The Devil & Sherlock Holmes by David Grann

 

This anthology is a series of twelve nonfiction articles that David Grann has written over the years.  Those readers hoping for stories about Sherlock Holmes will be disappointed.  Only the first article has anything to do with the famous detective.  It is about the search, over the years, for a cache of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's papers and who eventually ended up with them.  

This is a varied list.  One story relates the search of marine biologists for a viable specimen of the giant squid.  Another story tells of an arson in Texas in which three children died and whether the man who was executed for their murder was really responsible.  A cold case investigator in Poland and the man he brought to justice years after he wrote a story outlining the murder is a topic.  Another man in France who spent his life impersonating missing children is highlighted.  

The men that devote their lives to digging the tunnels under New York to carry the city's water are a topic as is the story of a fireman's day on 911 and his inability to remember what he did that day in the disaster.  There is a profile of baseball great, Ricky Henderson and one of a man who spent his entire life as a bank robber and escape artist.  The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, and its members are highlighted in another article.  

David Grann is known for his intensive research and bestselling nonfiction books such as Killers Of The Flower Moon and The Lost City Of Z.  His books have been turned into movies and documentaries.  He is also a staffer at the New Yorker.  This book is a good introduction to his wide ranging interest as readers can pick and choose those articles that are interesting to them.  My favorite was probably The Old Man And The Gun about the lifelong bank robber and his escape from Alcatraz.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.