Book Review: We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper

Book: 169

Rating: 5/5

WOW. This book is an incredible piece of investigative reporting into an unsolved murder at Harvard in 1969. Ambitious and charismatic 23 year old Jane Britton was found dead in her Cambridge apartment, and rumours about her murder are passed down through students at Harvard like a folktale.

I love true crime, but I consider myself an “instant gratification” kind of consumer of it. I would much rather read an article about a case, or listen to a podcast episode about it, rather than commit myself to a 10 episode series or a 500 page book. BUT, let me tell you, something about this book completely sucked me in from page one, and I was HOOKED.

I knew nothing about this case, and on page five when it said “Decades past and her case remained unsolved. Unsolved, that is, until yesterday.” my jaw dropped and I was worried that I would immediately google ‘whodunnit’ but I was captivated by Cooper’s writing and storytelling, and was able to finish this 500 page book in a few days. I admired the care that she approached with the case, her sources, and most importantly, telling Jane’s story.