Dr Richard Shepherd, a medical detective and Britain's top forensic pathologist, shares twenty-four of his most intriguing, enlightening and never-before-told cases.

These autopsies, spanning the seven ages of human existence, uncover the secrets not only of how a person died, but also of how they lived.

From old to young, murder to misadventure, and illness to accidental death, each body has something to reveal - about its owner's life story, how we age, justice, society, the certainty of death.

And, above all, the wonderful marvel of life itself.