The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession

The author of this book, David Grann, is the author of Lost City of Z, one of my all-time favorite books. Grann isn't a novelist, but rather he writes wonderful essays, and has been featured in the New Yorker. So you should assume immediately that this book isn't going to be another Sherlock Holmes pastiche, because it's not. Instead, it's a book of essays, but don't let that put you off. It is absolutely delightful.Grann has this thing about people who are absolutely obsessed about what they do, a fact you already know if you've read his splendid Lost City of Z. In this book, he takes his readers on a journey through a dozen different profiles, all completely true, all dealing with different types of obsessions. You have to admire his ingenuity in picking such different cases, yet having them all tie together so wonderfully.Structured in three parts, all headed by quotations from various Sherlock Holmes stories, the first section is subtitled "Any Truth is Better Than Infinite Doubt." Here's the guy whose lifelong ambition was to write the ultimate and the definitive biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. After there was a dispute over some of Sir Arthur's papers, the subject of this essay was found dead under some murky circumstances. Was it murder or suicide? Then there's the incredibly sad and horrifying case of the Texas man who may or may not have set his own home on fire, killing his children, and who may have paid the ultimate price due to the zealousness of certain arson investigators. The third entry in this section is the odd story of a French man that reads along the lines of Tey's Brat Farrar or even the movie "The Changeling," leading into the strange account of a man who may or may not have been guilty of murder, based on a book he wrote. Finally, there's the story of a firefighter who lost all memory of what happened to him on 9/11 as his unit went into the towers before they collapsed.Part Two, entitled "A Strange Enigma is Man," contains four stories: one about one man's obsession with giant squids, one about the Sandhogs deep under the streets of New York City, one about a man whose life was spent as a criminal, and the fourth relating to why a championship baseball player won't give up.Part Three, "All that was monstrous and inconceivably wicked in the universe," contains three essays. The first of these is about the Aryan Brotherhood and how it got its start, as well as its impact on prisons and law enforcement. The second focuses on Youngstown, Ohio, a city long under mob control. The final essay in this section (and in the book) stopped me cold. It focuses on a known Haitian political and death-squad leader who somehow ended up in New York as a real-estate agent. Even though the US government knew that this guy was an assassin, for "political" reasons, he's still free here in our country. If this one doesn't creep you out about the political system in our country, nothing will.Grann is an absolutely fabulous writer and his essays will keep you interested up to the minute you turn the last page. His approach is different and definitely holds your attention, and the added bonus is that you get a chance to learn a lot about things you probably had no clue about otherwise. I can most highly recommend this book and this author.And as a sidebar, if you have not yet read his other book, run, do not walk, and go get it.

I have read several of David Grann's books, most especially his amazing tale about the vast Osage Native American wealth of the 1920's/30's Oklahoma (Killing of the Flower Moon), a story far too good not not know, and in Grann's telling even better finally to learn. In this collection of his essays from some years ago, he probes further astonishing stories that are fun and deeply educational to discover. From a search for the elusive giant squid to the amazing death of a Sherlock Holmes fan, you will enjoy these 12 narratives greatly. And if you have yet to read about the richest Americans of the 1920's, and the devilish White folk who tried to get their hands on the dough, get a copy now.

I read Grann's Lost City of Z some time ago and enjoyed it very much so when I saw this one was available I had to pick it up as well. The book is divided into 12 stand-alone stories which delve into the stranger side of life. Grann does a great job of drawing in the reader and building suspense into the telling. While this collection is widely varying in subject matter, the stories held my attention very well. Grann explores intriguing sides of human nature. A leading Sherlock Holmes expert's death is a case worthy of the master detective himself, an eccentric giant squid hunter plumbs the depths looking for the elusive creative, a human chameleon becomes whoever he wants, even fooling family members. The main characters display a fascinating single-mindedness that one will both admire and loathe. Each of the stories has a sad tenor so I wouldn't go into this one expecting a pick-me-up human interest story. Each also gives the sense that the events are taking place in a world or situation all their own which outsiders would never have a glimpse of without someone like Grann who proves adept at getting the principle players to confide their secrets. I agree with several of the reviewers that the last couple of stories were not on the same level as those earlier in the book, although the final story bucked that trend. However, even the later stories were much more interesting than most real life stories I come across. I would recommend this book for anyone looking to explore some areas they never knew existed.

This is a great book to read, love the history included. David Grann has become one of my favorite authors. His writing style in easy and engaging to read.

I usually do not read collections of essays or short stories because they are rarely equivalent in quality, which I find frustrating. However, this book bucks that trend in that the vast majority of the stories are fantastic, though the last two stories were the unquestionably the weakest.Author David Grann is a writer for The New Yorker, and some of the essays in the book have been published elsewhere. However, I had not previously read any of them. Grann covers many subjects, from the mysterious death of a Sherlock Holmes fan/hobbyist to a fireman who was at Ground Zero on 9/11 but cannot remember at all how he survived, while the rest of his group died on that tragic day. Grann's gift for storytelling is truly sublime. Each of the stories captivated me from the first page...at least until I got to the last two stories. For some reason the final chapters did not quite hold up to the rest of the collection.The weak ending should not deter interested readers from picking up a copy of the book. I learned a great deal about a wide variety of subjects. Again, the writing was fantastic and the quality of the stories was even until the final two installments. Four stars for a book that was largely excellent.

I wanted an easy reading book for the holiday season and "The Devil and Sherlock Holmes....." did not disappoint. Short interview/documentary type stories that really catch your attention and made you think. I can read stuff like this all day.David Grann is an excellent writer, I own other books by him that are very good.But it only had 1 Sherlock Holmes story in it!

Love this series of essays/short stories by the author of Killers of the Flower Moon. Ranging in subjects from baseball to murder; giant squid hunting to con artists.

I don't know if I could be more entertained!