Taking readers inside the nation's preeminent Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the author, who spent ten years with the Maryland OCME, explores the year-by-year story of a pioneer in the field of forensic medicine that is now chronically in crisis. "Equipped with a journalist's eye, a paramedic's experience and a sardonic wit, Bruce Goldfarb spent ten years with Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where every sudden or unattended death in the state is scrutinized. Touching on numerous scandals, including Derek Chauvin's trial for the murder of George Floyd and the tragic killing in police custody of Freddie Gray, Goldfarb pulls back the curtain on a pioneer institution in crisis. Medical examiners and the investigators and technicians who support them play vital roles in the justice and public health systems of every American community. During Goldfarb's time with the Maryland OCME, opioid-related deaths contributed to a significant increase in their workload. Faced with a chronic shortage of qualified experts and inadequate funding, their important and fascinating work has become more challenging than most people could ever imagine." -- Back cover.