The Devil in the White City

Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City is widely praised, and it's easy to see why. It's a meticulously researched work that alternates chapters on the planning of the 1893 World's Fair with the activities of the serial killer H. H. Holmes, who operated in and around Chicago at the time. At least, the planning and architecture chapters are meticulously researched; the Holmes chapters are full of speculation, as he didn't document his activities the way the Fair's architects did; most of Holmes' actions are thus from informed speculation or forensics. (This isn't a problem unless one is going to insist on strict historical accuracy, as Larson is certainly an entertaining writer)

As a work of history that reads like a novel, this is absolutely a success. Obviously, this is not a novel, or we would have our major characters (Burnham and Olmstead on the architecture/planning side, and Holmes) intersect at or near the climax of the novel. Happily, they remain unaware of each other (Holmes was more interested in young, single women, being who he was). The closest we have to something like that is a subplot revolving around the eventual assassination of Carter Harrison, by a Guiteau-like office seeker.

Definitely recommended.