One reason the stories are paired is because the Columbian Exposition came at a crucial point in history: women were starting to move on their own to cities for jobs, away from their families and extended support groups, and this too was an early event that women were traveling to see without the protection of ‘chaperones’. This meant they were doing things like renting rooms in local hotels, and all sorts of things could (and did) happen to them because of this.
The book really covers this moment in history well.
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.
