Killers of the Flower Moon: Oil, Money, Murder and the Birth of the FBI

by David Grann

WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FACT CRIME
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NON-FICTION
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ​CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION

‘A riveting true story of greed, serial murder and racial injustice’ JON KRAKAUER
‘A fiercely entertaining mystery story and a wrenching exploration of evil’ KATE ATKINSON
‘A fascinating account of a tragic and forgotten chapter in the history of the American West’ JOHN GRISHAM  

From the bestselling author of The Lost City of Z, now a major film starring Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller and Robert Pattison, comes a true-life murder story which became one of the FBI’s first major homicide investigations. 

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they 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. As the death toll climbed, the FBI took up the case. But the bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, its young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. Together with the Osage he and his undercover team began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. 
 
‘David Grann has a razor-keen instinct for suspense’ LOUISE ERDRICH

• ISBN10: 1471140261
• ISBN13: 9781471140266
• Publish Date: 20 April 2017 (first published 11 February 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 11 June 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Edition: Export
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

This is horrific, the exploitation, the murders for profit and the terrible, horrible, attitude to Native Americans...
 
I was both speechless and wanting to talk to everyone about it. 
 
In the late 19th and early 20th Century the Osage Indians had oil under the reservation and that meant money, lots of money. Overlay that with an attitude that said that the Osage (and most Native Americans) were little more than children, don't regulate the situation and you create a situation where greed will cause problems.  This situation lead to the death of several people and the main story in this followed one family. One family whose deaths broke the silence about the situation and ended with just one person left alive, her husband and a relative of his in jail for murder and a community shattered.  Along with the beginning of the FBI as it is now this is an interesting argument for oversight by third parties of vulnerable people, of how power can corrupt and about how equality has to be for everyone.

[Beth C.]

Reign of Terror. That's what the Osage call it. When their people were being systematically used, abused, and murdered for the oil money they owned. A conspiracy that encompassed most of the town in one form or another, and one that still resonates with the descendants of those involved.

Every so often, I really enjoy a good nonfiction book. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to find that they are really a struggle to read - dry, and (I hate to say it) even boring. However, that was definitely not the case here. I read the book almost in one sitting, and was alternately horrified by the cruelty done to the Osage, and engrossed by the efforts to find out who did it and to bring them to justice. Grann has a knack of bringing the past to life here, and I believe he has done justice to the events of so long ago.

I often hesitate to read those books that are "must-reads" because I tend to find that I'm not as engrossed in them as promised. Thankfully, that was not the case here, and it truly is a must-read. Eye-opening, fascinating, and a testament to those men who helped to bring justice to the Osage. It is also a book that honors those killed during The Reign of Terror, letting their forgotten story be one that lives on beyond those memories of their people.

[dpfaef]

review to follow