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

Deborah Halber

Jul 2014 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Laural Merlington

About this audiobook

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. The Web sleuths pore over facial reconstructions 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.

Ratings and reviews

Not very focused or structured. Lots of extraneous details, verbose language and info that detracts from the storytelling. Not a satisfying listen as I felt I had to disregard a lot of info to try and focus on the details of each crime and what happened. I find myself drifting off and having to rewind. Not a fan of the narrator voice, but it did help to slow the speed down. While it goes into various cases, I did not learn anything. Disappointing.

About the author

Deborah Halber is a freelance journalist who formerly worked in public relations. She has written for the Boston Globe, MIT Technology Review, the graphic news magazine Symbolia, and many university publications. She's also a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Mystery Writers of America, and the National Association of Science Writers. Deborah lives near Boston.

Laural Merlington has recorded well over one hundred audiobooks and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards, including one for Never Say Die by Susan Jacoby.