True Crime

From classic accounts of legendary criminals to more recent headline-making crimes, these are the famous cases that every true crime reader will want to know more about.

Updated June 5, 2024
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Tangled vines : power, privilege, and the Murdaugh family murders
Glatt, John
Paper Book
2024 EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST FACT CRIME NOVEL In Tangled Vines, bestselling true crime author John Glatt reconstructs the rise of the prestigious Murdaugh family and the shocking double murder that led to the downfall of its patriarch, Alex Murdaugh. <...
Starkweather : the untold story of the killing spree that changed America
MacLean, Harry N.
Paper Book
The definitive story of Charles Starkweather, often considered to be the first mass killer in the modern age of America On January 21, 1958, nineteen-year-old Charles Starkweather changed the course of crime in the United States when he murdered the parents and sister of his...
Pulling the chariot of the sun : a memoir of a kidnapping
McCrae, Shane
Paper Book
Vulture's #1 Memoir of 2023 An unforgettable, "lyrical and poignant" (The Washington Post) memoir by an award-winning poet about being kidnapped from his Black father and raised by his white supremacist grandparents. When Shane McCrae was...
Liliana's invincible summer : a sister's search for justice
Rivera Garza, Cristina
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * "A searing account of grief and the quest to bring her sister's murderer to justice years after the fact" (The Boston Globe), from "one of Mexico's greatest living writers" (Jonathan Lethem)....
The Amish wife : unraveling the lies, secrets, and conspiracy that let a killer go free
Olsen, Gregg
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen solves a murder among the Amish and reveals the conspiracy to keep it a secret in a heartbreaking and horrifying true-crime story. In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman...
The art thief : a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession
Finkel, Michael
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century * "The Art Thief, like its title character, has confidence, élan, and a great sense of timing."--The New Yorker A...
The Sullivanians : sex, psychotherapy, and the wild life of an American commune
Stille, Alexander
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 GOTHAM BOOK PRIZE The devolution of the Sullivan Institute, from psychoanalytic organization to insular, radical cult. In the middle of the Ozzie and Harriet 1950s, the birth control pill was introduced and a maverick...
Mistress of life and death : the dark journey of Maria Mandl, head overseer of the womens camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Eischeid, Susan J.
Paper Book
By the time of her execution at thirty-six, Maria Mandl had achieved the highest rank possible for a woman in the Third Reich. As Head Overseer of the women's camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was personally responsible for the murders of thousands, and for the torture and suffering of countless more....
The lost tomb : and other real-life stories of bones, burials, and murder
Preston, Douglas J.
Paper Book
A GOODREADS READER'S CHOICE AWARD FINALIST From the #1 bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God, a jaw-dropping discovery of an Egyptian tomb opens up a slew of archaeological mysteries and deadly tales. What's it like...
Behold the monster : confronting America's most prolific serial killer
Lauren, Jillian
Paper Book
Jillian Lauren had no idea what she was getting into when she wrote her first letter to prolific serial killer Samuel Little. All she knew was her research had led her to believe he was good for far more murders than the three for which he had been convicted. While the two exchanged dozens of...
Gator country : deception, danger, and alligators in the Everglades
Renner, Rebecca
Paper Book
A New York Times Editors' Choice "Delivers everything its title promises and much more." - NPR "Remarkable... Every species, and every person who fights for its continued existence, deserves a book like this." -- The New York Times
Anansi's gold : the man who looted the west, outfoxed Washington, and swindled the world
Yeebo, Yepoka
Paper Book
"Catch Me if You Can meets Coming to America in this epic tale of one of the greatest scammers of all time."-NPR Shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize * A New York Times Notable Book of the Year * A New Yorker, NPR, Newsweek...
A thread of violence : a story of truth, invention, and murder
O'Connell, Mark
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES AND ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * From the award-winning author comes the gripping tale of one of the most scandalous murderers in modern Irish history, at once a propulsive work of true crime and an act of literary subversion. "A...
The King of Diamonds : the search for the elusive Texas jewel thief
Pederson, Rena
Paper Book
The thrilling story of a brazen, uncatchable jewel thief who roamed the homes of Dallas high society--and a window into the dark secrets lurking beneath the surface of the Swinging Sixties. As a string of high profile jewel thefts went unsolved during the Swinging Sixties, the...
Four Shots in the Night : A True Story of Spies, Murder, and Justice in Northern Ireland
Hemming, Henry
Paper Book
Four Shots in the Night is the story of a political murder: the killing of an IRA member turned British informant.  The search for justice for this one man's death--his body found in broad daylight, with tape over his eyes, an undisguised hit--would...
Rabbit heart : a mother's murder, a daughter's story
Ervin, Kristine S.
Paper Book
Kristine S. Ervin was just eight years old when her mother, Kathy Sue Engle, was abducted from an Oklahoma mall parking lot and violently murdered in an oil field. First, there was grief. Then the desire to know: what happened to her, what she felt in her last terrible moments, and all she was...
Dear sister : a memoir of secrets, survival, and unbreakable bonds
Horton, Michelle
Paper Book
In this "incendiary" memoir, a woman fights the criminal justice system to release her incarcerated sister after she kills her longtime abuser (Publishers Weekly). In September 2017, a knock on the door upends Michelle Horton's life: she learns that...
Crimes of the centuries : the cases that changed us
Hunt, Amber
Paper Book
A fascinating pop-history dive into the stories behind the incredibly impactful crimes--both infamous and little-known--that have shaped the legal system as we know it. When asked why true crime is so in vogue, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times...

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