The Devil and Sherlock Holmes

In The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, journalist David Grann weaves together twelve true-crime essays centered on cases that mirror the mystery, obsession, and detective work of Sherlock Holmes. Each chapter is a meticulously researched narrative deep dive into real crimes: Jack the Ripper's Whitechapel murders, the hunt for the Zodiac Killer, the case of a serial killer who stalked his own family, and several other chilling true stories told with Grann's signature cinematic prose. The collection draws parallels between these cases and Holmesian detective fiction without dramatizing real tragedy — it is nonfiction journalism, not mystery fiction. Told in vivid detail across topics ranging from Victorian London to modern California, the book explores how obsession can drive both brilliant investigators and monstrous killers.