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reblihovde's review against another edition
2.5
This book's fact-finding mission is ironically bogged down by the very thing it proposes to be taking a critical lens to: the overbearing academic world. The author is so intent on pursuing and detailing every last student and professor that is tangentially involved in the archeology department, past and present, that it loses sight of the forest for the trees. Once you reach the end, it really feels like you have embarked on a 500+ page stream-of-consciousness by a person in front of their conspiracy board. While I appreciate the author's attempt to remain self-aware of how her own role in investigating Jane Britton's death and her attempt to explore how we more often than not create the very story we are hoping to uncover, I wish that the book had been self-aware enough for a better edit. The investigative work was clearly thorough, but this feels like a list of ingredients and a bag of items rather than the recipe or the meal itself.
cupojoe101's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
threegoodrats's review against another edition
4.0
This is in keeping with the current trend of authors inserting themselves in their story, for better or worse. Better because it does add another layer of story and makes it more personable and easy to read, but worse because it also makes the book longer. This story is complicated, nuanced, and just not straightforward in any way, but Becky Cooper does a pretty good job of making as much sense of it as possible. There is a part near the end where she writes about sexual harassment at Harvard and I thought that was rather extraneous and irrelevant, but it was only a few pages. As with many nonfiction books, there were a lot of people to keep track of and she also does a good job of reminding the reader who certain people are and I appreciate that. Long but engrossing, and ultimately sad. Regardless of what we learn, Jane Britton is still dead, her life cut way too short.
walking_library's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
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.