Bloody Crimes

I just read Swanson's follow-up to my superslice Manhunt, and I'm fairly shocked how little I knew about Jefferson Davis, considering I grew up just outside of Richmond, swaddled in plenty of  "The South will rise again!!!" nonsense. I don't remember learning or reading anything about him in school, nor do I remember anybody even casually mentioning him to be a historical figure worth studying. As far as I knew, I guess I assumed that the day the Civil War was over, he went back to his job as assistant night manager at Wal-Mart or whatthefuckever.

Not the horniest book in the world, tho:

Newspaper accounts failed to describe the practical purpose of the sweet-smelling flowers, but they were there for a reason. Lincoln had been dead a week, and the embalmers were fighting a ticking clock. They had slowed but could not stop the decay of flesh. Fragrent flowers would mask the odor.

Nom nom nom!

A very good book, but certainly not as great as Manhunt - instead of rolling out like a thrilling work of fiction, Bloody Crimes drags itself down for long stretches with that which kills most nonfiction these days: endless laundry lists of facts that seem to serve no purpose other than adding heft to the book. I agree with this guy here (although I wouldn't call the book a "disappointment" overall):

The story of Lincoln's death pageant is a dry recitation of logistics that could have been summarized in a magazine article. The search for Davis is a compelling story that warranted its own book.