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Mop Men: Inside The World Of Crime Scene Cleaners (2009)

by Alan Emmins(Favorite Author)

3.59 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0312532741 (ISBN13: 9780312532741)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Thomas Dunne Books

review 1: I have read much non-fiction about forensic science and pathology. I have found the subject matter fascinating even before CSI aired its first episode. I thought this might be an interesting read. I wa interested in the legalisties, science (i.e. infection control protocols) and precedures of doing the work of cleaning body fluids from a crime scene.In this way - the book disappointed. I got interested when they were given the job of cleaning a meth lab. I wanted to know more about the dangers, techniques of cleaning and disposing these dangerous, volatile chemicals. However, after a cursory run through on what chemicals were used in a meth lab - the writer was dismissed from the scene due to the danger and I was left wanting more information.I agree with other revie... morewers in that the author put a lot of nonsense into the book to make it longer - the court transcipts were boring. I didn't even bother reading them all. This took several pages.I ended up thinking poorly of the author after reading the chapter of his non-response to a medical crisis of a woman a few feet from him in a restaurant. He admitted that he didn't want to get involved and also critiqued others who DID get involved. He just seemed like such a sad, useless little man whose whole life is writing his opinion and chatting in coffee shops in his blissful little hometown of Copenhagen. As for the proprietor of the business - he comes across as a hard working, although callous, money hungry asshole. I thought the whole book was summed up best by one of the workers, who explains to the author, "We are really just glorified janitors"Save your time and money for decent book that is respectful to the helping profession and people in general.
review 2: I was hoping this book would actually delve more into crime scene cleaning, as opposed to just following one crew around and recording their conversations. All I learned was that they spray an enzyme and then use tissue to clean it up, often throwing stuff away in the process. Tell us more! There is absolutely no discussion on the legalities of the job, no real discussion about the dangers of handling biological materials, other than the author spending way too long freaking out that he might get Hep C. That said, the actual crime scene descriptions and especially the sections from Neil Smithers are what saved this book from a much lower rating and me just giving up. Neil's attitude towards death is very brash, matter-of-fact, and yet very poignant and thoughtful. The author, on the other hand, comes off like a douche. He writes this entire book in that irritating "must list every random thought and comment I have" litany that many journalists fall prey too. There is a ton of seemingly random material and lots of "I'm from Denmark so I ride my bike and don't understand American slang lolol" that seriously detracts from the quality & puts the book into blog territory. He has a huge section that is just his opinion being presented as fact on suicides and even, very tastelessly, includes several bad jokes. It also derails because of his interest in a murder they come across, the Gary Lee Ober murder. While that would be fascinating on its own, there is not enough space or information presented on it for the reader to really care and yet there's enough that it takes a lot of attention away from the real purpose of this book. There's a 20 page transcript from the trial that is presented with no context and even with Emmins concluding commentary still has no value on its own. If you read crime scene tabloids for the opinions and the people, read this. If you're looking for an informative look into crime scene cleanup because you're interested in forensics, law enforcement, whatever then look elsewhere. This would've been much better as just an interview with Neil and his crew that did away with the writer constantly acting as if his different coping methods with throwing up at the sight of blood was some heroic journey. less

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