This book was so interesting! The author did a great job explaining how genetic genealogy has changed law enforcement forever. The book was well-researched, and kept my interest throughout, even though some of the discussion was fairly technical . If you are a true crime fan or want to learn more about the beginning of genetic genealogy for solving crimes,, you definitely want to read this book. While I knew about some of the controversy surrounding the use of DNA in this way, the author does a nice job of explaining both sides of the issue. Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read a proof of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a true account of how a 1987 cold case involving the murder of two young Canadians on a road trip in the state of Washington was solved thirty years later by a dogged detective with the assistance of DNA and genetic genealogy.

Humes details the trip the two victims made, the search for them, and the years long investigation. He reports on the limited capabilities of forensics in the 1980s and 90s, along with the progression of advances in the analysis of DNA. Insight is given into how a cold case detective works in identifying suspects. While focusing primarily on this case, there is exploration into additional cases using forensic genealogy.

A well written, engrossing, fast read, Humes writes with humanity in talking about the young couple and their families. Some might find the book over detailed when describing the victims, the trial, the forensic science; I did not. He explains the science and controversy behind DNA matching in criminal investigations in an easily understandable manner.

I enjoyed Humes mention of the queen of true crime novels, Ann Rule. I have always enjoyed her books and found this one to be similar. Fans of true crime podcasts and shows such as Dateline will particularly enjoy this book.

Loved it! A true crime junkie I loved every second of this book. Well-researched, interesting, and informative. I particularly loved the level of detail the author put into explaining the intricacies of how DNA and genealogy are used to solve crimes. I highly recommend it to all true crime non-fiction fans.

Thank you Dutton Books for allowing me to review this arc.

One of the best descriptions of the history, process, and major players in genetic genealogy that I've read yet. I think the book takes a little bit of a left turn into sensationalism towards the end, while describing some of the alarmist issues with direct to consumer DNA testing: such as insurance denial, (already addressed by GINA), and the implication that DNA testing companies are using our samples all willy nilly for some nefarious biological purpose (they're not, you have to give them specific permissions for what they're allowed to do with your DNA) but otherwise a well written, well researched book that falls somewhere in between true crime and genetic genealogy 101.

I don't read true crime stories very often but this one caught my attention as I was reading the description and I wanted to find out what happened to these two murder victims. Sometimes an author will inadvertently make it difficult for me to enjoy their work because it has not been organized in a way that makes it easy to follow. This book did not have that handicap because the story flowed so naturally from present day to thirty-one years ago to what led up to the arrest of the accused man that I had absolutely no problem keeping track of where the story was taking place at that moment. As you will know by the title of this book it involves the first-time use of genetic genealogy in solving a crime. I will not make any attempt to explain what that entailed, but I can assure you that the author made the explanation as easy to understand as he could for those of us unfamiliar with the science behind the words.

This book is a testament to how much work was involved by law enforcement to prove a case and get it to trial against the criminal and the scientific community to finally identify how one man only could have committed these two murders. Bravo to the scientists who developed an entirely new method for identifying a murderer. We don't often have the opportunity to see history in the making described to us in such easy-to-understand words. Thank you to all those who worked so hard to solve these cases and to the author who turned it into a solid page turning experience for readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group, Dutton for an e-galley of this book.

I found this book an interesting and fascinating read. It delves in detail into how genetic genealogy help to solve a cold case double murder of a Canadian couple in Washington state along with some others that are covered in much less detail. While the book focuses on the crime there are chapters devoted to the development and use of genetic genealogy in solving crimes in addition to tracing birth parents, family history, etc. It also discusses the differing opinions in using genetic genealogy in solving crimes.

I received a free ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and my nonfiction book review blog.

True crime is a guilty pleasure read for me and this book was amazing. Unputdownable, gripping and well written

This true crime story is about Tanya and her boyfriend Jay. In November 1987, they planned an overnight trip to pick up a part for Jay's father's business. They vanished and a week later, their bodies were found in rural Washington. It was an awful crime, which was hindered by very few clues and no witnesses. The case went cold until many years later when DNA was stored digitally and became more prevalent, as more people sent in their DNA to trace their ancestors. Through a long process of political beaurocracy, the investigators were finally able to get the answers they needed to solve the case, through genetic genealogy.
I found the story very informative and interesting. Will definitely look for more books by this author.
I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Forever Witness is a true crime book with an extra twist that will appeal to anyone who's interested in genealogy! The first part of the book is a traditional true crime tale of the tragic murder of a young Canadian couple in Washington state. The author does a good job of telling a fast-paced story with a variety of perspectives--you can tell he really did his research!

