Crime mystery set in DEVON
The death of Zac Brettler: London Falling
27th May 2026
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe, the death of Zac Brettler.
This book has been popping up everywhere – on Social Media and prominently in book shops – and indeed there was a feature story in the Sunday Times main section 17.5.26. Author Patrick Radden Keefe has written an extraordinary account of the short life and untimely death of a 19 year old young Jewish man, in the heart of London.
From his early teens, Zac Brettler – grandson of renowned Rabbi Hugo Gryn – developed an alter ego, pretending (perhaps at some level believing) that he was the son of a Russian oligarch, calling himself Zac Ismailov.
The author forensically lays out the trajectory that leads to him falling from a balcony in November 2019, which happens to be caught on camera from the building opposite in Vauxhall, the MI6 building. He details how, in the previous years and months, he inveigled himself into a loose community of dubious people, one of whom perhaps had his eye on the young man’s supposed wealth.
He came from a middle class family, parents who are portrayed as guileless and aghast at what happened to their son, and they had no sense at all of the world in which he moved, his mother Rachelle highlighting “the underworld” that existed on their doorstep.
It is an incredibly readable account that disappears down various rabbit holes, building a rather alarming story of unscrupulous people operating in plain view around London. There is a trail of dead bodies, linked to this case in its wider context, which, dishearteningly, the Met police have classified as death by suicide, even though there seems to be evidence in several cases of foul play. The author suggests the police force has been singularly “incurious” about exploring wider events that in all likelihood shed more light on Zac’s death. His death may be categorised as suicide but there is much evidence and deduction that he may have jumped to escape something or someone more sinister…
It is quite an extraordinary and matter of fact account, hard to believe at so many levels. I was so curious to know more about the psychological aspect, just why a young man would have a deep need to present himself to the world in Walter Mitty style. However, that complex side is not really raised in this book.
Article in the Sunday Times, 17.5.26
The author adds all kinds of interesting glimpses, not only into the people involved at various levels, but he also comes up with amazing facets of the city. The MI6 building, for example, has been inspired by the tremendous industrial architecture nearby (think Battersea Power Station). There are clearly many elements about London that have piqued the author’s interest and so it feels quite revelatory – both about the Brettler family and about aspects of the city.
Overall this is a potentially explosive ramble through the city, exposing a very dark underbelly, focussing on the work that is still needed to bring closure to this baffling case. His book feels timely, as the awareness of the story is garnering a lot of publicity for the parents and they – and his brother – surely need a deeper investigation.
On one level, though, I felt at times, a little voyeuristic, intruding into the Brettler family’s life on so many levels. Yet, the publicity must be welcome in the hope that some kind of justice will prevail.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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