Murph's Book Reviews: A Con-venient Death
Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted yesterday, so I decided to read about Jeffrey Epstein's Death. First thing's first, it's pronounced ghee, like clarified butter, and lane, a few blocks down from olive oil boulevard.
The theme of this book is unknowns. We know Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein are/were very pad people. Courts have convicted both. "A Con-venient Death" is about the legal process that never happened, and the questions surrounding an untimely death. Alana Goodman and Daniel Halper attempt to take a striped down approach to the case prosecutors never got to argue. They provided plenty of evidence that would have landed him in jail for a very long time, but the shocking revelations tied to Epstein's death were missing. There were numerous accounts of sex trafficking and child abuse by the deceased and the convicted, but as the tile of the book implies, Epstein's death was too convenient to pass muster. What other sinister plot remains hidden inside this horrid tale of sex, lies, and death? They outlined the possible motive, spoiler alert, it was blackmail, but were unable to lay their hands on the criminal who may or may not exist.
The unknowns make this a worthwhile story, and the unknowns are what causes conspiracies to flourish. Did Epstein commit suicide, or was he murdered? Who murdered him? How did they get away with it? Like all good conspiracies, there are too many eyebrow raising unknowns that don't add up.
Epstein was taken off suicide watch after 1 week as opposed to the usual 6 months
Epstein had no roommate, despite an order stating that he must have one
The camera to his cell was broken and the only other video footage was "accidentally deleted"
The handling of the body, from jail cell to the coroner's report was suspect, as rules and procedures were forgotten or ignored.
Numerous colleagues gave testimony against the likelihood of him committing suicide, and his lawyers spoke of a zeal within him to win his freedom
The last example is better summed up as "nobody thought he would ever do such a thing" which while they give a variety of reasons, from wealth to personal nature, it's a flimsy argument that Alana and Daniel rely too heavily on. Unfortunately, while they proved themselves as diligent reporters giving us every fact available, there just aren't enough facts surrounding his death to make any compelling argument. That void is thus filled with a truckload of anecdotes, half truths, and insinuations pointing to Epstein as a pimp and sex trafficker to the rich and famous, which ultimately allowed a conspiracy to form. While the case into Epstein's death ran cold months ago, the conspiracy lingers on because there are no solid facts to otherwise fill in the void. This makes compelling reading, satisfying our need for gossip and innuendo without providing penetrating answers to the very conspiracy their writing proposes to investigate.
So is she guilty? Yes, in a court of law. Was Epstein? If even half of the things in this book were true, he most certainly was. How about everyone else...? Let's see what kind of post sentencing plea deal Ghislaine can draw up. Perhaps the insinuations are true. Perhaps she can make good on the documents that may or may not be seeds for blackmail. It was a very convenient death, but was that convenience maliciously designed? The story and arguments Alana and Daniel provide are compelling and logical, but were unable to do anything but feed the conspiratorial fire. That would end the book on a bit of a downer if it wasn't for the political intrigue providing a thought provoking treat of a denouement. If the insinuations are true, and the world is full of terrible powerful people, I hope there is a sequel. But more-so, I hope they aren't, and I hope it isn't.
The crimes of those accused, not Maxwell and Epstein, are simply by association, and until proven otherwise, there is nothing to say. A con-venient Death is very good at hinting loudly, without saying anything.