Book excerpt: "Death Investigation and the Coroner's Inquest is a major text on coroners' law, medicine and practice. It is the first such work with international, cross-disciplinary, policy, historical and literary perspectives. The book focuses on law and practice in Australia and New Zealand but draws upon law, practice and scholarly writing from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States, as well as illustrative cases and experience from the Asia-Pacific region. The book bridges the divide between traditional legal texts dealing with inquests and with appeals from coroners' decisions, and those forensic medical and scientific texts dealing with pathology, autopsy practice and other technical aspects of death investigation. Death Investigation and the Coroner's Inquest addresses homicides, fatalities in workplaces, hospitals and prisons, and deaths from mass disasters and genocidal massacres. It analyses the contemporary role of the coroner and how the institution of coronership is likely to evolve in the post-Shipman era. It will be useful to coroners, lawyers, medical practitioners, police officers and others interested in death investigation and the operation and parameters of coroners' inquests. Provides a comprehensive overview of the legal, technical, scientific and medical features surrounding the investigations carried out by coronersOutlines the history of the coronial system of death investigation and illustrates this history with a number of case studies. Covers specialist death scenes such as deaths in custody, transport-related deaths and mass disasters, including disaster victim identification. Includes a wealth of practical information about coroners and those who assist them as expert witnessesIncludes appendices with key resource materials."--Publisher's website.