The book then shifts to telling how this cold case was solved after 30 hours through the use of genetic genealogy. As an avid genealogist, I really enjoyed learning about how this was accomplished. The author also did a good job of explaining some of the ethical issues surrounding the use of genetic genealogy to solve crimes.

Would definitely recommend to anyone who's interested in true crime, genealogy, or both!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book ended up being a lot better than I anticipated. I've read a handful of true crime books over the years and most of them had one flaw that I found particularly boring: going into way too much detail about the lives of the victims. I don't mean to sound cold-hearted, but I think most people reading these true crime books wouldn't care about these victims if they weren't, in fact, victims. We are only reading about them because they were murdered and it's that crime that we want to read about. This book does an excellent job balancing background info about the two victims with the interesting aspects of the case.

When we first learn all about Tanya and Jay, the author kept the length just right so I was interested but not overwhelmed or bogged down by useless information. But the case became a cold case fairly early on in the book and I couldn't guess what the rest of the book would be dedicated to. I'm pleased to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. Once the case became cold, the focus of the book shifts to genetic genealogy, the use of databases like those of 23andMe to solve cold cases, and wow that was some interesting stuff.

If I had known originally how much of the book would be about this science-y stuff, I may have been less interested, but because the author had gotten me interested in the murder case to begin with, I was so intrigued by how they were trying to solve it. I found the whole aspect fascinating. And then there was just the right amount of detail about the court case for me to stay perfectly interested all the way through to the end. Sometimes books like this can focus too much on the courtroom scenes, to the point where we readers just want to skip to the end so we don't have to read every lawyer's argument word for word, but again this was just the right amount.

I was pleasantly surprised by every aspect of this book and I look forward to more books by this author.

I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

And just an interesting little tidbit to round things out nicely, these murders happened only a few days after I was born. I promise that didn't influence my review in any way either ;)

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for providing this non fiction title for review. This was much better than I was expecting. I had already read “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” and expected this would be very similar, but it was actually significantly different. I especially liked the discussion of the ethics of using DNA from genealogy sites for criminal investigations because that’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few years. Another highlight was the insight into the jury deliberations. Recommend this for any true crime fan.

The Forever Witness is a fascinating dive into the world of digital DNA and how it was first used to solve two cold cases. The book flowed like a novel, yet was full of information about the complex nature and controversy of melding genealogy programs designed to trace family trees with the hunt for murderers or victims of serious crimes.

As one of millions of readers obsessed with the psychology of true crime, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the science of finding the answers to long unsolved mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers and author for the opportunity to read an ARC of this excellent book in exchange for my honest opinion.

5 stars

This book is a compelling combination of a cold case double murder and an excellent explanation of the new techniques that solved the case. Detective Jim Scharf finds his niche as a cold case investigator in the pacific northwest. One of the first cases he delves into is the murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook in 1987. The young couple set off from Vancouver Island, Canada on an overnight errand to Seattle, USA for Jay's family business in November of 1987. The investigation takes us back to a time without cell phones and reminds us how different the world was. In 2020 "Genetic Genealogy" was developing as a cutting edge tool in criminal investigations. This became the key in this investigation, and this book also does a good job of explaining "Genetic Genealogy" and how it came about and the perhaps spurring controversy surrounding it . Definitely worth your time, Edward Humes explains and tells a very interesting story.

Thanks to Edward Humes, NetGalley, and Penguin Random House LLC for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed this book to the point I was unable to put it down. It is amazing what technology has become today and how DNA is helping solve more crimes now than before. I know a lot of people who think solving a crime by using ancestry DNA is not right, but with all the cold cases out there and all the people that are needing closure for the loved ones they have lost I think using ancestry DNA is a great idea. I am and will be recommending this book to all my friends and family.

The book covers the case of Tanya Cuylenborg and Jay cook, a young couple from Canada who went missing on a trip to Washington later to be discovered murdered. This is also the first case in which DNA was used to identify the murderer. While the case of the missing couple was enthralling, the pace of the book was not. It was a slow painful read. While I understand the need to be detailed in the storytelling it is not needed to be as detailed when it comes to the scenery around which the young couple traveled. I had high hopes for this book but sadly they were not realized.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review is a lot trickier to get started than I anticipated. I have a lot of feelings about the ethics of genealogical DNA resources, because it's not a black-and-white topic.

