Killers of the Flower Moon : The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Presents A True Account Of The Early Twentieth-century Murders Of Dozens Of Wealthy Osage And Law-enforcement Officials, Citing The Contributions And Missteps Of A Fledgling Fbi That Eventually Uncovered One Of The Most Chilling Conspiracies In American History. 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. The Family Of An Osage Woman, Mollie Burkhart, Became A Prime Target. Her Relatives Were Shot And Poisoned. And It Was Just The Beginning, As More And More Members Of The Tribe Began To Die Under Mysterious Circumstances. In This Last Remnant Of The Wild West--where Oilmen Like J. P. Getty Made Their Fortunes And Where Desperadoes Like Al Spencer, The Phantom Terror, Roamed--many Of Those Who Dared To Investigate The Killings Were Themselves Murdered. As The Death Toll Climbed To More Than Twenty-four, The Fbi Took Up The Case. It Was One Of The Organization's First Major Homicide Investigations And The Bureau Badly Bungled The Case. In Desperation, The Young Director, J. Edgar Hoover, Turned To A Former Texas Ranger Named Tom White To Unravel The Mystery. White Put Together An Undercover Team, Including One Of The Only American Indian Agents In The Bureau. The Agents Infiltrated The Region, Struggling To Adopt The Latest Techniques Of Detection. Together With The Osage They Began To Expose One Of The Most Chilling Conspiracies In American History. In Killers Of The Flower Moon, David Grann Revisits A Shocking Series Of Crimes In Which Dozens Of People Were Murdered In Cold Blood. Based On Years Of Research And Startling New Evidence, The Book Is A Masterpiece Of Narrative Nonfiction, As Each Step In The Investigation Reveals A Series Of Sinister Secrets And Reversals. But More Than That, It Is A Searing Indictment Of The Callousness And Prejudice Toward American Indians That Allowed The Murderers To Operate With Impunity For So Long. Killers Of The Flower Moon Is Utterly Compelling, But Also Emotionally Devastating. -- Publisher's Description Chronicle One: The Marked Woman -- The Vanishing -- An Act Of God Or Man? -- King Of The Osage Hills -- Underground Reservation -- The Devil's Disciples -- Million Dollar Elm -- This Thing Of Darkness -- Chronicle Two: The Evidence Man -- Department Of Easy Virtue -- The Undercover Cowboys -- Eliminating The Impossible -- The Third Man -- A Wilderness Of Mirrors -- A Hangman's Son -- Dying Words -- The Hidden Face -- For The Betterment Of The Bureau -- The Quick-draw Artist, The Yegg, And The Soup Man -- The State Of The Game -- A Traitor To His Blood -- So Help You God! -- The Hot House -- Chronicle Three: The Reporter -- Ghostlands -- A Case Not Closed -- Standing In Two Worlds -- The Lost Manuscript -- Blood Cries Out. David Grann. Maps On Endpapers. Includes Bibliographical References. "Disturbing and riveting ... Grann has proved himself a master of spinning delicious, many-layered mysteries that also happen to be true ... It will sear your soul."? Dave Eggers, New York Times Book Review From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history 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. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances. In this last remnant of the Wild West?where oilmen like J.P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the "Phantom Terror," roamed?many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization's first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastating From New Yorker staff writer David Grann, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Lost City of Z, a twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history 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, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances. In this last remnant of the Wild West--where oilmen like J.P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes such as Al Spencer, "the Phantom Terror," roamed - virtually anyone who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll surpassed more than twenty-four Osage, the newly created F.B.I. took up the case, in what became one of the organization's first major homicide investigations. But the bureau was then notoriously corrupt and initially bungled the case. Eventually the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only Native American agents in the bureau. They infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest modern techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. The book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward Native Americans that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly riveting, but also emotionally devastating #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, “one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."— New York Magazine • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NOW A MARTIN SCORSESE PICTURE “A shocking whodunit...What more could fans of true-crime thrillers ask?”— USA Today “A masterful work of literary journalism crafted with the urgency of a mystery.” — The Boston Globe 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 it 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. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager ! "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. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances. In this last remnant of the Wild West--where oilmen like J.P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes like Al Spencer, the "Phantom Terror," roamed--many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization's first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history."-- Amazon.com NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Lost City of Z. 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 it 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. Look for David Grann’s new book, The Wager, coming in April 2023! NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, f rom the author of The Lost City of Z. 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 it 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....