I’m not a fan of true crime stories, so I actually skipped over Trespassers at the Golden Gate when I saw it available as an advance reading copy on NetGalley. But I got a note from someone at the publisher reminding me that I’d read and reviewed another Gary Krist book and enjoyed the heck out of it. Two books actually: first, The Mirage Factory, then City of Scoundrels. Both told the origins of American cities—the former Los Angeles, the latter Chicago—through the stories of a handful of people or pivotal events, written in an engaging style. So I downloaded Trespassers, and sure enough, he was doing it again. This time the reader learns about the early days and development of San Francisco through the prism of the Fair-Crittenden case in 1870. A.P. Crittenden was an attorney in California during the waning days of gold rush, hoping to make his fortune. He set up shop as an attorney, was elected to the first state legislature, and was an early settler in nascent San Francisco, where he eventually brought his wife, Clara, and their six children to live. He also acquired a mistress, Laura Fair, and for some seven years, told her he planned to leave his wife and marry her. When circumstances revealed that wasn’t going to happen, Laura Fair shot Crittenden dead, in front of Clara and the children. That’s the “love, murder, and madness” the cover of the book highlights. And make no mistake, it’s all there, beautifully told by Krist in his highly readable and entertaining style. But the backstories he reveals of Crittenden, his wife Clara, and Laura Fair—reaching back across the country to Kentucky, West Point, Texas, Mississippi, and Nevada—tell a much larger tale of a young country expanding across a continent, the ambitions of those who fueled that expansion, and the rapidly growing city where they all came together. If you want to know how the case turned out, there are dozens of articles out there that will sum it up for you in a few hundred words. But if you want to know who these people were, what forces brought them together, and why things turned out as they did, read the book, instead. Krist is a gifted storyteller, whose books are nonfiction/history, but read like novels.

This book is an absolutely riveting account that transports you back to Gilded-Age San Francisco, capturing the city's transformation from a rough frontier town to a burgeoning metropolis. The sensational true story of Laura D. Fair, who murdered her married lover A. P. Crittenden, is told with such vivid detail and emotional depth that I found myself completely immersed from the first page. The author masterfully unravels the complex layers of this case, highlighting the social issues of the time, including the role of women, the sanctity of the family, and the various expressions of gender. I was particularly struck by the way the trial of Laura Fair became a reflection of the broader societal changes and moral struggles post-Civil War America was grappling with. The inclusion of characters like a wealthy Black housekeeper, an enterprising Chinese brothel madam, and a French rabble-rouser adds richness to the narrative, showing the diverse and often overlooked lives in 1870s San Francisco.

The meticulous research and compelling storytelling make this book not just a recounting of a murder trial but a deep dive into the social dynamics and transformative energy of the time. It’s a book that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

It's about the journey and not the destination. For anyone who picks up Gary Krist's Trespassers at the Golden Gate, I highly recommend keeping this in mind. After all, from the first few pages you already find out who is the killer, the victim, and the superficial "why" it happened. The full story of this murder includes the city of San Francisco from its infancy to its tumultuous adolescent years (I'm going to the mountains to find gold and you can't stop me!) and finally the push for maturity and legitimacy. You have to know the story of San Fran because this murder couldn't happen like this in New York City or New Orleans in the Gilded Age.

Krist is one of my favorite authors since I read his terrifying The White Cascade (seriously, I call it horror non-fiction). What I love about his writing is that it feels smooth from the first page and that Krist never settles for the easy interpretation of any singular element. Sure, he could tell you why Mrs. Fair did what she did by being myopic. It would be a hell of a short book and uninteresting to boot. However, Fair doesn't commit her crime in a vacuum. The ability for someone to remake (read: hide) themselves in the American west meant volatile temperaments and secrets ran wild. Activities that "polite" society would never tolerate were allowed to fester. Rampant and wild swings of financial fortune and misfortune were commonplace.

All of this is to say, this book is more complex and, in my opinion, immensely more rewarding than just the story of a crime. Yes, you will feel the normal emotions which accompany tragedy. The sympathy for the victims (there are less of them than you would think!), the rage at the perpetrators (so many people need a good slap in this story), and finally the strange feeling that justice could never truly come in this case. However, you will also understand the society around these actions and just how San Francisco went from a jumping off point for miners looking for a big score to a metropolis with its own strengths and peculiarities. I think there will be a few reviewers who will say there is extraneous material in this book. I respectfully but vehemently disagree. This is a complete story.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Crown Publishing.)

I like Krist’s non fiction. He is a good writer and researcher and he manages to make most topics interesting. While I liked this story of a criminal trial (murder-girlfriend kills married lover when he wont leave her)-the incident and trial - though interesting-wasn’t “big enough” for a 350 page book. Much of the book is a social history of San Francisco not directly having anything to do with the murder and trial. Nonetheless it is a quick and interesting read. Recommended. .