21 Books That Will Satisfy Your True-Crime Obsession

You might already be familiar with the Netflix series, but The Innocent Man started out as a book. Novelist John Grisham dipped a toe into the true-crime pool to bring us this gripping tale that tells the story of a small-town Oklahoma murder, a botched investigation, and a coerced false confession from a washed-up town hero.

Everyone and their mother is obsessed with Mindhunter on Netflix, but this book tells the original story of how John E. Douglas (the IRL mind hunter) used psychological profiling to get inside the minds of some of the world’s most prolific serial killers. 

Not all true crime has to be all murder-y, guys! All the President’s Men dives into one of the biggest political crimes in American history: Nixon’s Watergate scandal. And NBD or anything, but it’s also one of the most respected investigative reporting stories of all time, so it’s a must-read for all you amateur sleuths and aspiring journalists. You get to see how the reporters pieced together the break-in plot that went ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP!

What happens when your new Russian heiress friend offers you an all-expenses-paid trip to Marrakech but then sticks you with the $62,000 bill because oh, yeah, she’s actually a broke con artist?? Vanity Fair photo editor Rachel DeLoache Williams gives an inside look at becoming friends with, and eventually taking down, the scamming queen Anna Delvey.

Ronan Farrow’s investigative reporting exposed Harvey Weinstein’s horrifying behavior and the larger pattern of sexual harassment in Hollywood. Catch and Kill details the unending resistance, intimidation, and surveillance Farrow faced while trying to uncover the truth plus the corruption and cover-ups he unearthed that spanned all the way from Hollywood to Washington.

Israel Keyes may not be a household name, but he’s one of the most terrifying serial killers to ever operate in the U.S. He went from coast to coast searching for victims, meticulously burying his “kill kits,” filled with weapons, money, and body-disposal tools, in secluded locations all over the country. He boldly abducted victims from their homes in broad daylight and disposed of them in just a few hours. Horrifying stuff. If you want a real scare, this is the book for you.

Linda Ives’ teenage son and his friend were found mysteriously run over by a train, and things only worsened when she learned that the police couldn’t (or more accurately, *wouldn’t*) solve the case. It’s a story filled with drug trafficking, money, and cover-ups—all of which would seem extremely far-fetched if they weren’t 100 percent true.

This is a story of survival in the most tragic of circumstances. Three sisters (Nikki, Sami, and Tori) lived under their sadistic mother’s roof for years, where they were subject to unimaginable torture and abuse. The sisters, bonded together, eventually used their combined strength to escape the house of horrors.

Hungry for more Ted Bundy content? Although I don’t fully support it, I’m not here to judge. True-crime author and former officer Ann Rule knew Ted Bundy IRL and was fooled by his charisma too. The Stranger Beside Me tells her story.

Author Michelle McNamara, who passed away suddenly while writing I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, spent much of her life trying to solve the case of the Golden State Killer. In fact, she even named the serial murderer and rapist who was active in the 1970s and ’80s to bring attention to the case. Spoiler alert: It worked, and in 2018, Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested.

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel about a middle-age man’s obsession with a 12-year-old girl, was considered one of the greats when it was first published. But the true events that inspired it are actually horrifying. In The Real Lolita, Sarah Weinman investigates.

Jo Ann Parks received a life sentence for the deaths of her three children who were killed in a house fire she reportedly started, according to investigators. More than 25 years later, the California Innocence Project may have proof that could get her exonerated.

Unsolved Murders breaks down all the classic cold cases you keep trying to solve when you’re supposed to be doing something else. How much do you really know about JonBénet Ramsey, the Black Dahlia, and the Long Island Serial Killer?

Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecuting attorney in the Charles Manson murder trial, reveals all the inside information on one of the most infamously terrifying cases in history.

Love true-crime but don’t want to read about a grisly murder? Can’t blame you. This one’s all about an internet drug cartel. Yep, that’s a thing.

Sex Money Murder details the crack epidemic in the Bronx during the ’80s and ’90s and the role that the Sex Money Murder gang played in it all.

You’ve probably heard all about the Zodiac Killer, who is thought to have murdered up to 50 victims in the ’70s. In this book, Robert Graysmith, a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle at the time that the story first broke, recounts his investigation of the case that still remains unsolved.

In 1892, Lizzie Borden was arrested for the brutal murders of her father and stepmother, Andrew and Abby. This case was so sensational that it’s still buzzed about more than 100 years later. The Trial of Lizzie Borden is the result of 20 years of research and even includes new evidence.