Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud

A darkly comic inquiry into how to fake your own death, the disappearance industry, and the lengths to which people will go to be reborn.

Is it still possible to fake your own death in the twenty-first century? With six figures of student loan debt, Elizabeth Greenwood was tempted to find out.

So she sets off on a foray into the world of death fraud, where for $30,000 a consultant can make you disappear—but your suspicious insurance company might hire a private detective to dig up your coffin…only to find it filled with rocks.

Greenwood tracks down a man who staged a kayaking accident and then returned to live in his own house while all his neighbors thought he was dead. She takes a call from Michael Jackson (yes, he’s alive—or so some would have her believe), talks to people contemplating pseudocide, and gathers intel on black market morgues in the Philippines, where she may or may not succeed in obtaining some fraudulent goodies of her own. Along the way, she learns that love is a much less common motive than money, and that making your death look like a drowning virtually guarantees you’ll be caught. (Disappearing while hiking, however, is a great way to go.)

Playing Dead is an utterly fascinating and charmingly bizarre investigation into our all-too-human desire to escape from the lives we lead, and the men and women desperate enough to lose their identities—and their families—to begin again.

"The questions animating Playing Dead are ghoulishly existential.... This makes [Greenwood's] wit that much more welcome....The writer is generous with her subjects, letting them tell their stories and reveal their inner selves, however odious they turn out to be.... Writing a book as good as Playing Dead isn't easy." BloombergBusinessweek

"From digging up suspect graves to buying her own death certificate, Greenwood investigates the work of death fraud with probing comedic wit, and ultimately delivers a reflection on the efficacy of escaping ourselves." DuJour

"Exuberant and ironic, witty and compassionate, various and keenly-focused, Playing Dead is eccentric investigative journalism. A terrific subject, where the deadly (excuse the pun) serious and absurdly comic meet and mesh." Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland

"Faking your own death is, in many ways, the greatest con of all — and Elizabeth Greenwood pulls it off with flair in this beguiling foray into the wacky yet somehow ever-fascinating realm of death fraud." Maria Konnikova, New York Times bestselling author of The Confidence Game

"Ms. Greenwood takes us on a romp through the world of the living dead — not zombies, but real folk who decide the best way to go on with life is to fake death. It’s a delightful read, and for anyone tantalized by the prospect of disappearing without a trace it might even provide some useful tips — though Greenwood is careful to caution that "pseudocide" is rarely painless." Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake

A delightful read for anyone tantalized by the prospect of disappearing without a trace. Erik Larson, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake
Delivers all the lo-fi spy shenanigans and caught-red-handed schadenfreude you re hoping for. NPR
A lively romp. The Boston Globe
Grim fun. The New York Times
Brilliant topic, absorbing book. The Seattle Times
The most literally escapist summer read you could hope for. The Paris Review
Is it still possible to fake your own death in the twenty-first century? With six figures of student loan debt, Elizabeth Greenwood was tempted to find out. So off she sets on a darkly comic foray into the world of death fraud, where for $30,000 a consultant can make you disappear but your suspicious insurance company might hire a private detective to dig up your coffin...only to find it filled with rocks.
Greenwood tracks down a British man who staged a kayaking accident and then returned to live in his own house while all his neighbors thought he was dead. She takes a call from Michael Jackson (no, he s not dead or so her new acquaintances would have her believe), stalks message boards for people contemplating pseudocide, and gathers intel on black market morgues in the Philippines, where she may or may not obtain some fraudulent goodies of her own. Along the way, she learns that love is a much less common motive than money, and that making your death look like a drowning virtually guarantees that you ll be caught. (Disappearing while hiking, however, is a way great to go.)
Playing Dead is a charmingly bizarre investigation in the vein of Jon Ronson and Mary Roach into our all-too-human desire to escape from the lives we lead, and the men and women desperate enough to give up their lives and their families to start again."

Elizabeth Greenwood grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts. Playing Dead is her first book.

What brought me to Portland was the opportunity to interview Justin about the time he faked his death and got caught, and his most recent plan to disappear again. I first encountered Justin and his pseudocide-gone-awry when I happened upon his mugshot in a tawdry slideshow of Ten People Who Faked Their Deaths...

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