Mostly Murders

A collection of journalistic essays of unrelated stories, tied loosely together by the themes of murder, madness and obsession. The title might make it seem as if all these stories are related to Sherlock Holmes, something I would personally have loved, but in fact only one of them is. This is not a Sherlock Holmes-focused book, and it is also not a true crime book. This is a collection of meticulously researched articles with a very human focus. David Grann isn’t simply reporting facts, he also focuses deeply on the personalities and lives of the people involved in each individual story.

Fascinating characters and interesting stories are what these articles all have in common. Some stories are closed cases, some are unsolved mysteries. Some stories are infuriating due to the corruption or incompetence they reveal. There are stories about gruesome murders, genocide and rampant crime, and there are stories that are so extraordinary that they are almost inconceivable. There are stories about obsession and crime, and there are non-crime-related stories that are only about obsession.

With the wrong expectations, this book could be a disappointment to some. Knowing what it is, a collection of essays by the same writer but with vastly different stories, some crime-related and some not, should make it a lot easier to decide if this is a book for you or not.

Nonfiction – Journalistic essays