I liked the book because of the coverage of the Columbian Exposition, but the book basically created the myth of H.H. Holmes in popular culture. There is very little real evidence that he created a “murder hotel” as the story goes. Yes, he killed at least one person that we know about, but the idea that he killed dozens or even hundreds seems to be a myth created by shoddy journalism at the time and Holmes himself who seemed to enjoy his infamy after capture before being convicted and executed for multiple murders (including several people who were later shown to be still alive – oops). There have been other books written since like Adam Seltzer’s “H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil” which look at the sources a bit more skeptically.
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