The Crescent City Lynchings is a meticulously thorough documentation of the events surrounding the 1890 murder of New Orleans Chief of Police Dave Hennessey, the subsequent trial of 19 Italian Americans accused of the crime, and the vigilante mob that broke into Orleans Parish Prison and brutally killed nine of the defendants in the case after the trial resulted in acquittals.

While the incident has been largely (but not entirely) forgotten now, it was very big news indeed in its day and for decades afterward. Author Tom Smith writes: “Warped views of the Hennessey case continued to multiply for a century, with details or falsehoods chosen to fit the popular prejudices of each new era.” Was Hennessey a crusading officer of the law martyred by Mafioso agents when he tried to investigate corruption in the Port of New Orleans? Or were the Italian Americans convenient scapegoats, targeted because of bigotry against immigrants and irrational distrust of the impoverished Sicilians coming to make their home in the United States?

As with most human affairs, when examined with clear-headed impartiality and in minute detail, Smith shows the truth is very murky indeed. None of the players are saintly. Highly questionable activities – and even past murders – are to be found in the background of Hennessey and several of the Italians alike. And while the presence of a fledgling Italian-American Mafia in the Big Easy at the turn of the century seems very likely, the innocence of several of the Italian Americans swept up in the trial seems equally likely.

Smith takes an unusual approach in his book, a way of writing history that I found sometimes exhilarating and sometimes frustrating. He lays out evidence with very little judgment or commentary. It’s as though you are in the jury box weighing testimony -- which is often completely contradictory -- and must decide for yourself who is telling the truth. There is no neatly tied up mystery at the end of this book: to this day, no one knows who really murdered Hennessey. And Smith doesn’t offer his own analysis of what the truth may be -- no historical, authorial omniscience here. A word of warning: although often compelling, this is not an easy read. Just keeping track of all the names requires effort. I referred to Smith’s list of key characters and timeline many times while trying to piece things together. The Crescent City Lynchings is a prodigious work of research and a nuanced picture of the past, but don’t pick it up expecting a murder thriller. ( )