In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The top 50
True crime books
Fifty researched picks for the true crime books, selected for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
How we choseReporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence. Rankings balance consensus with lasting ownership value and current buyability.
Why it belongs →
I'll Be Gone in the Dark
I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Stranger Beside Me
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Homicide
Homicide by David Simon is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Devil in the White City
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Columbine
Columbine by Dave Cullen is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Small Sacrifices
Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit
Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Fatal Vision
Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Executioner's Song
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Zodiac
Zodiac by Robert Graysmith is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Lost in Yaba: Down and Out in Laos
Lost in Yaba: Down and Out in Laos by Walt Gleeson is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Onion Field
The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Green River, Running Red
Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez
The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez by Philip Carlo is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Bell Hammers
Bell Hammers by Lancelot Schaubert is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Lucky
Lucky by Alice Sebold is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
All the President’s Men
All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three (Justice Knot, #1)
Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three (Justice Knot, #1) by Mara Leveritt is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family
Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family by Nicholas Pileggi is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Monster of Florence
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Cases That Haunt Us
The Cases That Haunt Us by John E. Douglas is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Everything She Ever Wanted: A True Story of Obsessive Love, Murder, and Betrayal
Everything She Ever Wanted: A True Story of Obsessive Love, Murder, and Betrayal by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
And the Sea Will Tell
And the Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Hillside Stranglers
The Hillside Stranglers by Darcy O'Brien is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo—and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up
People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo—and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up by Richard Lloyd Parry is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho"
Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho" by Harold Schechter is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI
Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI by Robert K. Ressler is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed - A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed - A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by Michelle Knight is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Blind Faith
Blind Faith by Joe McGinniss is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Dead By Sunset: Perfect Husband, Perfect Killer?
Dead By Sunset: Perfect Husband, Perfect Killer? by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Bitter Harvest
Bitter Harvest by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The I-5 Killer
The I-5 Killer by Ann Rule is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
I Know My First Name Is Steven: The True Story of the Steven Stayner Abduction Case
I Know My First Name Is Steven: The True Story of the Steven Stayner Abduction Case by Mike Echols is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Cruel Sacrifice
Cruel Sacrifice by Aphrodite Jones is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Catch Me If You Can: The Film and the Filmmakers (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook, 21)
Catch Me If You Can: The Film and the Filmmakers (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook, 21) by Jeff Nathanson is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
The Only Living Witness: The True Story of Serial Sex Killer Ted Bundy
The Only Living Witness: The True Story of Serial Sex Killer Ted Bundy by Stephen G. Michaud is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.
Thunderstruck
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson is a durable book choice, recognized for reporting, narrative discipline, ethical seriousness and influence.