The Devil and Sherlock Holmes
Ratings10
Average rating3.2
15
Ratings10
Average rating3.2
Whether he’s reporting on the infiltration of the murderous Aryan Brotherhood into the U.S. prison system, tracking down a chameleon con artist in Europe, or riding in a cyclone-tossed skiff with a scientist hunting the elusive giant squid, David Grann revels in telling stories that explore the nature of obsession and that peel back hidden, often dangerous realms.
This breathtaking collection includes stories about the foremost expert on Sherlock Holmes who is found dead in mysterious circumstances, about an arson sleuth trying to prove that a man about to be executed is innocent, and about sandhogs racing to complete the brutally dangerous job of building New York City’s water tunnels before the old system collapses.
Throughout, Grann’s accounts display the full power—and often the perversity—of the human spirit. Compulsively readable, “The Devil and Sherlock Holmes” is a brilliant mosaic of ambition, madness, passion, and folly.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book was odd but interesting. I enjoy David Gran's writing quite a bit and he has a knack for finding odd but relatable - in a REALLY far out sort of way - to write about. The story I found the most interesting was the one that opened the book, about a Sherlock Holmes scholar who ends up becoming obsessed about a few particular missing manuscripts and then dies under strange circumstances.
My one complaint is that the book is billed as “true crime” even though not all of the writing focuses on crime (or obsession as the subtitle would have you believe). There are a dozen pages or so that go on about giant squids. Interesting, I guess, but not true crime. The book is much better approached as a collection of David Gran essays rather than having much to do with one another.
