What a truly interesting book. The central theme ie. what happened to Rey Rivera, winds all through the book but along the way murders, accidents and suicides are all explored in depth. Alongside this theme there is also the history of the Belvedere, a former grand hotel in Baltimore; a fascinating story in itself. I would recommend this book to a wide variety of readers as it covers several genres in one.

This is a very well-written memoir, but I found myself disappointed with the content. I couldn't tell whether the author was clear on what she intended the book to be; was it a mystery, investigative journalism, history of the Belvedere Hotel, musings on her own life, or history in general? It was a little bit of all of that, and suffered for that.

I often felt like my time was being wasted by a writer with a word count to hit, who would wend her way through any subject she fancied just to rack up the words. A lot of the subjects covered were interesting, but I didn't come here for the history of rabies or the physical symptoms of poisoning in rats. I read this book to learn about the death of Rey Riviera and what might have caused that, and I got very little of that because frankly, the answer is 'We don't know'.

So all in all, it was a frustrating read, and that's a shame because Mikita Brottman is clearly a talented writer with a lot of potential; but she needs to pick a subject and stick to that. There was one line which Brottman wrote herself about a police report, which I think actually sums up "An Unexplained Death": "A masterwork of pointless detail and redundant precision".

This gripping book has me immersed in the mystery of a body found at the Belvedere hotel, now apartments where the storyteller resides. I was so intrigued to follow the story of the deceased and enjoyed follow the narrator along on their quest to discover the truth about the circumstances surrounding his death.

Brottman is obviously passionate about the story and this shines through. I learnt a lot regarding the history of the Belvedere along with that of other establishments - as a student currently studying a similar subject this book was right up my street! The search for the truth of the story leads us along a winding, diversive path, but I enjoyed each trip down alternative avenues. Brottman kept my attention, and, like many cases, there isn't always an easy explanation. I really enjoyed this book - once I'd started reading it I really didn't want to put it down and kept sneaking off to quiet places to keep reading!

I suspect that people who like reading real life mysteries written in a concise style with the author keeping personal observations to an absolute minimum will not enjoy this book. Personally, I struggled to put it down.

As a much as a journey as it is an investigation, Mikita Brottman’s obsession with Ray Rivera’s disappearance was just as compelling as the circumstances surrounding the tragic case. The book is not told in a linear fashion, going off into related and unrelated tangents, as well as hitting dead ends every so often, which made for a fascinating read.

I really enjoyed Brottman’s approach to this book and wouldn’t hesitate to get pick up another one of her works on the back of it.

This was an ARC in exchange for an honest review. With thanks to Netgalley and Canongate

Author, Mikita Brottman, lives in an apartment block which was once a hotel – the Belvedere. Taking her dog outside one morning, she comes across a poster for a missing man. Rey Rivera left his house one day, seemingly in a hurry, and didn’t return. When his body is found within the hotel , apparently a suicide, it leads Brottman to begin to investigate his death.

Although this sounds like a fairly straight forward true crime book, it is, in fact, anything but. Mikita Brottman tends to veer off the path, discussing everything from missing people posters, suicides that have previously taken place at the hotel, the ways that people kill themselves and endless other digressions during her musings on Ray Rivera. I think it is fair to say that readers will either be exasperated by this, or, like me, enjoy it very much.

Personally, I was perfectly happy to follow Brottman’s thoughts, as they jumped delightfully from one subject to another. Her investigation into Ray Rivera’s death lasted over a decade, as she looked into the company he worked for and the possibility that he was murdered. Like life though, this is not a linear telling of events, nor is it a straight forward true crime book, with easy answers.

This is rather like taking a long walk, along with a picnic lunch, idling along paths, meandering over hills and definitely taking no short cuts. Still, I found this a fascinating read, was very impressed by the author’s style and enjoyed her company very much. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Canongate Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest , unbiased review.
Interesting, intense read. Just unsure of this book. I could not decide if I liked it or not

This book is like having a conversation with a voluble friend on her most favourite subject ever! The main premise, as the title states, is an unexplained death, which occurred in the hotel where the author lives. Her interest is piqued before the body is discovered and her enthusiasm for solving the case never wavers. She does however, go off at a tangent on regular occasions. There is a theme running throughout which does link back to the original case but at times the focus changes quite suddenly.

I enjoyed reading this; the author's love and knowledge of her subject shines through and the cases mentioned, both the main and secondary ones, are very well written and researched. Without the additional information this would have been a much quicker read but nowhere near as interesting and enthralling.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review and recommend it for anyone who likes true crime with a little bit extra. I liked following the author through her struggles, especially as she never lost her resolve and was determined to overcome all obstacles put in her way.

This book has a potentially absorbing story line which gets lost amongst many diversions. It also fails to come to a conclusion about the circumstances of the death of its hero. The reader wades through pages of analysis of the likely causes of suicide,psychological illnesses and much more. It is idiosyncratic and strange if that happens to be what a reader is looking for. It is not a straightforward gripping read.

Mikitta Brottman is, without a doubt, a very good writer. Her research is second to none, she makes very sharp observations and her ruminations about suicide and mental illness are extremely interesting.

The clue to the outcome of this book is in the title, the death or Ray Rivera is unexplained and I dont think a spoiler alert is needed if I say that Brottman does not resolve the mystery.

Instead we are treated to a potpourri of a book, it delves into the history of the Belvedere, strange goings on and death at the former hotel, we dip into the biography of Ray Rivera and his work for the cliched sinister corporation Agora.

All good and well but what spoilt proceedings slightly for me was that Brottman adopts a style that is vogue with podcasters, they desperately try to inject themselves into the story and draw parallels between the story and their own lives. The need to make personal connections, make profound metaphors is a bit cloying. Brottman spends a lot of time explaining her own personlity, describing how people keep forgetting her and she feels invisible. Without belittling her as a person I felt this did little to further the story constantly injecting her own personality into the narrative smacked of amateur investigation.

I think a slightly more depersonalised voice would serve the story a lot better. The tentative conclusions she makes at the end of the book are more than likley spot on, the research about falls and jumps by suicide are hugely intriguing by themselves.

Still, this is an interesting book and worth a read, I just find the style adopted does not fit the genre too well.

Quirky, funny and morbid. A strange combination. Difficult to follow in places but well worth reading to allow you to decide was it suicide, murder or an accident.

What an engrossing, expansive, compulsive book this is! Brottman combines an academic's endless curiosity with the capacity for research, no matter the set-backs. I'll say upfront that I wasn't completely convinced by the final 'solution' (for want of a better word) but that's ok because this is a book that is about the journey, not the destination.

Her attention caught, almost randomly, by a missing person flyer, Brottman embarks on a quest that takes her into the lives of the people involved but also, more widely, into an exploration of suicide, of death and of the building, once a hotel, now an apartment block, in which she lives.

With references to Nietzsche alongside Poe and Conan Doyle, this is the story of an obsession - and Brottman is a writer who is honest, self-analytical and just so interesting that I'd follow her anywhere in literary terms. An oddly uncategorisable book which spills over genres - I loved it!