Assisted Dying: An Ethnographic Murder Mystery on Florida’s Gold Coast

Assisted Dying is an ethnographically-based murder mystery that uses the unexplained deaths of elderly people on Florida’s Gold Coast to examine American cultural values. Diversity, immigration and the American Dream, and aging, retirement, death, and dying are just some of the issues illuminated. The novel skillfully draws readers in, teaching students key concepts in the social sciences as they follow cultural anthropologist Julie Norman in her quest to solve the dark mystery.

Serena Nanda is professor emeritus of anthropology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. Joan Gregg is professor emeritus of English literature at New York City Technical College, CUNY. Their first collaborative murder mystery, The Gift of a Bride, was published by AltaMira Press in 2009.