Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated 2023 books, and I’m happy to say it did not disappoint! This book is a true crime memoir by Laurah Norton, host of the Fall Line podcast. Laurah ended up becoming fascinated by the story of Ina Jane Doe, a woman whose partial remains were found in 1993 and never identified. Laurah and a forensic anthropologist named Amy Micheal teamed up to identify Ina Jane Doe, consulting with other forensics experts along the way. Along with chronicling the journey to identity Ina Jane Doe’s remains, the author also discussed other cases of unidentified remains, and interviewed forensic and civilian experts who work on these cases. I loved how Norton balanced her own memories and life experiences with the true crime aspect of this book. It felt like a perfect balance. I also loved how she addressed some of the issues with unidentified remains, such as the concept of the missing missing, the idea that marginalized people are more likely to stay unidentified. She also discussed the issues with using sex/gender and race to identify remains. One thing I didn’t enjoy was that some of the sections where the science used to identify remains, like odontology, were discussed, felt like they dragged. The author inserted a lot of long, verbatim quotes from experts into these sections. I understand the intent was to get readers to understand the science behind these processes, but to me, it bogged the writing down, and a simpler explanation would have worked much better rather than a huge quote. Overall though, I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend for true crime fans.

Always interested in reading about cold cases and the methods behind everything as well. Interesting book, easy to read and didn't feel like it took me any time to get through at all.