All the Living and the Dead

Author Hayley Campbell, a broadcaster and journalist based in London, explains that embalmers, executioners, funeral directors, gravediggers, and cremators take on tasks that mourning families outsource. She spends time with them and reports tellingly on their work.

Dead Bodies

Neal Smither of Crime Scene Cleaners, Inc. has cleaned crime scenes for more than 20 years. The houses of crime scenes sell more easily after Smither erases all traces of violence. Half a million people follow his before-and-after crime scene photos on Instagram. Smither resents customers who have less interest in the person who has died than they do in the deceased’s belongings.