True Crime

Book Review: THE WALTHAM MURDERS by Susan Clare Zalkind

| Jessica Crawford

For whatever reason, I was OBSESSED with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, and all things tangential – including the Waltham murders, and Ibragim Todashev’s fatal interview with the FBI. There has been a certain lack of transparency in regards to some of these things, and Zalkind’s book with all her own investigative journalism on the topics was everything I could have hoped for and more. I was absolutely riveted from start to finish.

Zalkind’s reporting style here is top notch. She shares all of her primary and secondary sources as she is able to, and is sure to point out that people may or may not be telling the truth and that she can’t tell you which it is, but she presents what evidence she has that may either support or refute what others have told her in her interviews. In the end she is able to say, “Here is what the evidence shows happened in Waltham/with Todashev, and here is why authorities have never told the public about it (not even the families of the victims murdered over a decade ago)”. Her investigation and reporting is thorough, and she never makes unsubstantiated claims, but rather always supports her conclusions with what she was able to learn, with the caveat that there may be more we don’t know and what that other information might possibly pertain to. Her personal relationship with one of the murder victims does not prevent her manner of reporting from being admirably professional.

The organization of the book did throw me a bit at times, but I assumed the author had her reasons for presenting the information in the order she chose, and I was always able to follow.

My Kindle tells me that I made 275 highlights in this book – some of those are of multiple paragraphs! There is just so much here that I want to be able to look back at. I think this likely means I should just reread the whole thing sometime. I got the ebook version for free through the Amazon Prime First Reads program, but am planning on buying a print copy of the book to support the author and all the amazing work she has done over the past 10+ years, uncovering truths about a topic I have long been fascinated by.

Bookshop.org

Goodreads

Bookstagram

Book Review: LAY THEM TO REST by Laurah Norton

| Jessica Crawford

There aren’t many things I find more intriguing than learning about the journey that begins with finding unidentified human remains, then studying them and investigating to discover who they belonged to, and ultimately, it is hoped, what happened to them.

I have an anthropology degree I’ve never used (changing career tracks and attending nursing school immediately after obtaining it), but have continued my lifelong interest in the subject, most especially with forensic anthropology. I read popular science books that are published on the topic. Oftentimes these are written by scientists in a very factual manner (like Sue Black’s survey of the human skeleton, including examples of specific cases she attended and what she was able to learn about a person from particular bones). This book takes a different approach. Written by a podcaster/writer/researcher/English professor, it describes the investigation into a specific Jane Doe’s identity with a narrative that includes the day to day process of planning and conducting the research.

I assume the decision was made to present it this way to make it more relatable, maybe? More like a story than strictly informational? However, for me, this made for a 50% absolutely fascinating read, and 50% boring drag. I honestly could not have cared less what hairstyle complemented Dr. Amy Michael’s cheekbones, or about the author’s skin care routine or keto diet; nor all the times the author ordered a Coke (Coke Zero twice at Mexican restaurants, Diet Coke at the trampoline park), the times she ordered a salad (including the time it came without dressing), all the times she flew Delta, and whether she then traveled to her hotel via rideshare or however else. I just wanted to get back to the matter at hand!

I also grew a little bored with the explanations of certain science topics with which I was already familiar, but of course the book couldn’t and shouldn’t just assume all readers are already brushed up on those. What I DID find super interesting was the specifics on the research and investigation done to identify this specific person, and several other Does brought up along the way. I also appreciated that the author includes in her writing the names of all the professionals who contributed, as well as some programs and nonprofits that readers might choose to look into more on their own.

Looking past the filler I did not care for, there was still plenty of great interest. Whether you’re a fan of true crime content or forensic anthropology and genealogy, you’ll probably find a lot to like in this book.