The writer covers the case with proficiency and smooth prose. THE FOREVER WITNESS doesn't get draggy or dry, and for true crime, that is sometimes a big problem writers face. The inclusion of diagrams and illustrations on how genealogical DNA works totally fascinated me. There's nothing wrong with this book as a whole. Its execution, premise, case coverage, victims' advocacy--cool, all of it. And I know, I know. A single book cannot cover the entirety of an ethics issue when the implications are as far-reaching as genealogical DNA in forensics.

I just kinda wish we had a little less of its praises here.

Once you've settled down and lowered your hackles, let me explain. I don't think it's necessarily a *bad* thing. As we well know, things in an of themselves usually are not inherently good or bad. Knife? Neutral. Democracy? Sounds neat. Gun? Fine. It's the forces behind these things that can become an issue.

As we've seen in an unfortunate amount of cases, accountability is not the strongest trait the police tend to display. And neither is this a strong trait for corporations. So am I against genealogical DNA being used in a forensic setting? On the surface, no. The Golden State Killer was given a face and a set of shiny new bracelets because of genealogical DNA. A lot of families got to look into those sad, beady little rat eyes and see just how pathetic that beast truly was. They got to face their monster in the light. I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of weight is off their shoulders now, how much healing comes after a breakthrough that explosive.

The issue isn't in its existence. Fractures pop up when we examine a few things. Firstly, that of--like I said earlier--accountability. It may come as a surprise to some that insurance companies can access your DNA in these genetic banks and use that to decide whether or not they'll deny you help. A lot of folks who aren't disabled or neurodivergent won't know this, but I'm here to tell you that that really sucks and is the primary reason I will never spit into a tube for them. If a simple pay-stub mishap within a social security office on the part of a clerk can shut down your SSI benefits, which includes the meds that keep certain people at a mostly-functional level, imagine what a genetic bank of all your potential diseases and quirks could do. So the people who take your DNA aren't exactly the most trustworthy to begin with. Terms and conditions protecting someone's right to privacy need to be adjusted and made 100% crystal clear before I'd even consider sniffing at a DNA testing company.

Need I say anything about police accountability within even the past year? I don't really want to, I'm exhausted, but if anyone comes at me, be prepared for an MLA-Handbook-worthy hurricane.

Secondly, accessibility. Some first-year rookie in a traffic moped should not be able to dick around in your family lineage. Not every police officer needs access to whether or not Aunt Dimity got drunk and crashed through the neighbors' garage last New Year's, or that Uncle Carl has a separate family on the other side of the world. The terms and conditions for genetic genealogy services say explicitly that your DNA should not be used as a primary source of evidence, but as an investigative tool. That is an ENORMOUS world of difference in the legal world.

"But cops need a warrant!" Cool, but trash is public access, and that soda bottle you just backwashed into? That can be used in a case.

All this to say, we need to examine genealogical DNA via law enforcement with a more critical eye. The issue isn't easily sorted through. Nor is it clear to predict how it will develop in the field of forensics. We in the true crime community just need to be careful of flying too quickly into one extreme, because people's lives and healing are at stake. We're not in a novel. Not every piece will be happy and straight-sided at the end of the day. And we need to examine more thoroughly how much pull we're willing to give to people who haven't shown they can handle the responsibility.

I already enjoy the writing of Edward Humes, and this book was another good one. The cold case behind this story seemed familiar once I got into it. A young Canadian couple disappeared in November of 1987 on a trip to Seattle to pick up furnace parts. When detective Jim Scharf delves into the cold case decades later, he’s determined to make a difference. Then add Cece Moore, who came up with a method to use genetic genealogy to help narrow down suspects for law enforcement, and magic happened. Loved this true crime book, though it does make you think about the issues around the databases for genealogy sites, and how private they should be about sharing their info..

Hume's book explores genetic genealogy and it's use in reuniting families, but more importantly, in solving cold cases. Following the capture of the Golden State Killer, genetic genealogy was instrumental in solving the murders of a Canadian couple in the state of Washington during the 1980's. Hume explains in detail how the case was solved within hours after decades.
Fascinating!

If you like to read true crime books then you should read this book! So much research went into this book and you could definitely tell. This book is great

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!
This was fascinating and heartbreaking. As a forensic science student, I was excited to read this. I am a big fan of shows, such as Forensics Files, Dateline, and The First 48: this book remind me a lot of those shows. I really enjoyed the content regarding forensic genealogy and the case itself. I think there could been more detail in certain aspects but overall really enjoyed this. I would recommend this to true crime fans!