Ms. Song’s Autopsy Reports

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When Song Caitang woke up, she found herself in a coffin home surrounded by dead bodies.

A young maid squatted next to her, crying so hard that she was hiccupping. She complained that the local undertaker, the Wu family, was shameless for kidnapping Song Caitang for the sake of their idiot son, and even used their good relationship with the coffin home to trap both Song Caitang and her maid inside. If Song Caitang didn’t agree to the marriage, she would not be allowed to leave!

Out of habit from her occupation in her previous life, Song Caitang began to inspect the dead bodies.

“What a pity.”

“Exactly! Young Mistress is still young and the doctor said you’d definitely recover, so it’s not like you can’t get married in the future to someone better. Why should you suffer for the rest of your life from marrying an idiot!”

“I’m referring to the dead bodies here.”

“…whaaaa?!”

Associated Names
One entry per line
宋氏验尸格目录
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The Delicate Lady Coroner (2)
Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (1)
Sorry, My Wife Has a Hole in Her Brain (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Romance
  2. Romantic Mystery/Thriller (bxg)
  3. Detective & Crime Thriller CN
  4. Mystery Mystery, here I come! (^ >^)3
  5. Good books I wanna read (part 1)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
12/02/24 Sky Demon Order c199
11/29/24 Sky Demon Order c198
11/27/24 Sky Demon Order c197
11/25/24 Sky Demon Order c196
11/22/24 Sky Demon Order c195
11/20/24 Sky Demon Order c194
11/18/24 Sky Demon Order c193
11/15/24 Sky Demon Order c192
11/13/24 Sky Demon Order c191
11/11/24 Sky Demon Order c190
11/08/24 Sky Demon Order c189
11/06/24 Sky Demon Order c188
11/04/24 Sky Demon Order c187
11/01/24 Sky Demon Order c186
10/30/24 Sky Demon Order c185
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4 Reviews sorted by


Nonak
Nonak rated it
May 4, 2024
Status: Completed
There are a total of 8 cases in this novel; each one of them being quite interesting and having surprising twists. The pacing is also pretty good, except for the first case, which dragged a little. Each case is also integrated in a much larger mystery which then culminates in a large finale at the end. I've actually been very surprised how well interwoven the cases and the character relations were. It's clear the author already had the plot well-thought out from the beginning, instead of writing it on-the-spot.

The general... more>> atmosphere of the novel is quite serious and dark, without too much comedy. Our female protagonist Song Caitang is proficient in forensics (autopsies) and general detective work. She's always quite clever, knows her way with words and is a good detective. The Male Lead has a very high position in the palace, is a martial artist and also good at investigating. You can expect both the MC and the ML to be on the same level; most of the time they are figuring stuff out at the same time. And it stays that way. So it's not like the MC is way smarter than the ML or the other way around. Both the MC and the ML investigate 8 different cases with two more people which are getting introduced quite early and stay a consistent team. Like I said, the cases are all quite serious and dark, including poisoning, r*pe and torture. The novel also successfully highlights the suffering of women in this ancient patriarchal society. There's quite a lot of tragedy.

The novel focuses mostly on the case-solving. There's some romance throughout the story, but don't expect it to be inredibly deep. The characters are inredibly well fleshed-out though. I'd reccommend this novel for anyone interested in ancient china crime-solving. Note that the cases are not simple though and need quite some concentration to follow sometimes.

There are also some things to criticize: The pacing of the first case is a bit off and it drags a little. Additionally, especially in the beginning of the story the ML saves the MC a bit too often from surprise attacks. I have nothing against these "damsel in distress" scenarios, but it occurs a bit too often in the first 2 cases. Other than that, not much to criticize. There are no annoying arcs or drops in quality, like I've seen in other novels. The translator also does a very good job. <<less
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Vindictivity
Vindictivity rated it
April 20, 2024
Status: c100
A few years ago, I read "Bone-Painting Coroner". This story reminds me a little of that one, but only in broad strokes (female protagonist with a background in forensics, male protagonist who is connected to the imperial family and provides support). The main difference - and the one I approve of the most - is that the MC ISN'T CONSTANTLY WRONG in her conclusions. The lead character in BPC would proclaim "This person is the mu*derer!" but would be wrong AT LEAST two or three times over before finally identifying... more>> the correct suspect. Here, Song Caitang is much more cautious and thorough in her work and draws on other characters' assistance to provide more evidence to support her conclusions and find the correct answers.

The pacing is slow, but the writing/translating is good enough that I didn't actually realize it for a while. There's something new in just about every chapter to add to the build-up of the story and flesh out the characters. While I agree with the other review that mentioned a potential issue with the translation Westernizing some terms, the translation quality overall comes across as very high.

