2.5 stars, rounded up

I'm a true crime junkie and I have been since I could read. As I was growing up I checked out every true crime book from my local library, and since I lived in the Pacific Northwest during the time of Ted Bundy and Diane Downs, my interest has always been piqued by the subject. Now with the abundance of true crime podcasts, shows on Netflix, Dateline and Investigation Discovery shows, I admit that I watch/listen/read about them quite often.

This book examines the real citizen detectives who have been instrumental at helping law enforcement identify unknown victims of crime, and also those who perpetrated those crimes. Although it provides an interesting and sometimes unique angle, if you are at all into true crime stories, there's nothing much new here. Nearly all of the cases the author highlights in the book have been covered in more than one medium, so I was a little bored reading a re-hashing of the Golden State Killer or the Don't F**k With Cats case yet again. Even the very first case she profiles in the book, after reading a few pages it sounded more and more familiar and I realized that it had been a Netflix show called Why Did You Kill Me?

There are some good nuggets of interest in here, but I didn't feel like there were enough. And I know this is a quibble, but this is a book set with cases from the US/Canada. The writer is from the UK and the book uses UK terminology/phrasing that seems very jarring. She says that one victim had remnants of a nappy on her shoulder (US word: diaper) and must have run out of petrol (gas). Another case she states that the woman weighed eight stone (approx 112 pounds, I had to look it up), the temperature was minus 2 centigrade and the woman still had milk teeth (baby teeth). Now I don't expect books to pander to me language-wise, I'm perfectly capable of looking things up, but I would think a book set in the US would use US-based wording.

If you're interested in true crime and are maybe unfamiliar with very many cases or how citizen detectives work, this might be of interest to you. Otherwise, give it a skip.

This very interesting book shows how normal every day citizens get involved in how to solve murders via social media and internet and most of the times able to catch their guy before the police are able to come up with any clues to proceed forward.

This is a very interesting book for all the true crime fans out there. Stow interviews groups and individuals who do this not for profit or a job but on their spare time. They have captured the murderers of victims and given the victims a voice along with the victim’s family some peace. There are some very high media murders involved along with the people involved with the Luka Magnotta case which became the Netflix winner, Don’t F*ck with Cats.

This is one to really sink your teeth into and although they seem over obsessed with these cases and hope that peace can be found for the ones incorporating into this world as each case ends with results before they start to move to the next one. Saying this, they do come up with results and they do good for the victims family who are finally able to come up with resolution and move one after they are able to bury their loved ones.

This is a techno-vigilant feel about the proceedings and although I am amazed and in awe on their techniques, I do wonder on what happens when they get it terribly wrong. This is highly recommended and very thought provoking within its delivery.

If you're a true crime junkie like I am, this will be intriguing to you. I read the Thursday Murder Club and wasn't impressed, but this, this is something different altogether. Stow gathers several different cyber sleuths, armchair detective, true crime aficionados and discusses how they can positively (and negatively) impact the world of true crime and solving murders.

I've always wanted to be able to be a part of this community, and this book gives you an eagle-eye view of this world. I joined the Doe Network at a very young age, and through the years lost connection. This book gave me inspiration to be a part of it again. From Ted Bundy to John Wayne Gacy, to the Boston Marathon Bombers, Stow captivates her audience in how regular people like you and me can help an investigative team by spending countless hours and reading through thousands of pages of information that Police Departments across the country can't spend manpower or time on to solve countless murders or identify millions of unnamed victims.

If you haven't thought about picking this book, you really need to rethink it. It is published on 11/24/22, and you need to pre-order or get it when it comes out! This one was a winner in my book. Five stars.

#NetGalley #TheRealLifeMurderClubs #truecrime

What happens when ordinary people, in real-life murder clubs, set out to investigate cold cases and other crimes? Nicola Stow answers just that in her book THE REAL-LIFE MURDER CLUBS.

This book delves into ~a dozen different true crime cases (both well-known and not), and gives the reader a look at the citizen detectives who had a hand in getting some justice.

