The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist (review)

The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist, by Mary H. Manhein. New York, NY: Penguin Books. 1999. 137 pp. $11.95 (softcover).

In her book, The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist, Mary H. Manhein, the director of the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Laboratory (FACES) and an instructor of Anthropology at Louisiana State University, provides a series of autobiographical anecdotes related to her experiences as a professional forensic anthropologist. Intertwined with touches of humor and personal reflection, Manhein describes how she applies her expert knowledge of the human skeleton to a medico-legal context--that is, aiding local police and coroner's offices in the identification of human skeletal remains.

The book includes 27 short chapters, each describing the diversity of cases that Manhein has found herself involved in over the past two decades. Every chapter includes a short, nontechnical description of different aspects of forensic anthropology. For example, Manhein provides very basic comments and illustrations on how forensic anthropologists can provide information about age at death, sex, race, cause of death, time since death, and how individual features can help to identify modern skeletal remains. In addition, Manhein does a good job of describing the variety of contexts and field conditions in which forensic anthropologists commonly find themselves working--including bad weather, confined and constricted spaces, and environments featuring a variety of insects and slithering reptiles. Although not technically considered "forensic anthropology," Manhein also includes descriptions of several of the historical cemetery cases that she has worked on, and the challenges involved in identifying individuals in this context.

The nontechnical and broad writing style used by Ms. Manhein makes this book very accessible to its intended audience, the general public. Manhein's description of forensic cases is reminiscent of other books written for the general public by accomplished forensic anthropologists such as "Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist," by William R. Maples; "Bones: A Forensic Detective's Case Book," by Douglas Ubelaker, and "Bone Voyage: A Journey in Forensic Anthropology," by Stanley Rhine. Manhein's addition to this distinguished list of books is unique in that it is the first written for the general public on this subject that presents a female perspective on a traditionally male-dominated field. Manhein provides hints of the difficulties faced by women who have both family responsibilities and a career in this profession, but overall impresses the message that women can succeed in both arenas when they are passionate about their career choice. Because of the intended audience, this book would not be considered an academic approach to the field of forensic anthropology; however, individuals who have an interest in the field of forensic anthropology may find this book enjoyable.

The biggest drawback to this book is that, although Manhein describes herself as an accomplished "story-teller," the abrupt endings and brevity of the stories leave the reader wanting more detail. Manhein starts off each chapter with gusto, successfully draws the reader into the story, and then leaves the reader feeling a sense of incompletion when the stories end too quickly. There is very little continuity in the book from chapter to chapter, and stories that have similar content and that could have been presented together are scattered throughout the book. Each chapter is interesting in that Manhein brings a little bit of her life story into each case, but if readers are looking for a detailed description of the discipline of Forensic Anthropology they will be disappointed.

Tosha L. Dupras
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida 32816-1360

Literature Cited

Maples, W.R., and M. Browning. 1994. Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday.

Rhine, S. 1998. Bone Voyage: A Journey in Forensic Anthropology. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

Ubelaker, D., and H. Scammell. 1992. Bones: A Forensic...