Simply Thrilling
Larson's not messing around here either: he's a straightforward writer and is clearly more about delivering the facts than doing stylistic loop-de-loops. But that doesn't mean that this book doesn't deliver in terms of eloquence.
He tells about moments in history as they would have been experienced back then. "There had been so much energy, so much bravado" (1.4.1), Larson writes of Chicago's excitement having just secured the bid for the World's Fair. His truthful and sincere style adequately captures the emotions of an entire city at the turn of the 20th century.
Larson's straightforward style also serves him well in his thrilling (and chilling) recreations of Holmes and his victims:
Minnie was an asset now […] An acquisition to be warehoused until needed, like cocooned prey. (3.2.1)
The candid and frank nature of his style makes Holmes motivation and though processes even creepier—we see the matter-of-fact way he thinks about achieving his gruesome goals.