Perspective

The perspective of Dead Men Do Tell Tales is wholly that of its author, William Maples. Maples lives from 1937 to 1997 and spends most of his life as a widely respected forensic anthropologist who is called to lead a number of very important skeletal identifications and to do a wide range of identifications of remains in murder cases along with autopsies and skeletal examinations that help lead to convictions. His perspective combines a "man of science" attitude towards death and forensics with a wistful curiosity about the nature of evil, an ardent sense of justice and a deep fascination with the dead.

The man of science attitude is strongest in the beginning of the book, where Maples describes how he has no theological perspective on his work and instead eschews questions about ultimate meaning. It also comes through in his passionate defense of forensic anthropological science as both an...