The case of the Mad Butcher, with its unsatisfying non-finale, fits a bit awkwardly into Messrs. Collins and Schwartz’s wider narrative. In the latter stages of their book, the authors ably follow Ness through an unsuccessful foray into city politics and a disappointing business career. But given this work’s title and its subtitle—'Hunting America’s Deadliest Unidentified Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology'—one sometimes gets the feeling of two different books uneasily hitched.

Collins and Schwartz have organized their story into alternating threads. One follows Ness’s advancements in police reform and crime fighting as he cleans up the city, while the other documents each new discovery of body parts and the struggle not only to find the killer but to put a name to each victim.

...a meticulously researched work of nonfiction.

A sharp history of crusading detective Eliot Ness.

... [a] meticulously researched but often gloomy account of the life and times of Eliot Ness.