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71 reviews for:
The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases
Deborah Halber
3.17 AVERAGE
71 reviews for:
The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases
Deborah Halber
3.17 AVERAGE
I loved the idea of this book...the fact that there are load of amateur sleuths out there that pore over the Internet, matching unidentified remains with missing persons, is kind of crazy and interesting at the same time. Some of the matches these people have made and the time they spend on it is mind boggling. It definitely sparked me to poke around on the Web a bit, though I draw the line at trying to find photos of remains. The hard part of the book was that it was so non-linear, that it was hard for me to keep track of where the author was. She jumped from case to case and then, mid-case, jumped to another, only to come back to it several chapters later. There were tons of people to keep track of and that made it difficult for me. Also, one of the main cases that she profiled had such an ambiguous resolution that I was left confused. So, mixed review, but worth the read. If you are into this kind of stuff.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
I spent a year trying to finish this book before finally giving up. I loved the premise and the first chapter seemed promising, but then that same material was rehashed over and over and over again. I felt like I was rereading the same chapter, just reformatted. I got the impression that the author has a great idea for a book, soon realized she didn't have nearly enough material to make it novel length, then kept going anyway. Also, I got incredibly tired of reading the word "sleuth".
Hard to follow the format with all the stories intertwined. Too many characters. Good storytelling though for the smaller stories that were contained in a few pages.
The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Hallber
This book is all about internet sleuths and arm chair detectives. It was an insight on how the Doe Network and Nameus got started where thousands of people could look at unidentified bodies and evidence then try to match with a missing person case.
In the book they cover a story about a young mother who was found deceased and bound in a tent like bag back in May 1968. Years go by with out her identity being discovered until Todd Mathews comes on the scene just an average joe who painstakingly uncovers who tent girl is.
For anyone who watches true crime, reads true crim this was a very fascinating look into a world I knew very little about.
This book is all about internet sleuths and arm chair detectives. It was an insight on how the Doe Network and Nameus got started where thousands of people could look at unidentified bodies and evidence then try to match with a missing person case.
In the book they cover a story about a young mother who was found deceased and bound in a tent like bag back in May 1968. Years go by with out her identity being discovered until Todd Mathews comes on the scene just an average joe who painstakingly uncovers who tent girl is.
For anyone who watches true crime, reads true crim this was a very fascinating look into a world I knew very little about.
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
The book jumps around a lot which was mildly confusing, and some parts read like a bad detective novel. Overall, an enjoyable read
An interesting view into the history of web sleuths and some cold case solves. I don't think it was meant to be "a history of" style book but listening to it in 2021 about the technology of and hurdles regarding the 2010 (most recent date I believe the book mentions and the copyright is listed as 2014) point of view kind of turns it into one. The style feels a little bit of a mix of first person and stream of consciousness which is a little different but the characterizations and descriptions of the places and people the author is describing paints a vivid mental picture. I think the topic is very fascinating and the true crime side of my brain appreciated the details of the cases that were being talked about in context. I think it's a decent read for someone wanting a true crime fix that's not quite as heavy as a lot of other true crime media tends to be.