Investigative journalism at its finest, this examines the IRA’s abduction of Jean McConville, a mother of ten, from her Belfast home in 1972 during The Troubles. Her family never saw her again. A little more than thirty years later, human bones are found on a beach and later identified as McConville. The case serves as an example of the violence, fear, and paranoia during that time, as well as a jumping off point to explore the IRA’s goal for a united Ireland, the repercussions of guerrilla warfare, and whether their ends ever justified the means. A riveting and heartbreaking read, this was recently adapted into a TV miniseries on FX.

Journalist Radden Keefe’s narrative nonfiction delves into London’s criminal underworld. When Matthew and Rachelle Brettler learned their nineteen-year-old son Zac died by suicide, they were devastated but the story didn’t add up for them. He hadn’t seemed suicidal. They soon learned he had a secret life, one in which he posed as the son of a Russian oligarch and became entangled with a crook and gangster. But Scotland Yard didn’t appear to be pursuing justice for their son and so they continue to seek the truth about what happened to Zac. The ensuing investigation is riveting, as is the exploration of the parent-child relationship. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author.