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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'
Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless by Laurah Norton
2 reviews
fanchera's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, and Murder
rosemaryandrue's review
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
True crime podcast host Laurah and forensic anthropologist Dr. Amy work to uncover the identity of the Ina County Jane Doe, who has been unidentified since her partial remains were found in 1993.
Though I enjoy the true crime genre, I generally avoid stories which don’t have conclusive endings – I’ve always found mysteries frustrating. Unfortunately, there are many unsolved cold cases in the United States, and the coldest of the cold are often those in which the victim is unidentified, which makes them even harder to investigate.
In this book Norton discusses the history and use of various techniques used in forensic science to solve crimes, showing how they are applied in the eventually successful investigation to uncover Ina Jane Doe’s identity. It’s a particularly effective way to illustrate often complicated science to the reader in an easy-to-grasp manner. Norton’s passion about the case comes across clearly, and I enjoyed her sometimes humorous, always interesting descriptions of the places the investigation takes her and the people she works with.
I did find myself in the weeds at some points regarding the science though, no matter how Norton tried to explain it, and I wondered if some of those sections were overly technical. There’s also some discussion of other unidentified decedents that she and Dr. Amy looked into that we don’t get later updates on, for example not mentioning the results of testing conducted that occurs on page, and without an explanation for the omissions I found myself frustrated.
To read more about Susan Hope Lund, the former Ina County Jane Doe, click here.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Though I enjoy the true crime genre, I generally avoid stories which don’t have conclusive endings – I’ve always found mysteries frustrating. Unfortunately, there are many unsolved cold cases in the United States, and the coldest of the cold are often those in which the victim is unidentified, which makes them even harder to investigate.
In this book Norton discusses the history and use of various techniques used in forensic science to solve crimes, showing how they are applied in the eventually successful investigation to uncover Ina Jane Doe’s identity. It’s a particularly effective way to illustrate often complicated science to the reader in an easy-to-grasp manner. Norton’s passion about the case comes across clearly, and I enjoyed her sometimes humorous, always interesting descriptions of the places the investigation takes her and the people she works with.
I did find myself in the weeds at some points regarding the science though, no matter how Norton tried to explain it, and I wondered if some of those sections were overly technical. There’s also some discussion of other unidentified decedents that she and Dr. Amy looked into that we don’t get later updates on, for example not mentioning the results of testing conducted that occurs on page, and without an explanation for the omissions I found myself frustrated.
To read more about Susan Hope Lund, the former Ina County Jane Doe, click here.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
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