While I loved the premise of this book, the execution felt disjointed and seemed to spew more about the cases/murderers themselves than on the actual civilians who put in thousands of hours towards getting answers.

The timelines within the vignettes also felt random and confusing at times, and I was frequently rereading paragraphs to figure out how I ended up where I was now.

I think this book would be great for those new to true crime (and can stomach the more gruesome details), but as a true crime connoisseur myself, this book missed the mark a little.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: November 24, 2022

What happens when ordinary people, in real-life murder clubs, set out to investigate crimes, both recent and cold cases?

The Netflix hit Don’t F**k with Cats was based on the 2012 Montreal murder of thirty-three-year-old Lin Jun by his porn-star boyfriend, Luka Magnotta. Previously Magnotta had anonymously posted videos of himself killing kittens. This spurred horrified Facebook sleuths into working tirelessly to uncover his identity and location.

Other investigations include:

A self-taught forensic artist, who uses computer software and coroners’ photographs to help identify victims by showing how they looked when alive.

The mother who swore at her murdered daughter’s graveside that she would get the gang who had sprayed her car with bullets. It took fourteen years in the case of one gang member, but she finally entrapped him via the fake profile she had created on MySpace.

The retail clerk turned citizen sleuth who helped to match a photo of a missing man to a skull found in a bucket, which resulted in the conviction of the victim’s best friend.

Websleuths matched the IP address of a suspicious contributor to a lottery-winning victim’s financial advisor, which led to his body being found beneath a newly poured concrete slab in his advisor’s boyfriend’s garden.

Sometimes citizen sleuthing goes wrong, though, with innocent people being targeted, or accused of crimes they haven’t committed, with tragic results.

The real-life version of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club is grittier, with intrepid amateur investigators delving into truly gruesome unsolved crimes in pursuit of justice.

I find true crime fascinating and this book was both! I liked the angle that the author took with this one, the way that she interviewed the ‘armchair detectives’ who devoted part of their lives to solving crimes for various reasons. I also liked the fact that the author highlighted the potential downfalls that can arise from amateur sleuthing including instances where the armchair detectives have done more harm than good, resulting in a grieving family being hounded and times when influencers and journalists get involved for all of the wrong reasons – trying to become the next big thing by sharing rumours as facts, seemingly not caring about any potential fallout that might occur from their careless actions.

The true crime genre has exploded since the success of Serial – a twelve-episode series in 2014 where a journalist investigated the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, and the trial, conviction and life imprisonment of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. The podcast went straight to number one and changed the world of podcasts in particular but also of true crime interest. Hundreds of true crime podcasts followed, including Teacher’s Pet where Chris Dawson was ultimately found guilty of murdering his wife nearly 40 years ago, and then a surge in television dramas and documentaries based on real-life crime, like Making a Murderer which was watched by over 19 million viewers in its first month back in 2015 and more recently Netflix’s Dahmer which has been hugely popular but has also received some backlash.

Disinformation is dangerous. We fight it with facts and expertise!

Critics say that it is unethical to use true accounts of crime for entertainment because it can exploit victims and families while creators make money from violent stories. There is no copyright on so-called facts in the public domain and I know myself that I don’t automatically wonder if the victim’s family had consented to this, so I’m guessing other people don’t either! This is what I believe is at the heart of the ethical debate – companies or individuals telling true crime stories without respect and without the permission of the people who lived them and then making money off of that – not to mention re-traumatising the victims. But with money to be made and until the copyright can somehow cover people’s own stories, I don’t see that changing any time soon! It’s not so much what is done, but how it is done and I think this author did a good job of presenting the facts in an interesting way that was both respectful and interesting to the reader.

My thanks to the author and Ad Lib Publishers for my advance copy to review via NetGalley. Due to be released 24th November 2022!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Four true crime stars

This is a great book about several regular people that work as sleuths in their free time. I've always loved true crime, and some might think that I'm obsessed with serial killers but I just love knowing about the research process (I'm scientist at heart) and the families of the victims getting the justice they deserve. I knew many of these cases but it was nice to learn more about the people who just sit at home to look for evidence and theories.

