Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless

The Fall Line podcaster Norton’s gripping debut illuminates the plight of unidentified murder victims and their loved ones through the lens of a single cold case. In 1993, the partial remains of a Jane Doe (nicknamed “Ina,” after a nearby town) were found in an Illinois state park; her killer left behind only her head and some attached vertebrae. In 2020, forensic anthropologist Amy Michael—a regular guest on Norton’s podcast—learned of Ina’s case and enlisted Norton to help her reopen the investigation. The pair solved part of the mystery after dental forensics revealed that the skull belonged to Susan Lund, who’d disappeared from Tennessee in 1992. Her killer remains unknown, however. Norton enriches her account with a focus on the technological and logistical hurdles similar inquiries face: as of 2022, for example, the NamUs database listed nearly 14,000 unidentified dead, but entries in that system are voluntary, suggesting that the true number is much higher. Norton’s vivid prose (investigating cold cases opens “a vast warren of possibilities, twisting in against each other, recasting old suspicions that once lay dormant, bringing new ones to light”) and thorough research shed light on both the difficulties of Jane and John Doe identification and the rewards it can provide for victims’ families and friends. Fans of Paul Holes’s Unmasked will find this fascinating. Agents: Meredith Miller and Lily Donlin, UTA. (Oct.)