The Hub of Hell by Beverly Porter

Tales of murder, scandal and injustice from the rugged end of the 19^th century in America hold a perennial appeal, and The Hub of Hell from author Beverly Porter has all of these aspects in spades. The book is a shocking glimpse into law enforcement of the past, and an impressively complete account of the strange autumn and winter of 1887.

Inspired by a single newspaper article, this true story is a well-researched reconstruction of the dramatic events and players surrounding a trio of imprisoned brothers in Minneapolis more than 130 years ago. Pete, Tim and Henry Barrett sit squarely at the center of a murder investigation of a streetcar driver, but there are also undertones of police corruption, arson, and a criminal conspiracy. While this case and the notorious trio may not have made national headlines, this book is a deep-dive peek into this old swirling mystery of Hennepin County.

Porter flexes serious research muscles with this detailed telling, which has been painstakingly pieced together from historical records, newspapers, and seemingly every spare scrap of information available about the controversial case, bringing the historical setting and players alive, and reflecting issues that are still with us today. However, given that amount of effort, and more than a dozen years of work on the text, the flow of the narration is a bit inconsistent. There are strictly expositional sections that seem unnecessary to a reader’s understanding of the larger story, while there are also very casual and conversational passages where Porter speaks directly to the reader, for a rather uneven level of formality.

All of that being said, The Hub of Hell is a revealing and ambitious achievement from an investigative author with an old-fashioned gift for good storytelling, which will be of immediate interest to avid readers of American history and historical fiction, as the story has the pulse of a thriller.