It is wild to me that I had never heard even a peep about the Osage murders until I picked Killers of the Flower Moon. And I guess, in some ways, that’s the point of the book. An entire group of people targeted and being systematically murdered for money and it’s been completely washed out of our history for everyone but those personally touched by it.

The story told in this book is almost so wild that it’s unbelievable, and the craziest part is that what has been told is probably not even the half of it! I feel gross using the word “fascinating” to describe it, but… It’s truly fascinating that 1) all of this actually happened, 2) basically everyone got away with it, and 3) there are probably hundreds more victims that we will never even know about.

Aside from the story itself, I also really enjoyed how Grann laid it out, unfolding it bit by bit, seemingly allowing us to discover the webs and cover-ups the same way he did. I won’t lie – I definitely had trouble keeping all the “players” straight and more than once had to go back and remind myself who was whom. I’m also a very fast reader, but Killers of the Flower Moon took me a looooong time. Not because it was bad or slow, but it is dense. And I found that I couldn’t read it fast.

I often have trouble with nonfiction in the summer. I find myself wanting to devour 100 silly, easy novels rather than one serious nonfiction text. With that said, I’d still highly recommend Killers of the Flower Moon. But if you’re like me and you want your summer reads to be just this side of trash, maybe wait until the leaves start to change 🙂