"The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" by Erik Larson

This book has a seriously misleading title. It should have been called ‘The World’s Greatest Fair’. A very small portion of the book explores the gruesome (and speculative at that) details of the H.H. Homes’ murder streak.

The author does an excellent job exploring the 1893 Chicago fair that put the city in the minds of so many for decades to come. One couldn’t help but marvel at the gigantic effort, resources, man hours and deaths that went into preparing the stage for the gathering of over 700,000 people at one time. Never again did so many historical figures of the 19th and 20th centuries come together again as for this fair. And although the picture the author paints is outstanding (his list of references at the end of the book goes on for pages), one is left to wonder why H.H. Homes was included at all in this book.
I must admit I felt a bit mislead (and subsequently disappointed) to find out that the story was about 90% devoted to the fair and only about 10% to what really went on within the walls of Homes’ little hell-hotel.

For those readers looking to find out the reasons behind Homes’ murders – try another book as this one is exclusively about the Chicago fair.

- by Simon Cleveland