Every victim of sexual assault, murder, attempted murder, and any other heinous crime that can leave you traumatized or dead deserves justice. It’s not something that can really be argued. It is, however, something that can take decades. People try to move forward with their lives. Families try to move on. The police often give up with no viable leads or suspects. But no one is really ever the same.

The Forever Witness sheds light on the tragic deaths of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook in November of 1987. Two teenagers on an overnight trip from Vancouver to Washington. It was supposed to be twenty-four hours. Instead, it took thirty years. Thirty years for even a tangible thread of evidence to piece together the story of what happened to Tanya and Jay.

It’s amazing how many pieces must fall into place for someone to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The domino effect applies to almost every instance of life. Nearly ten different things had to happen for Tanya and Jay to be murdered in November of 1987. Seems like a wild number.

With the lack of technology we have now, detectives struggled with leads and tips but came up empty at every turn for decades. With the help of new technology and genetic genealogy, the practice of building a family tree, which we know as sites such as Ancestry and 23andMe, detective Jim Scharf was able to piece together the dominoes that fell leading to the deaths of Tanya and Jay.

Personally, I am surprised at how well the story was written. I anticipated a boring history-type novel, but Humes paints the picture of these two lovely kids and the relentless detective who finally got the justice they deserved. He never gave up.

For the true crime junkies out there, who can’t get enough from podcasts to books to television shows, this book is for you. Humes takes a deep dive into the days leading up to the deaths of Tanya and Jay as well as the years after as the case went cold.

The twists and turns are delightfully nauseating as the reader is transported through time on a journey filled with tragedy, hope, and at times, anger. To be honest, if I didn’t know this was true, it would be one of the most artfully crafted fiction novels I’ve ever read. But that is life, isn’t it? It’s twisted and raw and leaves you wondering how people can do the heinous things they do to one another.

I received this novel as an advanced reader copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

The Forever Witness dives deep into the double homicide of Tanya & Jay - a young Canadian couple who sets out to run a quick errand for Jay’s dad in Seattle but never returns home. What unfolds is a horrible, tragic crime that becomes a cold case, and won’t be solved until very recently.

Utilizing the most advanced DNA technology available to us - genetic genealogists are able to use preserved DNA evidence to trace the still unknown suspect’s family tree - and ultimately the police are able to arrest a perpetrator for this crime.

This book was absolutely fascinating - any true crime junkie will enjoy this read. It’s broken into three parts - the story flows and is easy to understand even in the most technical of places. The author does an amazing job showing every perspective of the story, highlighting the pros and cons of new techniques in the criminal justice world while holding a dialogue on what all the DNA testing of modern day really means for our privacy. This was a fantastic read and I have already told many friends of mine who love true crime to keep an eye out for its publishing!

LOVE THIS!!!

I am a huge murderino, so any book about true crime is immediately at the top of my list. This one was even more interesting after reading Into the Dark by Michelle Macnamara and listening to Paul Holes talk about the Golden State Killer case. I was super excited to read about this because it was a case I hadn't heard of before. I definitely recommend checking it out if you have any interest in true crime or science.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for gifting me an advance readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Fantastic piece of nonfiction. This one was so interesting and I couldn’t put it down at all. It was heartbreaking, yet very heartwarming at the same time as I connected so well with the story of Jay and Tanya, who were both around my age when they disappeared. Well written and researched, this is one for the books.

Thank you to Netgalley for this Arc!

The Forever Witness is following Detective Jim Scharf who is trying to find a murderer that has been at large for 30 years. This double homicide rocked the town. With very little to go off of, he must start from the beginning and try to find the pieces that will solve this brutal crime. How deep do secrets run?

I went into this knowing that the author was going to focus on forensics and really get into the nitty gritty of what it takes to solve decade old crimes. So I LOVED this book, but if you don't enjoy true crime and the slower parts of what that can actually look like, then I would not recommend this. However, if you are also a fan of all things True Crime and obsessed with detective work like I was, then this is absolutely worth checking out!

Young Canadian residents, Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook, plan an overnight work trip to Seattle November 18, 1987 in order to retrieve a replacement furnace for a customer at Jay's Father's heating and repair business. As simple as this may seem, nothing seems to go right... it starts with a missed turn and ends deadly for the couple. When Tanya and Jay's bodies are found less than a week later their families' lives are turned upside down. Who would do something like this to their loved ones? That's the question that stays on their minds for more than 30 years as this case quickly grew cold.
Edward Humes did a fantastic job taking readers through every obstacle that detective Jim Scharf had to encounter in order to be able to take the first case ever brought to trial using genetic genealogy. It's clear Humes has done his research about genetic genealogy as there was a deep dive into its' background before being used to solve crimes... however, that's where it gets dicey. Where is the line drawn for consent and privacy when it comes to law enforcement officials using this data?
Such an incredibly interesting read, it kept me hooked as I continued to wonder if genetic genealogy could really not only convict a criminal but also bring a sense of closure to families as they find answers.

As a true crime junkie, this book was totally my jam. It also shows just how far we've come with technology. Having DNA testing, the internet, better communication, etc., the powers that be are at a huge advantage over those in the 80s.
This book also gives us a lot to think about when comparing the information we have, or could have, when trying to solve cold cases.
Loved it!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance reader copy of this book.

This book is a gripping tale of how DNA genealogy was used to prosecute a double murderer decades after the case had gone cold. Cold cases, however, aren't forgotten, they are still worked extensively by the cold case unit. This particular case was worked by Detective Scharf, a bloodhound of a man who would not take no for an answer. He used every means available to him to bring closure to the Van Cuylenborg and Cook families.

This non-fiction cold case report was told through exquisite storytelling. The details of the case, the families, and how detective Scharf finally was able to make an arrest were all clear and explained, but not to the point where it got boring. It was told in such a way that you had strong emotions about what had happened to Tanya and Jay, and when the arrest was finally made it was celebratory. I definitely felt as if the killer did it, but Humes did a good job of explaining the defense's arguments. I will not say this book is unbiased, as there was a definite lean as to who had done it and some scathing remarks about the defense, but it was very well written.

I loved how Humes told this story, but also did not make it exploitative. He also utilized Detective Scharf so much it almost felt as if he was telling about the events himself.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. The author did a great job at explaining what all happened and I would highly recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader copy of this through NetGalley.

I love a good cold case book, and this focuses on one primary case while also touching on a lot more. What separates this book from others is the focus on genetic genealogy - using DNA from crime scenes and DNA directories to come up with potential suspects - which is really interesting and honestly, a bit mind-boggling. The science involved is just incredible. The book touches on the ethical issues and debates around using DNA samples people have submitted to various directories for criminal investigations without their consent, but I would have read a lot more about that side of things. The book doesn't delve in deeply enough there for me. The main detective, the victims in the primary case, and their relatives are all well-detailed, however, and I blew through the book becuase it was so engaging.

As a reviewer, I often read fiction books that are unputdownable because the story so riveting that I just don't want to stop reading until I know the ending. The Forever Witness, even though it is nonfiction, is just such a book--I could not put it down until I knew the ending. It is the nonfiction account of the use of genetic genealogy to help solve longstanding cold cases. The author does an amazing job of describing the people, events, and processes involved in finding the killer of two young people who were murdered over 30 years ago. We come to know the victims and their families as well as the detective and the genetic genealogist who discovered the revolutionary benefit of using DNA in a new and inventive way to solve crimes. And we see the controversies that have arisen between infringement of individual privacy and the adjudication of criminals through the use of new techniques. This is an exciting and compelling read.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this pre-pub manuscript.