NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A New York Times Notable Book
SHELF AWARENESS'S BEST BOOK OF 2017
Named a best book of the year by Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, GQ, Time, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly, Time Magazine, NPR's Maureen Corrigan, NPR's "On Point," Vogue, Smithsonian, Cosmopolitan, Seattle Times, Bloomberg, Lit Hub's "Ultimate Best Books," Library Journal, Paste, Kirkus, Slate.com and Book Browse
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.
As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
Staff Choice: Juno
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a powerful and unsettling look at the Osage murders in 1920s Oklahoma. It’s a story of greed, betrayal, and racism, where the Osage people were targeted for their oil wealth. Grann’s writing brings this dark chapter of history to life, but it’s the resilience of the victims that really stays with you. This book is a painful but essential read for anyone wanting to understand America’s past.
Staff Choice: Júlia
True crime story about mysterious deaths in the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma in the early 1920s. I read this book this fall for the second time after I’d seen the movie, and I still think it’s one of the craziest, devastating detective stories about greed, unfairness, stupidity and savage lying. Hard to even believe, but it’s a true story.
I highly recommend you read the book first before deciding whether to see the movie.