Why read The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist?

Book cover of The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South

Book description

This is a tale of two tragedies.

At the heart of the first is Dr. Steven Hayne, a doctor the State of Mississippi employed as its de facto medical examiner for two decades. Beginning in the late 1980s, he performed anywhere from 1,200 to 1,800 autopsies per year, five times…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Emilio Corsetti III

Author

This book covers how junk science leads to wrongful convictions. In this instance, it is bite analysis. The two men at the center of this story are Steven Hayne, the cadaver King, and Michael West, the Country Dentist.

The author focuses on one case, but these two men are responsible for several questionable convictions based solely on their testimony. As bad as these two are, you will be equally outraged by the incompetent judges, jurors, prosecutors, and defense attorneys that populate the stories of wrongful convictions covered in this book.

From Emilio's list on The best books about wrongful convictions and their causes.

Theresa Levitt

Author

As a historian of science, I was fascinated to see how science could be used, abused, and hijacked by regimes of power.

As a Mississippian, I was appalled at how persistent and insidious the problem of racial injustice remains in my state’s legal system. This is an eye-opening book that also reads like a true-crime page-turner.

From Theresa's 3 favorite reads in 2023.