In its citation, the judges for the National Book Award wrote that Killers of the Flower Moon is “structured taut as a noir, researched like an indictment, and written with hard-boiled empathy.” The book also won an Edgar Award for best true mystery, a Spur Award for best work of historical nonfiction, and an Indies Choice Award for best adult nonfiction book of the year, and it was a recipient of the Oklahoma Book Award and the Oklahoma Historical Society’s prize for outstanding book on Oklahoma history. In addition, it was finalist for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.