Name: The Skeleton Crew
ISBN: 9781451657586

Deborah Halber

Citing tens of thousands of missing persons, unidentified remains and unsolved crimes in America, an introduction to amateur crime solving reveals how everyday concerned citizens can access online resources to help solve cold cases.

How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Coldest Cases

The Skeleton Crew

Kelsey McCallister

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.

Leon

Tannie Davidson

Solving cold cases from the comfort of your living room… The Skeleton Crew provides an entree into the gritty and tumultuous world of Sherlock Holmes–wannabes who race to beat out law enforcement—and one another—at matching missing persons with unidentified remains. In America today, upwards of forty thousand people are dead and unaccounted for. These murder, suicide, and accident victims, separated from their names, are being adopted by the bizarre online world of amateur sleuths. It’s DIY CSI. The web sleuths pore over facial reconstructions (a sort of Facebook for the dead) and other online clues as they vie to solve cold cases and tally up personal scorecards of dead bodies. The Skeleton Crew delves into the macabre underside of the Internet, the fleeting nature of identity, and how even the most ordinary citizen with a laptop and a knack for puzzles can reinvent herself as a web sleuth.

The Skeleton Crew How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Coldest Cases

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