The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson · first published 2003 · ISBN 9780375725609
Larson braids together two stories from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. One is about Daniel Burnham, the visionary architect designing the fair itself. The other is about H. H. Holmes, a con artist and serial killer who built a hotel near the fairgrounds and lured victims inside. The beauty of the fair and the horror of the murders create an unsettling contrast.
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This book teaches you how to write about crime with style and context. Larson doesn't sensationalize Holmes; he places him in a real moment in history, using the fair as a character itself. The journalism is pristine, but the narrative craft is what makes this a masterpiece of the form.