2018 reading challenge: a true crime book

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is definitely one of those books that is going to be with me for a while after finishing.

This is about the Osage Murders in in the early 1920s that became known as the "Reign of Terror" by the Osage. Members of the Tribe, who had become wealthy when it was discovered that their homesteads, deeded to them by the Federal Governments (along with all mineral rights), sat on top of one of the largest oil deposits in the country, started turning up dead. Some by mysterious circumstances, so not. Feeble and caricatures of investigations occurred and had been ruled to not be worth the trouble. Until they came to the attention of a new bureau in Washington, DC that became known as the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

What was uncovered was rampant greed, conspiracies and the systematic elimination of tribe members who had larger holdings, all so that a small handful of white men could have it all.

I found the book moving in a deep, visceral emotional way. I actually cannot describe the deep rage I found myself feeling on behalf of the family of the victims and at the callous attitudes of the men who perpetrated the crimes.

If you need a true crime book, are interested in true-crime, American and/or judicial history, I really recommend this book.



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