Nov. 14

Erik Larson knew there was some gimmickry involved in writing his best-seller, "The Devil in White City." He interspersed the story of America's first serial killer with the machinations of the construction of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. USA Today reports that Larson said he would not go back to writing a "dual narrative." Of course, "White City" proved people like that kind of thing, and Larsen did go back to roughly the same time period to write about Marconi, the inventor of the wireless (making instant communication possible, like a pre-internet), and another murdering doctor, Hawley Harvey Crippen who killed his wife and tried to skip England via a trans-Atlantic ship. Larson found Crippen's name when he hit the the marconicalling.com website - not up in Marconi's time - and dug further. He also remembered his mother telling hims about the Crippen murder mystery. And, so Larson had the makings of "Thunderstruck," another story of modern progress and murder. We raced through his last book and enjoyed it thoroughly. We have a feeling we'll do likewise here. On Tuesday Nov. 14, Larson speaks at the Coolidge Corner Theatre at 6 p.m. Tickets across the street at Brookline Booksmith for $2.
290 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-734-2500 brooklinebooksmith.com