The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession by David GrannMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession (2010) is a collection of 12 essays by American journalist David Grann previously published between 2000 and 2009 in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic and The Atlantic. The stories are about real-life mysteries, a "mosaic of ambition, deception, passion, and folly." These are largely criminal, not so much diabolical and Sherlock Holmes quotes help string the potpourri together. It rivals Jon Ronson IMHO for bringing together a readable exploration of the extreme limits of modern human experience.
"Mysterious Circumstances" is a riveting tale of obsession in Sherlock Holmes scholars and a staged garroting. "The Chameleon" is about serial imposter Frédéric Bourdin who goes in over his head and capabilities with a mysterious American family. "The Squid Hunter" is about Steve O'Shea and his quarry, the giant squid (genus Architeuthis) - perhaps my favorite creature of mystery.
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"City of Water" on subterranean sandhogs and the crumbling water infrastructure of New York City is fascinating and scary. "The Old Man and the Gun" about lifelong criminal, imposter and septuagenerian bank robber Forrest Tucker is fascinating and I look forward to the film by Identity Films. I am now sports fan, but I found "Stealing Time" on obsessed die hard Rickey Henderson fascinating. "The Brand" on the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang is the most in-depth history I have read and a fascinating overview of an organization larger and more impactful than I had realized. Also firmly in the true crime genre is "Crimetown, U.S.A." on the downfall of congressman James Traficant and the legacy of the Mafia in Youngstown. The concluding "Giving the 'Devil' His Due" on Haitian thug Toto Constant feels rather weak compared to the other material. This is just a bloodthirsty demagogue with CIA connections living in Queens, after all.
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