In an unusual twist of fate, a group of the poorest, most despised and disenfranchised people in the US become quite staggeringly rich . In a less unusual, and yet still shocking, twist of fate, the become a target for one of the biggest, coolest, cruelest murder conspiracies I've ever heard of. The Osage Indians, their lands lost, their population devastated, their culture in shreds, take up residence on a rocky, hilly reservation. Regarded by even the most benign of whites as little more than children intellectually and morally, they nonetheless secure the mineral rights to the land and when huge reserves of oil are discovered they become amongst the wealthiest people in the US.

But someone was killing the Osage. Some were shot and some were poisoned, and the family of one woman, Molly Burkhart, seemed particularly afflicted. Investigations seemed fruitless or useless, until J Edgar Hoover, head of the fledgling FBI, sent ex Texas Ranger Tom White to take charge, and he uncovered a horrifying, systematic process of abuse of power, exploitation, victimisation and wholesale murder. But even as the genuinely heroic and committed White pursues one villain through the courts, an even wider series of killings remain hidden and uninvestigated.

Extremely well written, but a horrifying, sickening story made possible through corruption and racism. Compelling, but saddening and sobering. I'm glad that it's being brought back to public attention and prominence.