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Beginning with Truman's Capote's In Cold Blood, which defined the genre, here's a selection of the best of true crime writing.
Updated October 2, 2022
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In Cold Blood
Truman Capote
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,...
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
Michelle McNamara
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 |...
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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
David Grann
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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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Jon Krakauer
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America's isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. * Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. ...
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Zodiac
Robert Graysmith
CD
A sexual sadist, his pleasure was torture and murder. His first victims were a teenage couple, stalked and shot dead on a lover's lane. After another slaying, he sent his first mocking note to authorities, promising he would kill again. The official tally of his victims was six. He claimed thirty...
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The Stranger Beside Me
Ann Rule
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...
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
John Berendt
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...
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Columbine
Dave Cullen
Paper Book
"Excellent...amazing how much still comes as a surprise." --New York Times Book Review "Like Capote's In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and the what of a horrifying incident to lay bare the devastating why." --People "A...
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Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City
Kate Winkler Dawson
Paper Book
A real-life thriller in the vein of The Devil in the White City, Kate Winkler Dawson's debut Death in the Air is a gripping, historical narrative of a serial killer, an environmental disaster, and an iconic city struggling to regain its footing. London was still...
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Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
Casey Cep
Paper Book
ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019 NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2019 BY Time, LitHub, Vulture, Glamour, O Magazine, Town and Country, Suspense Magazine, Inside Hook New York Times Best Seller "Compelling...
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American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
Maureen Callahan
Paper Book
Israel Keyes was one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to kill. He would break into a stranger's house,...
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Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs
John Bloom
Paper Book
The "fascinating" true story behind the HBO Max and Hulu series about Texas housewife Candy Montgomery and the bizarre murder that shocked a community (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore had a lot in common: They sang together in the...
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The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
Hallie Rubenhold
Paper Book
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction and of the Goodreads Choice Award for History & Biography The award-winning, best-selling book that changes the narrative of the "Ripper" murders forever Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and...
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Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York
Elon Green
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...
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