The News Agents Money, lies and death: London's criminal underworld with Patrick Radden Keefe
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May 6, 2026 
Patrick Radden Keefe, investigative journalist and bestselling author of Empire of Pain, discusses his new book London Falling and the probe into Zach Brettler's mysterious death. He explores dark money, fabricated identities and how modern London enables reinvention. The conversation also examines police reluctance, ties to wealthy figures, and a pattern of unexplained deaths linked to the city’s gilded scene.
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How The Brettlers First Engaged A Reporter
- Patrick Radden Keefe met the Brettler family by chance in summer 2023 and discovered Zach's 2019 death had been kept out of the press.
- The family had initially trusted the Met Police and only went public after an unsatisfactory investigation and inquest.
Teenage Fantasy Met A Moneyed Culture
- Zach constructed a glamorous fake identity as an oligarch's son and gravitated toward 'gangster capitalist' culture.
- Keefe frames this as both youthful fabrication and a symptom of 21st-century 'fake it till you make it' materialism around wealth and swagger.
Kids See Through Masks Older Adults Mistake
- Younger peers saw through Zach's bluster while older adults believed him, revealing generational differences in skepticism.
- Keefe suggests social media natives expect masks and filters, making them more likely to detect fabrication.
