Everything you ever wanted to know about what happens to bodies after they die. In this exploration into the macabre, Mary Roach tells a story that reaches from medieval pharmacies, stories of 19th century body snatching, to the present-day Body Farms, and conferences on human composting.

The meticulously dismembered body of a woman is discovered in the grounds of an abandoned monastery. Despite the deep cynicism of Detective Claudel who head the investigation, Dr Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Antrhopology for the province of Quebec is convinced that a serial killer is at work.

In 1981 Dr William Bass founded the Anthropology Research facility at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the world's only laboratory devoted to the study of human corpses. This is his personal account of the real Body Farm .

Written by a criminal anthropologist, this work reveals the fascinating case histories behind some of the author's most unusual and horrific investigations. It describes the steps he took in resolving each mystery - from baffling dismemberment cases to the identity of long-buried skeletons.

The first Dr Kay Scarpetta Mystery, which won five international awards when it was first published.

On a bitterly cold march night in Montreal, forensic anthropologiest Dr Temperance Brennan is exhuming the remains of a nun proposed for sainthood in the grounds of an old church. Just hours later, Tempe is called to the scene of a horrific arson. A young family has perished, and there seems to be no witness, no motive, no explanation.

The fifth novel in the best-selling Dr Kay Scarpetta series.

A plane crashes high in the mountains of North Carolina. But a severed foot is discovered a good distance from the main crash site... Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is first on the scene. The task that confronts her is a sad and sickening one, and her investigation seems to be throwing up more questions than it answers.

Violence is escalating, and spilling onto the streets of Montreal. A nine-year-old girl is killed in crossfire on her way to ballet class. The body of a teenager killed in North Carolina is found hundreds of miles away. Forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan has to pick up the pieces.

It's the second-to-last day of archaeological field school. Dr Temperance Brennan's students are working on a site of prehistoric graves on Dewees, when a decomposing body is uncovered in a shallow grave off a lonely beach. Dental remains and skeletal gender and race indicators suggest that the deceased is a middle-aged white male, but who was he?

Guatemala, in the searing heat. The bones of a child no more than two years old are uncovered when mass graves are excavated. Twenty-three women and children are said to lie where forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is searching for remains. Then four girls go missing from Guatemala City.

A cargo ship arriving at Richmond, Virginia's Deep Water Terminal from Belgium is discovered to be transporting a locked, sealed container holding the decomposed remains of a stowaway. Scarpetta's post mortem reveals no cause of death or ID and sets her on a mission that could ruin her career.

The fourth novel in the Dr Kay Scarpetta series which was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for the best crime novel of 1993

In this new Kay Scarpetta paperback, she is presented with her most challenging case yet - and the biggest shock of her life.

Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner, is faced with the disappearance of five young couples from their cars, who, when found dead months later in deeply wooded areas, are without socks and shoes. Using the latest forensic techiques, she tracks the murderer.

Three skeletons are found in the basement of a pizza parlour. But Forensic Anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan has her doubts. Digging up more bones was not on her agenda. And to make matters worse, her sometime-lover Detective Andrew Ryan disappears just as Tempe is beginning to trust him.

It's one of the hottest summers on record and forensic anthropologist Dr Temperance Brennan is looking forward to a long-overdue vacation. But it's not to be... First, the bones of a newborn baby are found in a wood stover; the mother, hardly more than a child herself, has disappeared. But what happened there, and who will be the next victim?

'Death by self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head' is the on-scene assessment, but the victim's relatives are adamant in their rejection of suicide as an explanation. Discovered in a closet, a week after death, the body is barely recognisable. Extreme heat has accelerated decomposition, and Dr Temperance Brennan's forensic expertise is required.

Someone is stalking Beryl Madison, watching her while she shops and phoning her at all hours. Then, and for reasons unknown, Beryl lets him into her home. The next day she is found dead and Chief Medical examiner, Dr Kay Scarpetta, investigates. Did Beryl know her killer?

Christmas, New York and a naked body is discovered in Central Park ... The sixth novel in the Dr Kay Scarpetta series.