Body Trauma: A Writer's Guide to Wounds and Injuries

This has been very informative and helpful in my research for my mysteries that I am writing.

...for writers of murder mysteries and dark fiction, Body Trauma is concise in its detailing of injuries. While not a complete reference for all bodily harm, it is still a great reference for those emergency "I need to know how to describe this wound" moments which can occur in writing. Page's book is a great filler for forensic and basic medical information, but it does have a few draw backs. One of these being the fact that shock and its effects are not taken into consideration. Another draw back is that some medical terminology is not very well defined and may require the reader to seek a medical dictionary. Overall, Body Trauma is good as a quick reference but if you are in need of a more detailed account for your writing then seek it elsewhere.

Like most of the "Howdunit" series, this is a useful volume that every aspiring mystery writer should own. It's full of helpful, often detailed descriptions of various types of wounds and injuries, how they're treated, and, if they're not immediately fatal, whether they could lead to death or long-term disability. The chapter on torso injuries was especially good: it's not intuitively obvious to a non-medical person (like me) what the consequences of a particular type of wound or blow would be, and this made it much clearer. I liked the author's use of quotations from mystery and adventure writers to illustrate his points. And, although the tone is fairly dry, I found this volume easier going than others in the series, mostly because he used comparisons effectively and included easy-to-understand graphics. Some quibbles: 1. The book is very uneven. Some chapters are detailed and comprehensive, while I found others sketchy: for example, the description of types of gunshot wounds was a good general overview, but it didn't give enough specific information to answer the question I had. A chapter-by-chapter list of references, or suggestions for further reading, would have been useful too. 2. The author occasionally veers off into "Here's a nifty idea for your mystery novel." Some of them ARE indeed nifty ideas, but I'd never use them, because I'm sure the first person to read this book already has! I think the book would have been more useful to more writers if he'd just stuck to providing the facts.

Finally, a book that lives up to its own write up! This book is incredibly detailed. A must have for any serious fiction writer.

...........which is why I love this book. I just recieved it as a gift and have only put it down to give a high rating on here. I am EXTREMELY thankful that all of the information is about injuries. Any talk about nursing and caregiving and any other detail practices which occur in the whole environment of 'treatment' is wonderfully not touched on. This is a book that is EXACTLY what its title , intro, and jacket claim it to be. These qualities are such rare things its completely refreshing to have them in my hands.