“Dead People, Crazy People, Drugs and Politicians" may seem like a strange title for a book; but it is a combination of duties of every coroner in Louisiana. Coroners report the cause and manner of death. In Louisiana, they have the authority to evaluate people and hold them for mental health treatment for up to 72 hours. Some of the coroners in Louisiana feel they have the authority to collect drugs from death scenes, which violates numerous laws, and has led to issues with control of drugs postmortem. Also, in Louisiana coroners are elected; which makes them politicians, and part of that fraternity which looks after its own, while engaging in any conceivable enterprise the office might provide advantage for—honest graft, or what the tax man inconveniently calls income, or profit.