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
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his...
Last call : a true story of love, lust, and murder in queer New York
Green, Elon
Paper Book
**WINNER OF THE EDGAR® AWARD FOR BEST FACT CRIME** A "terrific, harrowing, true-crime account of an elusive serial killer who preyed upon gay men in the 1990s." -The New York Times (Editor's Pick) "In this astonishing and powerful work of...
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
2018 Edgar Award Finalist--Best Fact Crime By the New York Times bestselling author of Manson, the comprehensive, authoritative, and tragic story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre--the largest murder-suicide in American history. ...
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....
Mindhunter : inside the FBI's elite serial crime unit
Douglas, John E.
Paper Book
"Far removed from the light of the sun, in basement offices sixty feet below ground at the National Academy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Quantico, Virginia, a small and elite group confronts one of our deepest and most primal fears: the fear of evil lurking among us. They are known as...
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
Soon to be a Netflix film One of Slate's Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years A literary account of the lives and presumed serial killings of five "Craigslist" prostitutes, whose bodies were found on the same Long Island beach in 2010. Based on the New York Magazine cover...
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
Paper Book
The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn't stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural...
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
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The most famous true crime novel of all time "chills the blood and exercises the intelligence" (The New York Review of Books)--and haunted its author long after he finished writing it. On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb,...
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,...
A killer by design : murderers, mindhunters, and my quest to decipher the criminal mind
Burgess, Ann Wolbert
Paper Book
Written by the forensic nurse who transformed the way the FBI profiles and catches serial killers, this thought-provoking book takes an intimate look at the creation of the Behavioral Science Unit-the inspiration for Hulu's Mastermind documentary. In the 1970s, the...
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...
Death in Mud Lick : a coal country fight against the drug companies that delivered the opioid epidemic
Eyre, Eric
Paper Book
A New York Times Critics' Top Ten Book of the Year * 2021 Edgar Award Winner Best Fact Crime * A Lit Hub Best Book of The Year From a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter from the smallest newspaper ever to win the prize in the investigative reporting category, an...
Black Dahlia, Red Rose : the crime, corruption, and cover-up of America's greatest unsolved murder
Eatwell, Piu Marie
Paper Book
Los Angeles, 1947. A housewife out for a walk with her baby notices a cloud of black flies buzzing ominously in Leimert Park. An "unsightly object" is identified as the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short, an aspiring starlet from Massachusetts who had been lured west by the siren call of Hollywood...
American serial killers : the epidemic years 1950-2000
Vronsky, Peter
Paper Book
Fans of Mindhunter and true crime podcasts will devour these chilling stories of serial killers from the American "Golden Age" (1950-2000).   With books like Serial Killers, Female Serial Killers and Sons of Cain, Peter Vronsky has established himself as...
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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