Teasing Secrets from the Dead

My Investigations at America’s Most Infamous Crime Scenes

By: Emily Craig PhD

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Teasing Secrets from the Dead is a front-lines story of crime scene investigation at some of the most infamous sites in recent history.

In this absorbing, surprising, and undeniably compelling book, forensics expert Emily Craig tells her own story of a life spent teasing secrets from the dead.

Emily Craig has been a witness to history, helping to seek justice for thousands of murder victims, both famous and unknown. It’s a personal story that you won’t soon forget. Emily first became intrigued by forensics work when, as a respected medical illustrator, she was called in by the local police to create a model of a murder victim’s face. Her fascination with that case led to a dramatic midlife career change: She would go back to school to become a forensic anthropologist - and one of the most respected and best-known “bone hunters” in the nation.

As a student working with the FBI in Waco, Emily helped uncover definitive proof that many of the Branch Davidians had been shot to death before the fire, including their leader, David Koresh, whose bullet-pierced skull she reconstructed with her own hands. Upon graduation, Emily landed a prestigious full-time job as forensic anthropologist for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a state with an alarmingly high murder rate and thousands of square miles of rural backcountry, where bodies are dumped and discovered on a regular basis.

But even with her work there, Emily has been regularly called to investigations across the country, including the site of the terrorist attack on the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, where a mysterious body part - a dismembered leg - was found at the scene and did not match any of the known victims. Through careful scientific analysis, Emily was able to help identify the leg’s owner, a pivotal piece of evidence that helped convict Timothy McVeigh.

From the biggest news stories of our time to stranger-than-true local mysteries, these unforgettable stories come from Emily Craig’s remarkable career.

©2004 Emily Craig, PhD (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Very Good! Listened in one day!

I was riveted by the older cases she helped solve. Some of the people she was able to identify just with a couple of pieces of evidence. Amazing!!!

Intriguing

This was such an amazing book with history on further developments of forensic anthropology and more in-depth details on numerous past cases. It was great to see Emily’s thought processes as she worked to support the discovery of victims’ names. She has an amazing talent for helping you feel a deeper understanding of what the various professionals encountered in these very challenging situations. What a spectacular career she has had.

Great Read

This line of work has always fascinated me and it was interesting to hear about how Emily got started and the cases she has worked on.

Accurate look at a forensic anthropologist's work

Takes you from her training for the career and stresses the importance of a thorough education in the basics to her being well known and respected in her field. she covers a variety of cases and shares her insights and emotions along the way. The reader was good, but more emotion needed to come through in places. I have read similar books and this is an excellent book. Highly recommend. I plan to check if she has written others.

Interesting Cases

Unique experiences that are explained in sometimes too graphic detail, but that’s what the book is about. I enjoyed hearing about the dr’s experiences and I learned a lot about what goes into identifying human remains.

Brutally honest

Dr. Emily Graig managed to capture the essence of a darker side of being disposable in a brilliant narrative of fact, empathy and compassion that is rare. She made it easy to understand the science and and the (he)art of forensic anthropology. I wish for more! And of coarse Carrington MacDuffie is an outstanding narrator who did this masterpiece justice.

Seriously True Crime, from the inside.

I was unsure if I'd care for this book. Many authors make things difficult to understand and are very clinical. Others are too unbelievable. This shows a wonderful human being with so many accomplishments, willing to share the scary bits, but also the reward at the end. The narrator does a wonderful job bringing it to life. One can picture the looks she gets, and gives, before entering some "mostly safe" places to recover bodies, or parts thereof. seriously worth the listen.

lost bodies found

the stories were very interesting. I enjoyed listening to how that put the pieces together to get the killer or just how they died. The findings don't just come overnight. it's hard work as a forensic scientist.

Interesting career, for sure.

She began her forensic career "late in life" and rose to excellence as a forensic anthropologist. Waco, Oklahoma City, and WTC. Wow!

So inspiring for a forensic anthro student!

I loved every moment of this and I am even more motivated to further my education. Dr. Craig is such an inspiration.