If you liked
Books like Killers of the Flower Moon
by David Grann
Killers of the Flower Moon is David Grann's narrative non-fiction breakthrough — the 1920s murders of dozens of Osage people in Oklahoma after the discovery of oil. The Apple TV / Scorsese film adaptation brought it to a much larger audience. If you finished it and needed more reading in the same register, these are our picks.
The shortlist
What to read next
The Wagerby David Grann
“The Wager by David Grann 2023 review. The 1741 shipwreck of HMS Wager off Patagonia and the two contradictory mutiny narratives that returned to England. Grann's third major narrative non-fiction book and the canonical contemporary maritime-disaster story.”
Say Nothingby Patrick Radden Keefe
“Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe 2018 review. The 1972 disappearance of Belfast mother Jean McConville and the broader IRA history of the Troubles. Keefe's first major book and the basis for the 2024 FX Hulu limited series.”
Empire of Painby Patrick Radden Keefe
“Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe 2021 review. The Sackler family and the operational mechanics of Purdue Pharma's OxyContin marketing strategy across three generations. The canonical contemporary investigative non-fiction book on the opioid crisis.”
Bad Bloodby John Carreyrou
“Bad Blood by John Carreyrou 2018 review. The Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes blood-testing fraud. Carreyrou's investigative account built from his Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporting.”
The Devil in the White Cityby Erik Larson
“The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson 2003 review. The 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the serial killer H. H. Holmes, whose hotel operated three blocks from the fairgrounds. The narrative-nonfiction bestseller that defined the contemporary popular-history register.”
Casteby Isabel Wilkerson
“Caste by Isabel Wilkerson 2020 review. A comparative history of American racial hierarchy, the Indian caste system, and Nazi Germany's racial laws. Wilkerson's second book after The Warmth of Other Suns.”
FAQ
Common questions about Killers of the Flower Moon read-alikes
- What is the closest match for Killers of the Flower Moon?
- The Wager. David Grann's 2023 maritime-disaster narrative non-fiction is his structural follow-up to Killers and applies the same documentary-research-into-narrative-non-fiction discipline at a different scale.
- I want more David Grann.
- The Lost City of Z (2009, on the Percy Fawcett Amazon expeditions) and The Devil and Sherlock Holmes (2010, the New Yorker essay collection) are the earlier major works. None are reviewed here yet but both are standard reading in any contemporary American non-fiction syllabus.
- I want more investigative non-fiction generally.
- Say Nothing (Patrick Radden Keefe on the Belfast Troubles), Empire of Pain (Keefe on the Sackler family), Bad Blood (John Carreyrou on Theranos), and The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson on 1893 Chicago) are all in the same contemporary American narrative non-fiction tradition.
- I want a book that handles American racial-economic violence at scale.
- Caste (Isabel Wilkerson's comparative-historical framework) is the structural counterpart to Grann's Osage material. Read together they produce a stronger picture than either alone.
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