In 2013, this book won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.[1] It won runner-up for the 2013 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.[4] Thomas Friedman of The New York Times described Devil in the Grove as a "must-read, cannot-put-down history."[5]
In addition to being named to several "Best Books of 2012" lists by newspapers such as The Christian Science Monitor and The Boston Globe, Devil in the Grove was nominated in 2013 for the Chautauqua Prize[6] and an Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.
The Christian Science Monitor noted that
"King's style, at once suspenseful and historically meticulous, advances the facts of the Groveland case while simultaneously weaving together details from Marshall's professional rise within the NAACP and his home life in Harlem ... Devil is a compelling look at the case that forged Thurgood Marshall's perception of himself as a crusader for civil rights ... The story of the Thurgood Marshall and his Groveland Boys reminds us that man's capacity for evil may be deep, but so is his capacity for change."[7]
Booklist called it "Gripping ... Lively and multidimensional."[8] It received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, which described it as "[a] thoroughgoing study of one of the most important civil-rights cases argued by Thurgood Marshall in dismantling Jim Crow strictures. ... Deeply researched and superbly composed."[9]
