The first chapter provides an overview of the medico-legal autopsy. Subjects discussed include the signs and diagnosis of death, post-mortem changes, the role of the attendant, sources of error, limitations of the autopsy, infection hazards, survival time, photography and x-rays, and the pathologist's responsibility. The second chapter outlines the questions pathologists seek to answer in their examinations, such as are the remains human, how many individuals the remains represent, the victim's identity, cause of death, where the death occurred, the time of death, the date of the injuries, manner of death, and the reconstruction of an event. A number of chapters address specific types of death investigations and the particular procedures performed by the pathologist in these investigations. These chapters encompass sudden death due to natural causes, death in a hospital, traffic fatalities ("hit and run" accidents), poisonings and intoxications, death in water, victims of fire, the deaths of infants and children, asphyxias, and death in custody. Other types of investigations pertain to head trauma and infections, sexual assaults, stabs and cuts, firearm injuries, skeletal remains, and blood and other body fluids. The final chapter discusses the role of the defense pathologist. 118 references and a subject index