This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Katherine Schweit is an attorney and retired FBI special agent who created and led the FBI’s active shooter program after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She the author of the FBI’s seminal research on mass shootings, “A Study of 160 Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013,” and was part of the crisis team responding to shooting incidents at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Pentagon, and the Navy Yard in the Washington, DC, area. She is the author of Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis and a sought-after world expert in mass shootings, incident response, and crisis communications. She shares free best practices and research through her website and regular newsletter found at katherineschweit.com. She is the author of the dual titled book, A Simple Guide to the Second Amendment/How to Talk About Guns with Anyone, and teaches a course on the Second Amendment for DePaul University College of law. In her latest book, Women Who Talk to the Dead, she marries her inside knowledge of forensics and investigations with compelling storytelling to give readers unprecedented access to the messy business of digging up cold case murder victims. This true crime narrative delves into the cost of discarding part of humanity. A former journalist and Chicago prosecutor. She lives outside Washington D.C. where she continues to write, teach, and advocate for a better tomorrow.
Reviewed by Natasha Jackson for Readers' Favorite
Women Who Talk to the Dead by Katherine Schweit is a gripping true-crime narrative that delves into the largest excavation of murder victims ever undertaken by the FBI. The book centers on the efforts of a detective and FBI agent to identify and bring justice to hundreds of forgotten victims, who are mostly marginalized, which isn’t surprising at all for anyone who reads or watches true crime stories. Forensic breakthroughs have provided investigators with a way to listen to the victims, a way to find answers. The real gem in this story is how the author explored the emotional toll this kind of work takes on the investigators and the victims’ families. While the subject matter is heavy, this story is about hope and perseverance. It is the story of how a team of women worked together to give names to victims in a system that had failed them for years.
Women Who Talk to the Dead is both haunting and inspiring. Katherine Schweit's detailed recounting of the investigation offers a glimpse into the forensic science factor that many true crime stories often glance over. Cold case crime solving is particularly compelling because of the forensics involved, and the author did a wonderful job of highlighting those details. As a true crime junkie, this was a story I’d never heard and I couldn’t read it fast enough. A team of female investigators seeking out justice for victims long forgotten is a compelling hook, but the read is even better. The story was well written and totally engaging, from the biographies of the investigators to the stories of some of the family members of the victims.
