True Crime

Updated April 19, 2023
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The feather thief : beauty, obsession, and the natural history heist of the century
Johnson, Kirk W.
Paper Book
As heard on NPR's This American Life "Absorbing . . . Though it's non-fiction, The Feather Thief contains many of the elements of a classic thriller." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air "One of the most peculiar and memorable true-crime...
Helter skelter : the true story of the Manson murders
Bugliosi, Vincent.
Paper Book
In the summer of 1969, in Los Angeles, a series of brutal, seemingly random murders captured headlines across America. A famous actress (and her unborn child), an heiress to a coffee fortune, a supermarket owner and his wife were among the seven victims. A thin trail of circumstances eventually...
The poisoner's handbook : murder and the birth of forensic medicine in Jazz Age New York
Blum, Deborah
Paper Book
Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum follows New York City's first forensic scientists to discover a fascinating Jazz Age story of chemistry and detection, poison and murder. Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of...
The road to Jonestown : Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
Guinn, Jeff.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling AuthorThe bestselling author of Manson offers a comprehensive, authoritative, and tragic account of the life of Jim Jones and his church, Peoples Temple. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978, when more than nine...
The stranger beside me
Rule, Ann
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Rule, "America's best true-crime writer" (Kirkus Reviews), her unforgettable classic account of the horrifying murders in the Pacific Northwest and her shock when she discovered her friend--Ted Bundy--was not only a suspect but also one...
The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America
Larson, Erik.
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile comes the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to...
For the Thrill of It : Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago
Baatz, Simon.
Paper Book
It was a crime that shocked the nation, a brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child, by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb had first met several years earlier, and their friendship had blossomed into a love affair....
The innocent man : murder and injustice in a small town
Grisham, John.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES * "Both an American tragedy and [Grisham's] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true."--Entertainment Weekly John Grisham's first work of...
Hell's half-acre : the untold story of the Benders, a serial killer family on the American frontier
Jonusas, Susan
Paper Book
One of NPR's "Books We Love" New York Times Book Review's "The Best True Crime of 2022" "Rich in historical perspective and graced by novelistic touches, grips the reader from first to last."--Wall Street Journal A suspense filled tale of...
Lost girls : an unsolved American mystery
Kolker, Robert.
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller Now a Netflix film The bestselling account of the lives of five young women whose fates converged in the perplexing case of the Long Island Serial Killer. Now updated, with a new afterword by the author.  "Rich, tragic . . . monumental.....
The Monster of Florence
Preston, Douglas J.
Paper Book
In the nonfiction tradition of John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and Erik Larson (The Devil in the White City), New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston presents a gripping account of crime and punishment in the lush hills surrounding Florence, Italy. In 2000, Douglas...
American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land
Hesse, Monica.
Ebook
I'll be gone in the dark : one woman's obsessive search for the Golden State Killer
McNamara, Michelle
Paper Book
THE BASIS FOR THE MAJOR 6-PART HBO® DOCUMENTARY SERIES #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Washington Post | Maureen Corrigan, NPR | Paste | Seattle Times | Entertainment Weekly | Esquire | Slate | Buzzfeed | Jezebel | Philadelphia Inquirer | Publishers Weekly |...
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
Capote, Truman
Paper Book
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no...
The cold vanish : seeking the missing in North America's wildlands
Billman, Jon
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE KILLER NASHVILLE SILVER FALCHION AWARD Perfect for readers of Jon Krakauer and Douglas Preston, this "authentic and encyclopedic" book examines real-life cases of those who vanish in the wilderness without a trace (Roman Dial)--and those eccentric,...
The third rainbow girl : the long life of a double murder in Appalachia
Eisenberg, Emma Copley
Paper Book
*** A NEW YORK TIMES "100 Notable Books of 2020" *** A stunning, complex narrative about the fractured legacy of a decades-old double murder in rural West Virginia--and the writer determined to put the pieces back together.   In...
The good girls : an ordinary killing
Faleiro, Sonia
Paper Book
By the award-winning writer of Beautiful Thing, The Good Girls is a masterly inquest into how the mysterious deaths of two teenage girls shone a light into the darkest corners of a nation. On a summer night in 2014, Padma and Lalli went missing from Katra Sadatganj, an eye...
Portrait of a killer : Jack the Ripper--case closed
Cornwell, Patricia Daniels.
Paper Book
The number-one New York Times-bestselling novelist Patricia Cornwell is known the world over for her brilliant storytelling, the courage of her characters, and the state-of-the-art forensic methods they employ. In this headline-making new work of nonfiction, Cornwell turns her...
ShadowMan : an elusive psycho killer and the birth of FBI profiling
Franscell, Ron
Paper Book
On June 25, 1973, a seven-year-old girl went missing from the Montana campground where her family was vacationing. The largest manhunt in Montana's history ensued, led by the FBI. As days stretched into weeks, and weeks into months, Special Agent Pete Dunbar attended a workshop at FBI Headquarters...
Yellow Bird : oil, murder, and a woman's search for justice in Indian country
Murdoch, Sierra Crane
Paper Book
The gripping true story of a murder on an Indian reservation, and the unforgettable Arikara woman who becomes obsessed with solving it--an urgent work of literary journalism.   "I don't know a more complicated, original protagonist in literature than...
Midnight in the garden of good and evil : a Savannah story
Berendt, John
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A modern classic of true crime, set in a most beguiling Southern city--now in a 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword by the author The basis for the upcoming Broadway musical, coming in 2025! "Elegant and wicked . . . might be...
Missoula : rape and the justice system in a college town
Krakauer, Jon.
Paper Book
From bestselling author Jon Krakauer, a stark, powerful, meticulously reported narrative about a series of sexual assaults at the University of Montana -- stories that illuminate the human drama behind the national plague of campus rape Missoula, Montana, is a typical college...
Empire of sin : a story of sex, jazz, murder, and the battle for modern New Orleans
Krist, Gary.
Paper Book
From bestselling author Gary Krist, a vibrant and immersive account of New Orleans' other civil war, at a time when commercialized vice, jazz culture, and endemic crime defined the battlegrounds of the Crescent City        Empire of Sin re-creates the...
Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI
Grann, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, "one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."--New...

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