We Keep the Dead Close

A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence

By: Becky Cooper

Narrated by: Becky Cooper

A Recommended Book from: New York Times * Publishers Weekly * Kirkus * BookRiot * Booklist * Boston Globe * Goodreads * Town & Country * Refinery29 * CrimeReads * Glamour

Dive into a "tour de force of investigative reporting" (Ron Chernow): a "searching, atmospheric and ultimately entrancing" (Patrick Radden Keefe) true crime narrative of an unsolved 1969 murder at Harvard and an "exhilarating and seductive" (Ariel Levy) narrative of obsession and love for a girl who dreamt of rising among men.

You have to remember, he reminded me, that Harvard is older than the US government. You have to remember because Harvard doesn't let you forget.

1969: the height of counterculture and the year universities would seek to curb the unruly spectacle of student protest; the winter that Harvard University would begin the tumultuous process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister school; and the year that Jane Britton, an ambitious 23-year-old graduate student in Harvard's Anthropology Department and daughter of Radcliffe Vice President J. Boyd Britton, would be found bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment.

Forty years later, Becky Cooper a curious undergrad, will hear the first whispers of the story. In the first telling the body was nameless. The story was this: a Harvard student had had an affair with her professor, and the professor had murdered her in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology because she'd threatened to talk about the affair. Though the rumor proves false, the story that unfolds, one that Cooper will follow for ten years, is even more complex: a tale of gender inequality in academia, a "cowboy culture" among empowered male elites, the silencing effect of institutions, and our compulsion to rewrite the stories of female victims. We Keep the Dead Close is a memoir of mirrors, misogyny, and murder. It is at once a rumination on the violence and oppression that rules our revered institutions, a ghost story reflecting one young woman's past onto another's present, and a love story for a girl who was lost to history.

*Special audiobook bonus PDF includes photos and source notes*

©2020 Becky Cooper (P)2020 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"Searching, atmospheric and ultimately entrancing, We Keep the Dead Close is a vivid account of a notorious murder at Harvard that had remained unsolved for fifty years, and a meditation on the stories that we tell ourselves about violence. Cooper is a methodical, obsessive and very companionable sleuth, who ushers us through the many twists and turns in her own investigation until she arrives at a solution. In a deft touch, she interrogates not just the evidence, witnesses and suspects, but her own biases and assumptions, as well." (Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times best-selling author of Say Nothing)

"Meticulously reported and sensitively written, We Keep the Dead Close is top-of-the-line true crime, fortified with shrewd intellectual rigor and acute moral clarity. This case became Becky Cooper's obsession, and before long, you'll be obsessed, too." (Robert Kolker, author of the number one New York Times best seller Hidden Valley Road)

"We Keep the Dead Close is the most amazing true crime book I have read where the identity of the person responsible was not revealed until the end. It's the true crime story everyone will be talking about next year." (BookRiot)

wow. this is so good on so many levels.

this is by far my favorite audio book to date. it has the great draw of true crime without the hokey annoying parts that exist in those podcasts. it is an incredibly interesting biography diving into life in the 60s, sexism in academia and a study of archeology. love the author/ narrator and I don't know what she will write about next but I would love to read or listen.

Not a Typical True Crime Story

While there are all the elements of many true crime stories: a vulnerable person, an unexplained murder with baffling evidence and an eventual resolution, this is not your typical true crime story. This is an ethnography of life at Harvard, the study of archaeology there, and a precise and cataloged “dig” into the life and death of Jane Britton. The author painstakingly describes, reviews, and considers every possible aspect. Unlike many true crime stories the author has not decided for us how we should see this murder. The author also reads her own work. It takes a while to get used to her staccato delivery, but eventually she does breathe life into the reading.

If you want quick and shallow, this isn't it.

First I need to say that I found Becky Cooper's narration perfect for the reading of her own words. There were no mispronunciations that I heard, and to the person or persons who disliked the way the name of the Peabody Museum was spoken, let me be the first to say that it's pronounced correctly. Ms. Cooper is a Harvard grad: she ought to know.

