I Have Some Questions for You

 

Bodie Kane, a podcaster famous for exposing Hollywood abusers, returns to her prep school to teach. Her students opt to make the focus of their own podcast the murder of Bodie’s then-roommate more than twenty years earlier. As they pry into whether the wrong man was convicted, Bodie is forced to reopen old wounds and examine her role in the lead-up and aftermath.

 

Taking on everything from #metoo to Twitter mobs to true crime podcasts, Rebecca Makkai’s 2023 novel screams “topical,” which is often shorthand for “desperate to clumsily assert relevance.” That may hold true in lesser hands, but Makkai excels in injecting this campus murder mystery with complexity and nuance that leaves us guessing for much of the narrative. Is the convicted killer Omar another young Black man railroaded by the justice system or a violent abuser rightly sent away? Is a predatory teacher the real culprit, or does Bodie, disgusted that he’s avoided suspicion all these years, merely want that to be true? Admittedly, the abundance of characters can make I Have Some Questions for You feel overstuffed, and the ending’s revelations verge on contrivance. But for much of the book, we’re treated to sharp writing that elevates the story above the faddishness (and, in the case of true crime trendiness, toxicity) of its subject matter.