True Crime
Ah, true crime books! The macabre tales of humanity's most depraved and criminal minds. A page-turning thrill ride that leaves you both horrified and addicted. If you're like us, you can never get enough of these chilling accounts of real-life murder and mayhem. So buckle up, grab a flashlight, and let's dive into the top 10 true crime books that will make your heart race and your mind boggle.
Who knows, you may even start locking your doors at night.
Trigger warning: These books contain graphic descriptions of violence, sexual assault, and other traumatic events. Discretion is advised for those who may be sensitive to such subject matter.
In Cold Blood- Truman Capote
Readers said:
"journalistic & documentary", "pure and simple", "true crime thriller", "methodical, journalistic, factual"
The chilling true crime 'non-fiction novel' that made Truman Capote's name, In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative published in Penguin Modern Classics.
Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehens ...Read More
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer- Michelle McNamara
Readers said:
"fascinating and bone-chilling", "very well researched book", "a magazine article", "true crime reporting"
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.
Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark-the masterpiece McNamara wa ...Read More
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American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century- Maureen Callahan
Readers said:
"crisp, pointed and suspenseful", "gripping and frightening", "serial killer israel keyes", "true life telling"
Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as "a force of pure evil," Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried "kill kits"-cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools-in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a strang ...Read More
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil- John Berendt
Readers said:
"a real-life murder", "nonfiction crime novel", "lucid and flowing", "true-to-life crime story"
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred so ...Read More
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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI- David Grann
Readers said:
"matter of fact", "well researched and meticulous", "historical crime book", "told a story"
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Lost City of Z.
In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage ...Read More
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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America- Erik Larson
Readers said:
"easy to digest", "mystery and intrigue", "nonfiction historical book", "america's first serial killer"
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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 their death.
"Relentlessly fuses history and entertainment to give this nonfiction book the dramatic effect of a novel .... It doesn't hurt that this truth is stranger than fiction." -The New York Times
Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction.
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized Am ...Read More
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Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup- John Carreyrou
Readers said:
"the theranos implosion", "a multibillion-dollar biotech startup"
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
The gripping story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos-one of the biggest corporate frauds in history-a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley, rigorously reported by the prize-winning journalist. With a new Afterword.
"Chilling … Reads like a thriller … Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection." -The New York Times Book Review
In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a singl ...Read More
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Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland- Patrick Radden Keefe
Readers said:
"well-researched and written", "a necessary, tragic book", "the troubles in ireland", "readable, deeply researched history"
Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress-with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a start ...Read More
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Death Cruise- Don Davis
Readers said:
"true crime novel", "tragic and horrific story", "true-crime", "a rivetting story and great detective work"
For pretty Ohioan Joan Rogers and her two teenaged daughters, a Florida sunset cruise was a dream come true. And even though all three were desperately afraid of the water, they were so taken with friendly boat owner Oba Chandler that they gladly accepted a ride with him on beautiful Tampa Bay.
Little did naive mom and two daughters know that behind Chandler's mask of a gracious host lurked a daring and ruthless ex-con, a thief and a liar, a seductive Don Juan who used and discarded wives and children. As they sun serenely sank below the Gulf of Mexico, Chandler suddenly shut down the engines, dropped anchor...and turned into a sadistic torturer.
...Read More
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The Monster of Florence- Douglas Preston, Mario Spezi
Readers said:
"a strange memoir", "amazing", "true life story", "nonfiction, true crime, mystery"
In the nonfiction tradition of John Berendt and Erik Larson, the author of the #1 NYT bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God presents a gripping account of crime and punishment in the lush hills surrounding Florence as he seeks to uncover one of the most infamous figures in Italian history.
In 2000, Douglas Preston fulfilled a dream to move his family to Italy. Then he discovered that the olive grove in front of their 14th century farmhouse had been the scene of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, meets Italian investigative journalist Mario Spezi to learn more.
This is the true ...Read More
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journalistic & documentary fascinating and bone-chilling crisp, pointed and suspenseful a real-life murder well-researched and written true crime novel a strange memoir
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