So far, there are only a few characters who try to be clever schemers and fail utterly at it, like the evil aunt, Madam Zhang, and her cliché-storm of a daughter who hates the MC for no substantial reason; it delights me every time Madam Zhang has to exasperatedly confront the fact that her daughter has the intelligence of a doorknob and the impulse control of a toddler. The actual criminals involved in the cases ARE much more clever and careful in their plotting, which makes it slightly more realistic that professional investigators could have trouble catching them. Endemic corruption, greed, incompetence, and social posturing get spotlighted nicely to emphasize that the system itself is partly at fault for the failures in an investigation - officials are too busy looking out for their own interests to do the job right, and common people are too busy protecting themselves from "being implicated" to help.

There is, of course, a metric ton of misogyny. It's an Ancient China setting, so it's to be expected. In this case, though, it's explained in-universe by the MC realizing that this dynasty seems to be set just after one led by a female ruler and thus displaying a certain amount of patriarchal push-back against women in general. However, the MC's eldest cousin is a woman who's running the family business, and it becomes clear that women still have more autonomy and authority than is readily apparent at first glance. The only people who seem to be intent on subjugating female characters are jerks who don't like being shown up by a girl, or women who want to use social pressure to force other women or girls to fall in line.

So far, I'm really enjoying this one. <<less
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Alexania
Alexania rated it
April 16, 2024
Status: c72
It's pretty entertaining as long as you suspend your Ancient China disbelief.

The MC is pretty OP, though at least she stays consistently OP in her field (so far) and doesn't suffer from the "death made good at everything disease".

The ML is actually pretty cool; he almost fits the cold/powerful stereotype but has a bit more life than usual.

... more>> The mysteries are... interesting but they drag on a bit too long for my liking.

One small problem is that characters tend to go OOC. Every character seems to just go mentally unstable and lose all established character traits the moment they're angered.

This may also be a translation issue since, while the translation is really good for the most part, the translator has chosen to Westernize some terms ("cutesy" instead of "coquettish") and add weird emphasis that makes everyone sound like petulant teenagers ("Waaaaaait a minute, why do YOU get to do it?!").

Overall, it's worth a read so far. <<less
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Reader coming through
Reader coming through
August 14, 2024
Status: c423
5 stars for this mystery novel.

The cases are really amazing, I like that the FL can't resolve them by herself and need the group effort to do it. Of course she makes great contributions everytime but it's far more realistic that each member of the group brings their own theory and results before everything is solved.

Also, the cases themselves are really deep, you might deduct who the mu*derers are but the reasons of their acts are so deep and interesting. The story we discover is each time more interesting.

... more>>
Spoiler

My favorites are the sect story and the prostit**es' one.

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For once, I'm not on the romance. It's my personal taste, and I can't deduct a star because of it. I just don't really like the ML, I feel sometimes FL and ML have a connection and other times it's some kind of forced relationship. Maybe because the beginning of their interaction was really refreshing and interesting but now the ML has become a classical overbearing ML ? Again, personal taste (and I do like overbearing ML, just not here).

Two annoying points.

Spoiler

One. The ML's jealousy and his possessiveness is too much.

Actually it's because I've got high expectations on the romance and ML. The FL is really really good, the cases too. But the ML is our typical overbearing prince. Even if she has a bit of a feeling for him, he acts like she's his wife so he asks for an imperial decree, he separates her and other men because of "jealousy", he comes nearly every night in her chamber to pursue her (ok they sometimes talk about the case but is it appropriate?). Yes he did those things because he loves her. However, he's born in this era, she already is badmouthed because of her work and what would happen if it got out? Yes she doesn't care and she's strong and won't be forced to be a concubine/wife, still... One more point is the old relationship thing, I know it's link to a case but it's one more point where fate links them together (a classic romance plot).

I don't dislike him and sometimes like their relationship but I also feel like everything is predetermined, she doesn't fall in love (again) but rather he's the most shameless, forceful and oportunist one (so it's him).

Second. He's everywhere.

The obvious plot hole was on the mountain, she was attacked and fleeing with the Old Lady and when she was getting caught maybe killed, he appeared to save the damsel in distress. And he wasn't even looking for her but also being attacked by his own group of enemies and coincidently found her (he didn't even know she was in danger!). Like on the same day, you were both on the same mountain for different reasons, both chased, and the timing was so right that if you were one second late, FL would have died? What a "coincidence", if he wasn't ML, I would think it was planned by him.

Appart of this obvious one, it's more subtle. Of course they work together but I don't understand why he has to appear everytime she's in danger or in a bad situation like arguing with someone (and most of the time she actually doesn't really need his help). I don't feel excited and wonder how she will fight back or will overcome her difficulties because she don't need to. ML is in her backpack, ready to be taken out. The author is obviously good at developping characters and stories as we see in the cases so why is it so sloppy here?

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