, are described with much compassion and graphic description...all of which seemed appropriate. Death as a Living is written for a wide audience including readers who know almost nothing about homicide detection. Most true crime fans know the difference between Manner of Death and Cause of Death, and the usual methods of determining the Time of Death, but Detective Burke gives a tutorial about those and other necessaries in a coroner's report. This level of instruction cooled off my initial expectations that the book would not be for beginners. Other readers will no doubt have very different takes on Death as a Living, and I certainly respect that.

A hauntingly told true story of a homicide detective in Dayton Ohio. I think that Mr. Burke really put his heart and his soul into being a homicide detective. However, he has a career as an author if he chooses. Told with brutal honesty, a bit of humor, and great candor, Mr Burke told fascinating stories and his role in catching the killers. I really appreciated the effort that he went to in the book to say how this affected him, his family, fellow officers.
I never felt that he was rude, sometimes he was dumbfounded as to why a murder took place, I got the feeling that he does NOT take death lightly.
I enjoyed the book (that sounds morbid) and thought that the stories were well thought out and wonderfully spaced....meaning you got a break in between stories to hear about the authors own life.

A definite MUST Read if you are into true crime.

I received an advance copy of, Death as a Living, by Doyle Burke and Loe Grieco. Wow what a book. Detective Doyle Burke is very good at what he does. The cases he worked on are heartbreaking.

A detective (a real detective with twenty-two years of experience in Homicide) writes memoirs. Thus, the first line of a true-crime TV series is born.

'Death as a Living' by Doyle Burke and Lou Grieco is a captivating book, one that could be both entertaining and horrifying at the same time. Wrapped in an everyday casual language, stories from different years - without strict order but with their inner logic - tell us a story of a man who dedicated his life to hard, stressful work. Doyle Burke spent 29 years in police and 22 of them in Homicide in a small town in Ohio. His work was of a particularly high-risk category. It involved quick decision-making, routine background checks, and hours of interacting with people, both innocent and guilty of crimes. There were terrible times when despite all efforts, the bad guys got away from the prosecution. There was a relief when justice prevailed, and the victim's relatives could get the answers to what happened to their loved ones. There were times for personal joy and times for grief over dead friends.

The book contains all details that true-crime lovers anticipate seeing in this kind of narrative. What's the difference between CSI TV series and real life? How is the detective work organized? What units do work together on a homicide? What evidence is needed to put a killer under bars for a long time? In what cases and how does a killer gets the death penalty?

Though the book is fun, the cases described in it are far from the definition of entertainment. Fictional vampires and werewolves are little sheep, compared to the killers that detective Doyle Burke had encountered during his career. The saddest thing is that motives to kill always, except for self-defense, seem senseless in comparison to the scale of destruction. Some cases changed the detective. After reading his book, I will never forget these victims, too.

I would recommend the book to those who love well-written memoirs and those who want to see the insides of detective work. The book deserves its own TV show. For me, it is the most remarkable nonfiction book of this year.

Thank you, Netgalley and the author, for an ARC of the book, in exchange for an honest review.

A stunningly good book. Required reading not only for true crime fans but for anyone that loves a good story. The writing itself is nothing short of masterful. Unlike the typical memoir, the storytelling is non-linear but the stories flow from one to the next and, at the end, you have the author's whole story. One of the best books I've read this year and one of the best true crime books I've ever read.