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Bringing Minds Together to Tackle Unsolved Mysteries

In my thriller novel Compulsion, I introduce my readers to Emily Stone. She works alone to track down and record some of the most despicable predators in our communities. Without an official police badge or the equipment offered by law enforcement, Emily uses her own sharp intuition and tools of technology to provide the local police with the evidence they need to bring a criminal to justice.

How many of us have at one time or another pictured ourselves as amateur detectives who would someday discover that pivotal clue in a long-unsolved mystery? With my educational background in forensics and criminal behavior, I must admit that I read stories about cold cases with a heightened interest. Is it possible that I could catch a key detail that everyone else has somehow missed? Who would not want to know that they helped put a pedophile or a rapist behind bars and provide peace of mind to victims who had lived in fear for months or perhaps years while waiting for their attacker to be brought to justice?

Many readers may not be familiar with an organization whose members actually do come together to research unsolved deaths and disappearances and then offer their findings to the relevant members of law enforcement. The group is called The Vidocq Society, named after an 18th century French detective named Eugène François Vidocq, and is comprised of forensic professionals and private citizens who donate their time and talents to crime-solving. The Vidocq Society started in 1990 in Philadelphia and now claims around 150 carefully selected members who come together once a month to review evidence and debate findings.

While I think that Emily Stone would make a wonderful addition to The Vidocq Society, I wonder if she would welcome that collegial approach towards solving crimes. Her adherence to a solitary and anonymous pursuit of criminals may keep her work strictly an individual effort. I hope you will read Compulsion and also take a few minutes to learn about The Vidocq Society, as these men and women are providing a great service to our overworked and underfunded police departments.