Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
baltibob avatar reviewed on
Helpful Score: 1


While I enjoyed this book I found it to more about the fair then Holmes and his crimes. They never truly intersect and the way the chapters toggle back and forth between the 2 stories it seemed like I was reading 2 different books. But, while it was full of very specific history about the World's Fair I found that part more interesting than the story of Holmes, which is why I got this book in the first place. The ending just seems to be a tacked on "oh, and this is what happened to Holmes after the fair" at an attempt to make it more legit. I loved Erik Larson's writing though, I felt like I was really in Chicago in the late 1800's!