Home Sleuth

When a young primary school teacher is found dead in her kitchen with multiple stab wounds, the police launch an investigation into what happened. The Medical Examiner’s Office declare her death a homicide, but a week later the police rule it a suicide. For true crime YouTuber Gavin, this becomes a case he can’t put down.

Home Sleuth brings you true crime stories from citizen investigators taking justice into their own hands.

Associate producer - Brenna Daldorph

Sound Design by John Scott

Fact-checking by Arthur Gompertz

Editorial consultation and additional sound design by Nick Van Der Kolk at Wingdog Audio

Commissioned by Luke Eldridge and Nicky Birch for BBC Sounds

Valerie doesn’t know who her grandfather is or how to find him. She’s told that African American genealogy is ‘too hard’. There aren’t enough DNA records of black people. It’s an impossible case. But Valerie is driven by the desire to solve a family mystery, so she investigates herself. What she finds changes everything.

Home Sleuth brings you true crime stories from citizen investigators taking justice into their own hands.

Animal-lover Tony is on the trail of a cat killer. He believes that someone is killing and mutilating pets across south-east England. But not everyone agrees this is murder, or even a crime. As Tony pursues a nightmarish villain, he must also contend with those who believe he’s chasing a shadow.

Home Sleuth brings you true crime stories from citizen investigators taking justice into their own hands.

Associate producer - Brenna Daldorph

Sound Design by John Scott

Fact-checking by Arthur Gompertz

Editorial consultation and additional sound design by Nick Van Der Kolk at Wingdog Audio

Commissioned by Luke Eldridge and Nicky Birch for BBC Sounds

Cara leads a double life. As an unassuming teenager from a quaint market town, nobody suspects her of being a private investigator. With an uncanny ability to blend in and spy gadgets to help her, she uncovers wrongdoings. Cara seeks truth and justice, but wrestles with the consequences of finding it.

Home Sleuth brings you true crime stories from citizen investigators taking justice into their own hands.

Over five episodes, we hear the gripping story of the role that home sleuths play in investigating crimes and mysteries, from the original internet sleuth in the 1990s through to present-day true crime YouTubers.

In most true crime podcasts, a presenter tells you where the story is going. This time, we break the mould. The sleuths present their own stories. After each episode, the series producers sit down with true crime expert Rachel Monroe to examine what the case can tell us about the wider world of true crime. Why do ordinary people dedicate themselves to these investigations? Is it ethical? What does it say about our obsession with true crime?

Created and produced by Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon.

The body of a young woman is found wrapped in a tent in Kentucky, US, in the 1960s. Nobody knows her name. The police can’t identify her, so the crime goes unsolved. She becomes known as ‘Tent Girl’. But 30 years later, a local man called Todd Matthews becomes obsessed with finding her true identity and has as a new tool at his disposal: the internet. Who was the Tent Girl?

Home Sleuth brings you true crime stories from citizen investigators taking justice into their own hands.

Home Sleuth brings you true crime stories from citizen investigators taking justice into their own hands.

An unidentified murder victim, a schoolteacher's suicide, the brutal dismembering of animals. The police have investigated these cases, but our sleuths aren't content with the answers. They begin their own search for justice. Over five episodes, we hear the gripping story of the role that home sleuths play in investigating crimes and mysteries, from the original internet sleuth in the 1990s through to present-day true crime YouTubers.

In most true crime podcasts, a presenter tells you where the story is going. This time, we break the mould. The sleuths present their own stories. After each episode, the series producers sit down with true crime expert Rachel Monroe to examine what the case can tell us about the wider world of true crime. Why do ordinary people dedicate themselves to these investigations? Is it ethical? What does it say about our obsession with true crime?

Home Sleuth is a Furrowed Brow production for BBC Sounds

Created and produced by Alice Fiennes and Poppy Damon