Killers of the Flower Moon
By: David Grann
Published Year: 2017
Publisher: Vintage
Pages: 416
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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 this 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.
First Impressions
I heard about this book on TikTok. A Native man and his daughter were talking about some of his favorite books that he read in 2023 and this one was on that list. When he described it, it sounded like something my dad would enjoy, so I looked into it further. He had apparently read it a few years ago and loved it. Between that knowledge and finding out it was going to be made into a movie, I knew I wanted to read it.
What I thought
This book was so interesting!
Grann tells the story of the Osage murders of the early 1900s. The story starts with telling about the Osage tribe and how they made their money by negotiating for underground rights and then it moves forward with the murders. Finally, it gets to the development of what we now know as the FBI, with discussions about Hoover and the earliest big agents.
I was fascinated and horrified learning the history of the Osage. I’m so glad that a movie was made about this story so that more people would learn about this history. It’s unfair how much our history has been whitewashed. I had never even heard about the Osage history, let alone the tragedy that struck their people.
I thought that I was going to enjoy learning more about the development of the FBI, but I actually enjoyed the part of the story learning about the Osage more. Don’t get me wrong. Reading about how Agent White solved some of the murders and learning about his history was fascinating. But this story made me hate J. Edgar Hoover more and I still wasn’t exactly sure the direct connection of this story and trial to the birth of the FBI. I mean, it gave Hoover good press so that he could launch the bureau to federal levels, but I don’t know if I would classify it as the birth.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I don’t usually read non-fiction unless it’s a celebrity memoir. Grann’s writing style really worked for me. It moved at the pace of a fiction story and wasn’t bogged down with pretense. The only other writer I find to be as compelling when it comes to stories such as these is Erik Larson.
This book was a solid 3.5 stars for me, but good enough to round up to a 4. I found the story educational and intriguing. I think it’s an important story to not forget and it inspires me to find more stories like these. If you want to learn more about native history, I recommend checking out this book. It does a nice job pointing out how the Osage were wronged and it doesn’t paint the FBI as perfect. It feels like a true unbiased account of the events and it was very interesting.