This book is new and recent, and I mean that in two ways. First, the book just came out so I felt lucky to get an early copy from the library (think the wait is much longer now). Second, the book is about an event that only happened a few years ago. I find it rare to find non-fiction books that are so quickly written (and written well) and published . Besides making it more topical in reading, it's nice to enjoy and not feel like it was from a bygone era that has nothing to do with the modern life we're living now.
This book is about the mysterious death of a young man who jumped to his death in 2019. While it seems like a clear suicide on the surface, as the author peels back the MANY layers of the onion of his life, acquaintances, and family, there's clearly much more than meet's the eye.
Like all of his books, Radden Keefe does an incredible job truly investigating every aspect of the story and delivering to the reader and organized, thoughtful, and fascinating account of all the varying pieces. Slowly, the reader is able to put the puzzle together to fully understand each complexity and nuance to make deep meaning of them all. And, collectively, they tell one heck of a story.
Based in a variety of spaces in England - privilege private schools, corrupt police offices, criminals hideaways, rich foreigners residencies - each page felt like I was learning more about a part of the world that I truly had no sense of. A pessimistic read of the book is that it followed too many loose ends and really doesn't have enough substance to be a full book. Some would say that the original full article from the 2024 The New Yorker is sufficient. Well, I would strongly disagree with those people. Sure, it goes down pathways and stories that don't always complete the final conclusion of the book but, as the reader, it feels like you are part of the investigative team working in real time to figure out this mystery.
As you can see, I was truly enamored with this book and did my best to savor each page. While the conclusion that was realized may not feel totally satisfying to some (including myself), this no book of fiction. Just like real life, sometimes things don't always get tied up in a nice, neat bow and that is both the frustration and fascination with real life stories. 