Thanks to AdLib Publishers, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book - I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a really interesting deep dive into how crimes have been solved by citizen detectives in the past, and what has driven these extraordinary people to dedicated their time, passion and money to identify victims and bring some semblance of closure to their families.

If you're a True Crime junkie like me, you will recognise some of these high profile and lesser known cases, but the details into how ordinary people helped law enforcement to solve these crimes are fascinating.

I also thought it was a nice touch to dedicate the last chapter of the book to stories about how some amateur sleuths can get it wrong, and what important lessons some of them have learned about why, when and how to share information.

It's not a dense read either and flows well so it's an enjoyable read. You can pick it up and read a chapter or two over the course of a few days, which is what I did.

I thought the best part of this book was the section that explored the issues caused by people taking things into their own hands and easily ruining people's lives. Certainly, some of these amateur sleths have accomplished important jobs, but there are drawbacks to having non-experts playing a role in researching crimes.

An excellent read for true crime lovers.
The book is well written and researched and some of the descriptions of the murders aren’t for the faint hearted.
This shows the dedication and patience of the amateur sleuths and how their findings can help to bring closure to families and bring perpetrators to justice.
A must read for all true crime fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers.

The Real-Life Murder Clubs by Nicola Stow, 240 pages. NONFICTION, SHORT STORIES. Ad Lib Publishers, 2022. $17.
Language: R (25 swears, 12 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Stow interviews and shares the stories of citizens who have helped in several different cases – identifying suspects and victims in their free time. These citizens are often part of online communities that come together to try and crack cold cases. The work is never done, but Stow tells readers about a few of the victories.
The internet and all of its resources can be used for good, as is shown by the citizens highlighted in this book to catch criminals. However, Stow and her interviewees also include a warning chapter about what happens when social media and trolls go out of control. I am in absolute awe of the work that regular people are dedicating hours of their free time to behind the scenes. There is good in the world, and this book shows how good is triumphant over evil.
The mature content rating is for mention of drug and alcohol use, mention of pornography and brothels, illegal activity, and mentions of nudity and rape. The violence rating is for gun use, gang wars, mention of kidnapping and chemical warfare, mention of decomposing bodies, mentions of suicide, self harm, mention of abuse and cannibalism, animal cruelty, and murder.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I read this book quickly, mainly because I couldn't put it down.

I received this in exchange for an honest review. I will be buying this - it was a good book and well written.

This one isn't your typical true crime book. It's True Crime with a twist: civilians are the ones doing the work, the ones investigating. It made the read an even more compelling one. It was so interesting to hear about these people's lives, how they got into these investigations; what happened in their lifes to give them the dedication and perservance needed to attempt closing theses cases.
I loved how the book had mutliple investigations, all linked by a common thread: the author interviewing the citizen working the case. It made for a much easier read. You can pick the book up one day, read about one case, and then come back to it a few days later to read another one without forgetting key pieces of information.

Definitely recommend this book for any true crime fan!

Thank you NetGalley, Ad Lib Publishers and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars
One Liner: Loved it

Nicola Stow shares stories about real-life amateur sleuths and armchair detectives who worked for years to solve crimes no one else could. They take cold cases and use information in the public domain to solve crimes.
Some work alone, some in pairs, and others in groups. From handwriting experts to graphic designers, analysts, homemakers, and retired employees, real-life murder clubs have an array of people with the same goals. The book includes a collection of such murder clubs and how the members have worked on some of their best cases.
I’m glad I didn’t focus much on the blurb except for the last paragraph. As someone who didn’t watch the Netflix show (or many others), I could get into the book without expectations.
I have to say I loved reading it. The writing is compact yet detailed. It has a conversational style without being too casual or friendly.
Some of it is descriptive, but it is needed to provide a backstory about the criminals and the crimes (people from other countries may not know the details about killers in the US, and it doesn’t make sense to Google each of them to understand the book). That’s not needed, of course. The book tells me what I should know about the case, the proceedings, and the role of real-life sleuths who cracked it years afterward.
While some have a personal connection with the case, others felt compelled due to different reasons. They talk about the trigger moments that made them get into this path. Imagine spending your time, money, and other resources on someone you don’t even know.
On one side, there are official groups like Websleuths with strict moderators that work genuinely for what they believe in and help the police departments. Yet, there’s no dearth of over-excited armchair sleuths who don’t think twice before speculating or sharing someone’s personal information.
The last chapter in the book deals with such instances where amateur sleuths caused more harm and resulted in the hounding of an already grieving family. It also highlights the role of careless and fame-hungry journos and influencers using social media to share rumors as facts. The recent case of attacks on Hindus in Leicester, UK, is a great example.
I love the closing statement made by a retired cop. Becoming a real-life detective shouldn’t be for credit or fame. It is a responsibility and a selfless service to help people find closure. Those who expect recognition should not get into these activities.

