When is it appropriate to want to know the details of someone's death?

Last summer, a friend of mine committed suicide. It was very sudden, as he was pretty much the nicest person I knew and definitely did not seem the type to do that. As soon as I heard about his death, I was curious about the details surrounding it. At the time I figured it was because the whole thing was so out of the blue. The family kept the whole situation pretty private, so a lot of my curiosities were left unsatisfied.

It was not until recently, 6 months later, that I learned new details about my friend’s passing. I had kind of accepted that there were things I would never know, simply because I didn’t want to upset people by asking questions about such a sensitive subject. Yet almost every day I think about my friend and wish I knew more.

In fact, whenever someone close to me has passed away, even my grandparents, I’ve never gotten many details until much later, which makes me feel a little left out. But I wonder: do I just have a kind of sick curiosity about these things? It certainly won’t bring my friend back.

Also, if I even had enough courage to ask about the details of someone’s death, especially a suicide, when would the appropriate time be? Should I just accept not knowing what happened and try to get on with my life?