Ominous.
Author: David Grann
Publication: 2017
Genre: Nonfiction, History
This account of the Osage murders was recommended to me by a colleague a few years ago. In the first eighty pages of this book I was convinced I was going to love it. The drama, the intrigue, the violence, the suspense! Unfortunately, the big reveal halfway through rather ruins the rest of the tale. After the primary perpetrator is revealed and his motives shown to be all too banal – do I care about precisely which horse thieves and ruffians were his accomplices? (No.) I’m also not that interested in the backstory of the FBI guy sent to clean up the mess, former Texas Ranger or no.
On one hand, Grann’s prose makes for a quick and easy read, and he does a compelling job of linking modern families to their not-so-distant history. On the other, he introduces and discards way too many characters. Fifty pages later I do not remember which now-jailed horse thief lied about what (see above). Grann likes to draw on related but not-strictly-pertinent anecdotes to make a point. I also couldn’t figure out the choice of images throughout the book – why so many similar portraits of Mollie Burkhart?
This book struck me as the result of someone with a lot of material who wasn’t sure how to best put it all together. That was a disappointment after the enthralling introductory chapters. The Osage murders are a fascinating (and shameful) story to bring into the present day. I wish the aftermath had been covered as adeptly.