To summarize, The Real-Life Murder Clubs is an impressive and inspiring collection about ordinary citizens who chose to be extraordinary by taking up crime-solving as a true passion.
Thank you, NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

A great addition to any true-crime lover’s bookshelf, “The Real Life Murder Clubs – Citizens Solving True Crime” is a straightforward and accessible set of stories that take you into the data-filled underworld of online sleuthing.

Read it if: you want to learn about the behind-the-scenes, sometimes YEARS worth of, amateur research that has helped put some very dodgy people behind bars.

Don’t read it if: you find the recent true crime popularity wave a bit bizarre.

In each chapter, Nicola Stow interviews self-confessed citizen detectives who are very proud to discuss their role in putting a name to the nameless. These people aren’t crime-solvers or vigilantes, but driven by the desire to help identify the world’s “John and Jane Does” – people who have died without their identity being known.

The book not only tells compelling accounts of citizen detective success stories that you might not have heard of, but also highlights the crucial role sleuthing has played in high-profile cases such as John Wayne Gary and the Golden State Killer.

However, the book doesn’t shy away from the limitations and potential pitfalls of this kind of work, also drawing attention to cases where amateur sleuthing has gone very, very wrong.

I’m a huge true crime podcast fan but haven’t read very many true crime books at all, and I found this one to be a great quick read. If you’re looking for a complex, academic deep dive, this one isn’t for you.

I would say this a great introduction to the world of citizen detectives, bioinformatics and forensic artistry, which gives you a basis to go on to do further reading. It’s a very accessible and digestible read.

As someone who followed along with the first season of Serial, watched Don't F**k With Cats, and finds the premise of internet sleuthing incredibly interesting, this premise definitely appealed to me.

I will say there is a bit of overlap between this book and the DFWC, but it is definitely not the only story featured. I really enjoyed reading about the different organizations and ways regular people are trying to assist with cold and missing persons cases. Like other reviews, I wish there was some overarching story/thesis that would have connected these stories together. At times it just felt like we were bouncing from story to story.

Overall an enjoyable and educational read!

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no large gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book therefore a star is lost for this.

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I’m fascinated by cold cases and the breakthroughs that lead to them being solved. This book was a brilliant overview of some real life cases and the work of civilian detectives in solving them

I thought this book was really interesting. It’s fascinating to learn how crimes have been aided and even solved by normal people in the world. I think it was also good that this book showed the parts of citizen detecting that can be dangerous or downright unhelpful. I’d love to learn more about cases like this, and it’s intriguing to think about where this might take us in the future.

Perfect for true-crime aficionados!

I have always looked out for true crime docs on Netflix so when a book version came along I knew I had to read it. The Real-Life Murder Clubs features some well known cases and some less well known. Written with compassion and with a pacy style, it was the perfect book to dip in and out of on each case.

With thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This book takes the reader into the world of citizen sleuths. The author interviews facial reconstruction artists, genetic genealogists, and armchair detectives who scour missing persons' flyers and Doe listings to make a match. This book touched on some very famous cases and some that were less known to this reader. I appreciated the detail of the author but it wasn't over-the-top gratuitous descriptions of violence. That can always be a fine line to walk in true crime. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The chapters were a good length. The storytelling was great.