Journalist David Grann tells the story of the murder of Osage Indians who had what turned out to be the mixed fortune of owning mineral rights to their reservation land in Oklahoma. The methods of execution were varied and dramatic: execution-style shootings, poisonings, and exploding houses.

As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four Native Americans and investigators trying to solve the murders, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection.  Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

“Disturbing and riveting…It will sear your soul.” —Dave Eggers, New York Times Book Review

Terrie Gross talked with David Grann about his book in this edition of Fresh Air: