Author Sue Black is an extremely knowledgable forensic anthropologist. She has traveled the world solving cases involved with finding skeletal remains. Her expertise in this area really shines through in this book. I am in the medical field and therefore this book highly appealed to me.

The book is organized from head to toe with each chapter being a specific section of the human skeleton. The author explains how each part of our bodies develop and change over time. When you know what you're looking for you realize that our skeleton can tell the story of our lives. There are examples of real life criminal cases and stories of research.

This book is a mixture of explaining each part of the skeletal system, true crime stories, and science. This isn't for everyone, but if the human body interests you then Written in Bone is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While books I’ve read from other (male) forensic anthropologists seem to drone on with a clinical certainty, Black writes with such fervor that reading her newest book was a joy to say the least.

I devoured this book. Not only did it make me laugh, cringe & be awestruck but it made me love my body in a way that few self help books can. SB’s passion for her profession emanates through the pages & the education she gives on the skeleton can’t help but bring a new respect for one’s own body.

Written in Bone is clinical to a degree but still incredibly simple to follow along with without eyes glazing over in boredom- particularly thanks to her trolls of popular tv shows & anecdotes but also because it’s actually interesting. I absolutely recommend it & will definitely be reading her other books while impatiently waiting for an audiobook version to be released (please tell me there will be).

“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.

Revealing Account..
A revealing account. Informative and engaging, a study of exactly what can be revealed through the human skeleton as piece by piece the author dissects evidence bone by bone backed by an incredible scientific knowledge. The book is neatly and deftly organised and uses case study examples - both criminal and historical. Fascinating and well written.

I also read All That Remains and really enjoyed it, but this felt very different. It's so fascinating that we're able to tell so much from bones, despite that they are very anonymous looking outside of the meat sack that is the rest of our body.

Things I liked: I like the way it's organized - by body segment. With so many references to fetal development, I almost want her to write a book exclusively on that. Also, the beetles that have a job cleaning bones - good for them, so helpful!

One complaint I have: all of the reference to her other book, All That Remains. If I were reading this first, I would feel like I read them in the wrong order when they don't necessarily go together at all.

This was a heavy read, and in many ways that’s a positive. Written by Dame Sue Black, an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist, it’s both an amazingly detailed breakdown of the bones that miraculously comprise our body as well as some fascinating and relevant criminal cases that Black has been consulted on. I’ll admit that some of the more scientific bits were challenging for my sometimes scattered brain, but I found the case recollections to be fascinating and overall I really enjoyed Black’s dry, sometimes sarcastic personality shining through.

I enjoyed reading this Sue Black has a great writing style and it works well in telling the story. I enjoyed getting to read these stories and thought it worked well. I'm glad I read this and look forward to more from Sue Black.

Absolutely amazing book
The author grabbed my attention from the first page and my attention never wavered. .This is a fascinating detailed story of the bones our human bodies contain. How they form, how we use them and the story they leave behind when our last breath is expelled.
Beautifully written with examples of many different cases. The book is detailed yet simple to understand.
Sue Black tells us about the bones from head to toes and everything in between.

Enjoy every word in this novel.

Thank you Netgalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nonfiction by a forensic anthropologist. Lots of interesting stories here as well as scientific explanations about bones. Her many stories are compelling, but not for the feint of heart.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Skyhorse Publishing for an advance copy of this science and forensic study of the bones that make up a human being.

Scars might tell a story, bones tell the history. Every break, marks that show the age, marks that show the life from illness to occupation to sweating in gyms. Bones make us who we are, bones hold us up, and eventually bring us down. Bones age, and show their age, our skills, accomplishments, activities and our accidents and failures. Sherlock Holmes could tell much about a person from their stance, walk, and way of holding themselves. Forensic doctors can tell even more looking at the bones from our ancestors, or even from the sadly recent. Professor Dame Sue Black in her book Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind looks at the human skeleton, what makes bones what they are, from the strongest skull to the tiniest of ankle bones, and all in between.

The book begins with a brief introduction to bones, their appearances and how human bones can look a lot like bones from animals. Say if bones are found by waterways or oceans, one might want to be careful to make sure one doesn't have a seal bone and not a dead body. This is something I don't remember seeing on CSI. The book explores the makeup of bones, the elements and organic material that make our bones, strong, or weak depending on diet, vitamin deficiency and illness. Readers learn how bones age, like humans do, signs of what specialists will look for, and what bones can tell. From there it is a tour of the human skeleton starting at the brain box, traveling through the body, limbs and ending at the tail bone.

A book that shows the beauty of what lies under the skin, along with the horrors that can be inflicted on the same body. A mix of science, forensic and true crime that really give a biography of the body. Black is not only a fine writer in teaching about bones, but is a very good writer in making a person care why this is so important, and why bones have been her passion for so long. Black can paint an image with words that makes one learn and want to know more, and are for these strong and yet fragile things we take for granted. This is not just a mix of calcium collegen and water, but much more. There is a lot of forensics, true crime information and history to make the story even more intriguing. Black does a very good job of making this all rea well and easy to follow.

Recommended for both science and true crime readers, along with burgeoning archaeologists and people who enjoy books about the body and health. There are a few sections that could be a bit disturbing. A very different look at the human body, and one told with love and knowledge.

A bit too scientific for my understanding. However, the author has a great voice and I am interested in reading her other work as the writing style was gripping. Recommend for fans of medical nonfiction and those who are interested in anatomy.

trigger warning
<spoiler> gore, rape, suicide, child abuse, child death, death by fire, kidnapping, drug abuse, alcoholism </spoiler>

In this book, forensic anthropologist Sue Black goes along the human skeleton, starting at the top. She describes remarkable things about the bones, and recounts cases in which this knowledge was important.

While there were multiple instances of long, multisyllable terms I didn't know the translation of and didn't care to translate, I found the book overall to be very accessible. I am not great at "hard" sciences, but didn't have any problems following her as she went further down the skeleton.

At the start of each new section, there is an illustration showing which part we're now talking about, which certainly helped a lot. Sure, I know what arms and legs are, but if we're talking ribs or spine, it's nice to be shown which part exactly we're at. Especially if you, like me, are not a native Englisch speaker and would have known different terms in another language.

So now I know how determining age and biological sex by looking at specific bones work.
Also, which was nice, in the forword the author explained that this is all about biological sex and that binary language is necessary when talking about bodies and not so much about the people they're part of.

I kept wondering what my skeleton would tell the schooled eye, and will keep thinking about this for a bit longer, I think.

I liked this so much I will look out for the fiction book the author has written, and see if she can do both on this high level.
Full recommendations if you are into true crime, or into bones, or into people sharing tidbits from unusual professions.

The arc was provided by the publisher.