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angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing content and the wrong subtitle. Unfortunately 92% of this book must’ve been written before the DNA from the case was analyzed. This created a scenario where once the killer was revealed by DNA testing, the preceding 92% of the book was obsolete conjectures, rumors, and judgments made about academic faculty and staff who ended up having nothing to do with solving the case. It appears that the author was therefore sent on a quest of spinning the narrative to incorporate more of a “#metoo” flavor about policies at Harvard. While that’s all well and good, that’s not what the book was supposed to be about and again really had no bearing on the murder mystery. Can’t say I’d recommend this book to anyone else.
arcoirisdesign's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
I was gripped the moment I started the book. Sped through it while on a cross country flight.
ebc726's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 rounded down to 2. For me, it’s like the author wanted to be the next Michelle McNamara, but then when the case didn’t go her way she was slightly in denial. And because of that, it really made the book drag for me.
emrodav's review against another edition
4.0
A really interesting story, very well written and researched. My only real complaint is that Cooper goes off in some directions for too long (some of the suspects that she dismisses), but spends too little time in others (the predatory nature of men in archaeology). Overall, though, a solid book.
honnari_hannya's review against another edition
4.0
CW: Sexual Assault, Sexual Misconduct, Victim Blaming (in discussion)
A true-crime book about the recently solved murder of an Anthropology grad student on Harvard's campus that took place during the 1960s, and the unearthing of the sexual misconduct and gender inequality that pervaded—and in many cases tainted—the investigation of her case.
I was deeply invested in this from the get-go, as my undergrad was in Anthropology. The fact that this was written by an ethnographer makes it especially compelling to me—there are plenty of interesting discussions here about bias in storytelling and the kinds of mythologies that we build around these tragedies as "cautionary tales."
It is also a fascinating look at how narratives tend to shift, how stories aren't "true" (and facts sometimes aren't either), but also how the malleability of truth doesn't take away from larger structures of power working against marginalized groups—individual stories may shift, but narrative themes resonate for a reason.
A true-crime book about the recently solved murder of an Anthropology grad student on Harvard's campus that took place during the 1960s, and the unearthing of the sexual misconduct and gender inequality that pervaded—and in many cases tainted—the investigation of her case.
I was deeply invested in this from the get-go, as my undergrad was in Anthropology. The fact that this was written by an ethnographer makes it especially compelling to me—there are plenty of interesting discussions here about bias in storytelling and the kinds of mythologies that we build around these tragedies as "cautionary tales."
It is also a fascinating look at how narratives tend to shift, how stories aren't "true" (and facts sometimes aren't either), but also how the malleability of truth doesn't take away from larger structures of power working against marginalized groups—individual stories may shift, but narrative themes resonate for a reason.
osucat03's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Gore, Homophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Cancer, Cursing, Sexual assault, Stalking, Dementia, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug use, and Sexual content
ohshanada's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
3.75
jayneyh314's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
In 1969, Harvard graduate student, Jane Britton, was found brutally murdered in her apartment after missing an important exam. There were rumours of an affair with a married Professor but nobody was ever charged, never mind convicted, for her murder. 40 years later when Becky Cooper also attends Harvard the rumours are still circulating and the Professor at the heart of them is still working at Harvard. Cooper was scandalised at the idea that this man could be guilty and hiding behind the power of Harvard. She was drawn to Jane’s story and decided to start digging into it with a view to being the person who might finally solve this decades long mystery.
I had seen this recommended by @jobis89 over on instagram and her true crime recommendations are always on point so I downloaded it back in 2021 and then it has sat on my Kindle patiently waiting for me, until now!
It’s quite a slow read, there are lots of details and Cooper switches back and forth between her investigation in the present day and what was going on back in the 1960s. She gives a fair bit of background into how the American college system works, especially at an Ivy League college such as Harvard, which is useful to help get your head around how this kind of thing could have happened.
Cooper’s writing is very detailed and it’s not hard to see that she is an academic at heart. Sources are meticulously referenced and she follows up each lead to make sure the information is correct. It’s clear that she starts to identify quite closely with Jane and is very driven to uncover the truth about what happened to her.
Cooper also highlights the difficulties that women in academia faced, particularly back in 1969 but even still as she was writing.
There are a lot of twists in the story and at times I had to remind myself it was true crime rather than crime fiction as the twists felt like they could have been a work of fiction.
I don’t want to spoil anything so it’s hard to really say more. I really enjoyed it overall.