Killers of the Flower Moon

A world of research goes into every David Grann book, and this one is no exception.

I appreciate how the author painstakingly re-creates the mood and history of the time—Osage County, Oklahoma, in the 1920s—aided by documents and period photographs. It’s a fascinating, suspenseful true crime story, a tale of greed and betrayal. When oil is discovered on Native lands, the tribal members suddenly find themselves awash in wealth.

The Osage are assigned guardians by the government to oversee their newfound riches, but the guardians may not always have the tribe’s interests at heart. 

After the early indifference of the… show more.

If ever a work of nonfiction could entertain as well as upend the view of benevolent manifest destiny, Killers of the Flower Moon is the one! This book was not an easy read because of the violence and evil it reveals, but the story compelled me to keep reading to see if justice would prevail.

I loved the characters--because the author dug deep to uncover the 'why' behind their actions--and the spellbinding story that, like a great novel, kept me hooked until the end.

As a writer and a reader, I like to focus on little-known heroes. If you do,… show more.

I began reading this book in anticipation of the Martin Scorsese film and found myself utterly enthralled by a dark and bloody chapter of American history I never even knew existed.

The conspiratorial mistreatment and murder of the Osage people for their oil-rich land in Oklahoma should be part of the standard curriculum in classrooms throughout the United States.

The tragedy of Mollie Burkhart serves as a chilling microcosm of the innumerable injustices wrought against the indigenous peoples of this continent.

This account of a real-life American horror story is nonfiction but reads like a thriller.

When the Osage tribe was moved to land in Oklahoma that turned out to be sitting on oil fields, white criminals resolved to do anything—including murder—to get that oil money from the Osage.

I’d never heard about any of this before reading the book, and it’s a devastating story full of greed, betrayal, racism, and death. I have yet to see the film based on the book, but it’s hard to imagine a movie being any more horrifying than the actual story.

Who knew that the Osage people of Oklahoma were systematically murdered by their White neighbors in a quest to inherit "Headrights" to the underground oil on the Osage Reservation?

One of the more chilling episodes in the history of the United States of America, this story of men's greed, envy, and hatred belies the history of our nation that we learn in school. 

Not all White men are bad, of course. Tom White, a field investigator for the newly formed FBI, set out to discover the murderers. Supported by J. Edgar Hoover, who was intent on building the reputation of… show more.

This book needs to be read by everyone.

It’s a true story about how the Osage Indians were taken advantage of, and many were killed by guardians that the National government assigned to them to help them manage the money that they received when oil was found on their land.

I was infuriated and devastated reading the accounts that had been documented.

David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon gives the viewer a window into a piece of Native American culture in 1920s Oklahoma as well as the inner workings of the brand-new FBI under its narcissistic and despotic head J. Edgar Hoover.

For me, the heart of the story is the Osage people and their struggle to prosper in the face of racism, corruption, and murder. That’s not to say that Grann doesn’t do a brilliant job with the FBI investigation into the killings. 

This was a fascinating detailed history on the mistreatment of Osage Indians and confiscation of their lands. By the 1920s, the tribe was squeezed into a parcel of rocky Oklahoma territory where oil was later discovered. Seeing wealthy Indians enjoy their privileges didn’t sit well with federal officials who appointed guardians to help the Osage. Many were corrupt local residents. 

Monitoring the Osage’s spending and running their lives wasn’t enough for some Oklahomans, who began killing off tribal members. J Edgar Hoover and the newly established FBI struggled with the case. When Hoover then passed the case to agent Tom… show more.

David Grann “stumbled upon” this sordid mystery, in the process reviving forgotten crimes committed in the 1920s. Killers of the Flower Moon centers on lucrative oil rights pegged to reservation land out West owned by the Osage Indian tribe, whose members begin turning up dead under suspicious circumstances. Questions go unanswered for years until J. Edgar Hoover’s nascent FBI takes over the investigation.

The closing chapters are a coda of sorts about lingering racial injustice. Grann enters the narrative, but pulls it off without becoming a distraction. Killers of the Flower Moon is a compelling, important read and now would… show more.

Some may scoff at popular history, but I absolutely love it. It’s where you can find riveting tales that read like roller-coaster thrillers—think The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson or The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Unger. This 2017 gem by David Grann ranks highly among the books in this subgenre, illustrating in vivid detail a dark chapter of American history that I never even knew existed: the systematic stalking and murder of oil millionaires in Oklahoma in the 1920s. The twist? The victims were all members of the Osage Indian Tribe, who ranked among the richest people… show more.