This fascinating, scholarly work is unlike any other true-crime piece I've ever read. Ms. Cooper didn't just set out to solve a murder-- or maybe she did--but as she discovered new themes, she presented them, footnotes, photos and all, giving us not only a solution to a mystery, but a portrait of institutions in their time that were as causal as any personal reality was.

After all that I should probably mention that it all adds up to a great, suspenseful read/listen. I'm actually glad I listened instead of reading the print version. Ms. Coopers voice and enthusiasm kept my interest better than my reading would have.

Bottom line--if you want a quick solution to a true-crime sensation, you know who writes those. This is different.

Captivating!

As is often the case I want to hear it again and again and again.

I wish I could record my reaction to conclusion

I genuinely wish I could have recorded my reaction to the conclusion of this book. There were goosebumps, lots of cussing (in a very surprised good way), jaw on the ground, and complete and utter shock. There was a moment, when I thought, details are good but I think she’s gone overboard. HOWEVER, the end I knew how and why, the sometimes painful details all paid off!!! She was relentless in her research and she deserves all the accolades for it. What a masterpiece. I have read all the genres and especially true crime. This is the gold standard. Bravo. Get this book. If there’s ever a moment you think it’s dragging, keep going I PROMISE this pays in full.

Rethinking True Crine

We Keep the Dead Close redefines true crime. Cooper’s determination to honor Jane Britton’s short life brings respect, scholarship and sobriety to the genre. The careful examination of Britton’s murder does cover every detail of the crime and investigation, but also considers the psychological and social aspects of how we view victims. You never lose sight of the fact that Jane Britton was very much a living, breathing human and all the complications her humanity entails.
We Keep the Dead close has so much more though. While telling the fascinating story of Britton’s murder, Cooper carefully covers the history of the past 50 years, the sometimes toxic history of Harvard and the often toxic history of women in academia. Her painstaking research adds to the solemnity of the crime and never lessens the suspense.
Hopefully Cooper’s next book will not take ten years to write. But maybe that’s why it’s such a flawless accomplishment.

An absolute favorite

Cooper’s evocative writing hooked me from the beginning, and her deftly interwoven threads link past and present as she sifts through the clues and takes us, with her evocative narrative, to the people and places that contribute to the story. The details help us to understand the milieu, breathe in the smells, hear the voices, and touch the physical world in which each part of this account takes place; I did not find any of these details extraneous or tangential, and I further appreciated the ways in which Cooper related parts of this case to her own experience as a woman and as a Harvard graduate. She takes us on this journey with her, and we have a window into the detective process as well as the facts she uncovers. I would not have wanted anyone other than Cooper to read this book, and I look forward eagerly to her next work. What a pleasure it was to immerse myself into this beautifully written and told story!

The Dead Are Never Forgotten

Cooper starts out to write about, and possibly solve, a five decades old murder. What she finds is much more. Harvard practices sex and race discrimination openly. The world of academia is cut throat, and Harvard will do anything to appear righteous. Even ignore a murder?

Excellent true crime book! Just amazing well detailed!

Having practiced criminal law for 34 years both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, so many details of this case are remarkable. One big issue not really addressed is the fallibility of DNA. It depends on the lab the lab technician the type of testing that was done especially from such a small degraded sample.
When law-enforcement says it’s a match that’s based on a variety of considerations and a good defense attorney as Miss Cooper points out could’ve torn their testing and theories to shreds. I do not believe this deceased serial rapist killer was the one who attacked Jane. The red ocher is not accounted for and too many evidentiary aspects of the crime are not addressed by blaming the serial killer.
The misconduct by one of the officers is clear. Mishandling of evidence and misinformation and smoke and mirrors around this case.
FBI should have been called in but alas, no jurisdiction to do so.

We still do not know who killed Jane. This is not an uplifting book! It is sad. But very introspective and fair. The author acknowledges her own bias at some points in the book which is meaningful.
Our own preconceived notions of what makes a “killer” runs through our own minds.
It’s far too convenient to blame a black man, who they claim Jane had sex with , whether willingly (WTH?) or as rape.

The dead “killer” is not the culprit here. This was not random.

So well written & read!!!!!

Kept my interest for the entire time!!!! Great book!!! I definitely Highly recommend this book