Actually 2.5 stars. This book, juxtapositioning the development of Marconi's development of wireless communication with a sensational London murder and international manhunt, did not hold my attention in the same way as Larson's earlier The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. He tried, he really did. He used the same back and forth structure to build tension, meticulous research, and quirky real characters, but it didn't grab me like his more popular work. I did appreciate the insight into turn of the 20th century science (including budding forensic science), academic politics, and the life of a man I had only heard of as a passing name (Marconi) in history. I think it was the murder part of the book that felt forced and tangential. The main events of wireless development took place a decade before the manhunt so the back in forth in the story was also separated by years making it feel like an artificial construct rather than a means of increasing tension. Also a single murder, even if notorious in London, didn't measure up to a serial killer at Chicago's World Fair in terms of general interest. It was an OK book. True crime readers might like it better.