I’ll be updating this page with my notes on the true-crime books I’ve been reading, digging into stories about killings, heists, scams, spies, and other very bad (or at least slightly illegal) things from which I’ll try to draw some helpful life lessons.

A

B

Badal, James Jessen. In the Wake of the Butcher: Cleveland’s Torso Murders
Bartlett, Jamie. The Missing Cryptoqueen
Bilton, Michael. Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper
Birkbeck, Matt. A Deadly Secret: The Bizarre and Chilling Story of Robert Durst
Brottman, Mikita. Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida
Brown, Julie K. Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story
Browne, Mike. Murder, Madness and Mayhem: Twenty-Five Tales of True Crime and Dark History

C

Campbell, Matthew. Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder and a Global Maritime Conspiracy
Carreyrou, John. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Casey, Kathryn. Deadly Little Secrets: The Minister, his Mistress, and a Heartless Texas Murder
Casey, Kathryn. She Wanted It All: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and a Texas Millionaire
Chellel, Kit. Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder and a Global Maritime Conspiracy
Clark, Jerry. Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America’s Most Shocking Bank Robbery
Clarke, Julie. On the Trail of the Serpent: The Epic Hunt for the Bikini Killer
Clavin, Tom. Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell
Cohen, Rich. Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story
Crosby, Molly Caldwell. The Great Pearl Heist: London’s Greatest Thief and Scotland Yard’s Hunt for the World’s Most Valuable Necklace

D

Dawson, Kate Winkler. All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind
Donovan, Kevin. The Billionaire Murders: The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman

E

Ellis, Blake. A Deal with the Devil: The Dark and Twisted True Story of One of the Biggest Cons in History

F

Fairstein, Linda. The Best American Crime Reporting 2007
Faux, Zeke. Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall
Feuer, Alan. El Jefe: The Stalking of Chapo Guzmán
Fielder, Donna. Let’s Kill Mom: Four Texas Teens and a Horrifying Murder Pact
Finkel, Michael. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Fogarty, Catherine. Someone You Know: An Unforgettable Collection of Canadian True Crime Stories
Forden, Sara Gay. The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed
Franscell, Ron. Alice & Gerald: A Homicidal Love Story

G

Glatt, John. The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty
Glatt, John. The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family
Glatt, John. Lost and Found
Glatt, John. Love Her to Death
Glatt, John. Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders
Godfrey, Rebecca. Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk
Goodman, Alan. A Convenient Death: The Mysterious Demise of Jeffrey Epstein
Graff, Garrett M. Watergate: A New History

H

Hale, Kathleen. Slenderman: Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls
Halper, Daniel. A Convenient Death: The Mysterious Demise of Jeffrey Epstein
Hankinson,  Andrew. You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You are Raoul Moat]
Hendricks, Susan. Down the Hill: My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi
Hesse, Monica. American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing America
Hicken, Melanie. A Deal with the Devil: The Dark and Twisted True Story of One of the Biggest Cons in History
Horwitz, Sari. Sniper: Inside the Hunt for the Killers Who Terrorized the Nation
Humes, Edward. The Forever Witness: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder

I

J

Jobb, Dean. Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation
Johnson, Scott C. The Con Queen of Hollywood: The Hunt for an Evil Genius
Johnson, Steven. The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective
Jonusas, Susan. Hell’s Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier

K

Kahler, Abbot. Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II
Keefe, Patrick Radden. Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
Kellerman, Jonathan. The Best American Crime Reporting 2008

L

LaPorte, Nicole. Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies behind the College Cheating Scandal
Larson, Edward J. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion

M

Macintyre, Ben. A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
Moran, Richard. Knowing Right from Wrong: The Insanity Defense of Daniel McNaughtan
Morse, Dan. The Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killing

N

Neville, Richard. On the Trail of the Serpent: The Epic Hunt for the Bikini Killer

O

P

Palango, Paul. 22 Murders: Investigating the Massacres, Cover-Up and Obstacles to Justice in Nova Scotia
Palattella, Ed. Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America’s Most Shocking Bank Robbery
Patterson, James. Murder of Innocence: True Crime Thrillers
Phelps, M. William. Obsessed
Pileggi, Nicholas. Best American Crime Writing
Pompeo, Joe. Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder that Hooked America on True Crime

Q

R

Ritchie, Jean. Kiss of Death: True Cases of Fatal Attraction
Rosen, Fred. The Bayou Strangler: Louisiana’s Most Gruesome Serial Killer
Ruane, Michael E. Sniper: Inside the Hunt for the Killers Who Terrorized the Nation
Rule, Ann. Empty Promises and Other True Cases
Rule, Ann. Lust Killer
Rule, Ann. Without Pity: Ann Rule’s Most Dangerous Killers

S

Schechter, Harold. Fatal: The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer
Schechter, Harold. Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer
Schwartz, Anne E. Monster: The True Story of the Jeffrey Dahmer Murders
Seal, Mark. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor
Sherman, Casey. A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown’s Most Shocking Crime
Singular, Stephen. Killer Cults: Stories of Charisma, Deceit, and Death
Sottile, Leah. When the Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith, and End Times
St. James, James. Party Monster
Stashower, Daniel. American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper
Stashower, Daniel. The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder
Summerscale, Kate. The Peepshow: The Murders at Rillington Place
Summerscale, Kate. The Wicked Boy: An Infamous Murder in Victorian London
Szereto, Mitzi. The Best New True Crime Stories: Crimes of Passion, Obsession & Revenge
Szereto, Mitzi. The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns
Szereto, Mitzi. Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales

T

Taylor, John. The Count and the Confession
Toobin, Jeffrey. Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism

U

V

Velez-Mitchell, Jane. Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias

W

Watson, Bruce. Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgment of Mankind
Weinman, Sarah. Evidence of Things Seen: True Crime in an Era of Reckoning
Wells, Jon. Vanished: Cold-Blooded Murder in Steeltown
Wilson, David. A Plot to Kill: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal and Murder in a Quiet English Town

X

Y

Z