In the Shadows of Death: Writing Life’s Final Chapter

When it’s your job to calm the chaos around you, the chaos within you takes its toll.

Factual. Comprehensive. Compassionate. Sometimes at odds, these characteristics have driven medicolegal death investigator Paul Parker throughout his career. From sharing gut-wrenching death notifications to investigating high-profile cases, Paul has written the last chapter of hundreds of stories-even when it nearly broke him.

In the Shadows of Death is a powerful memoir exploring the turbulence caused when death is a constant companion. Raised by his terminally ill grandmother, Paul learned to navigate life’s final moments and has used his career to advocate for the deceased and, upon entering recovery and prioritizing personal well-being, his fellow investigators. This is a story of tragic endings and new beginnings, stifling addiction and renewed hope. For anyone in the death investigation community and beyond, In the Shadows of Death provides an inside look at how to choose life in the face of death.