“People Magazine Investigates” returns with a fiery mystery that seems ripped from a particularly lurid airport paperback. In “A Story to Die For,” airing Monday, November 18, a blaze obscures a crime scene, leaving investigators scrambling for clues amidst the ashes. When a body is discovered bearing not just burns, but two distinct gunshot wounds, the case shifts from a potential accident to a suspected homicide. With the physical evidence largely consumed by the flames, police turn to a 21st-century investigative tool: the victim’s social media accounts.
Social media is where we present our best (or most performative) selves. Is it also where secrets and resentments simmer beneath the surface of filtered photos and carefully curated posts? “A Story to Die For” seems to think so. While this approach is hardly new—who among us hasn’t seen an episode of “CSI: Cyber”?—it’ll be interesting to see how “People Magazine Investigates” handles this one.
The reliance on social media posts and online interactions as a primary source of investigative leads presents its own set of issues, both practical and ethical, which the show is expected to, if not grapple with, at least acknowledge.
“People Magazine Investigates: A Story to Die For” airs Monday, November 18 at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.
