We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper is a brilliantly idiosyncratic variant of generic true crime, rather more a memoir than a conventional work of reportage, so structured that the revelation of the murderer is not the conclusion or even the most important feature of the book.

This is not your typical true crime book, and that’s very much a good thing.

... exhaustive and extraordinary.

... an over 400-page true crime book that's overstuffed with suspects, motives, red herrings and interviews — as well as Cooper's first-person meditations about her own fascination with the case.

... fits the genre of true crime only partially, bearing little resemblance, for example, to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, in which the author, a master manipulator of plot, character and scene, conceals himself, the better to immerse the reader in time and place. Ms. Cooper’s, by contrast, is a quest narrative, with an angsty young protagonist and fractured storytelling along the lines of the podcast Serial. When Ms. Cooper describes her war room, covered with 'theories and photos, a map of Iran, a blueprint of an apartment building, all stuck to my cork boards with dissection needles,' she sounds like Carrie Mathison of Homeland, flirting with the porous boundary between commitment and mania.

... an impressively granular investigation of this shocking and perplexing case. Admirably, Cooper tries to do two things — tell the story of Britton’s murder and seek justice for her.

In some ways, Becky Cooper’s true crime book We Keep the Dead Close gives in to some of the genre’s worst impulses. Cooper spends a ton of time explaining her investigative process in lieu of just telling readers what happened, she includes seemingly irrelevant personal details about her life, she sometimes reduces the central murder victim in her story to a cipher, and she covers a crime that was solved while she was reporting on it — so anyone who gets bored can just look up 'the ending' online.

Becky Cooper, formerly of the New Yorker, has already drawn comparisons to In Cold Blood with her true crime masterpiece...and for good reason.

... [a] powerful, searching book.

... the personhood of a 'victim' can get lost amid endless details of sleuthing, records and police procedural. Becky Cooper’s gripping literary nonfiction debut...admirably avoids this mistake and never lets us forget the lived experience of Jane Britton.

The bones of an intriguing true-crime narrative are all here, but Cooper is at least equally interested in introducing readers to the highs and lows of her own investigation: the exciting leads, the dead ends, the many complicated people she comes to know. Cooper skillfully recounts the thrill of a new suspect coming to light or fresh information allowing for a different, potentially revealing, angle on Jane's murder. And, as her investigation slips deep into tangents, she is able to use the murder as a jumping-off point for a wide range of issues.

Interspersed throughout with photos and riveting plot twists, this book succeeds as both a true-crime story and a powerful portrait of a young woman’s remarkable quest for justice. An intricately crafted and suspenseful book sure to please any fan of true crime—and plenty of readers beyond..

Cooper does a superior job of alternating her present-day investigation with flashbacks depicting Britton’s life and the initial police inquiries. In addition to presenting a tense narrative, she delves into the phenomenon and morality of true crime fandom. This twist-filled whodunit is a nonfiction page-turner..