Publication year 2023
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Art, Power & Greed, Beauty, Safety & Danger
Tags Arts & Culture, Crime & Law
True Crime & Legal
Perhaps few genres have benefitted as much from the rise of binge-watching culture as true crime. Any of these texts could be adapted as a streaming documentary series—and a few are already available. Dive into this collection for real drama ripped straight from the headlines.
The Art Thief
The Best Minds
The Blood of Emmett Till
The Boys from Biloxi
The Butcher's Tale
The Chamber
The Confession
The Corporation
The Devil in the White City
The Elements
The Executioner's Song
The Feather Thief
The Firm
The Five
The Gift of Fear
The Girl Who Fell From The Sky
The Good Nurse
The Guardians
The Hallmarked Man
The Indifferent Stars Above
Publication year 2023
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Art, Power & Greed, Beauty, Safety & Danger
Tags Arts & Culture, Crime & Law
Publication year 2023
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Mental Health, Self Discovery, Conflict, Guilt, Friendship
Tags Crime & Law, Psychology, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychology, Mental Illness, Biography
Publication year 2017
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Truth & Lies
Tags Crime & Law, Race & Racism, US History, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Biography, Social Justice, Politics & Government
The Blood of Emmett Till is a 2017 nonfiction book by Timothy B. Tyson. The text provides an account of the 1955 murder of a young African American boy named Emmet Till. Till was visiting Mississippi from Chicago, where his parents had emigrated during the Great Migration of the 1920s. They sought employment in the North, but they also sought to escape from the terror exercised by whites on blacks in the South.The Civil War... Read The Blood of Emmett Till Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Family, Fathers, Friendship
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law, Historical Fiction
Publication year 2002
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags Crime & Law, Education, Education, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, European History, Religion & Spirituality
The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town (2002), a history/Judaica book by German American author Helmut Walser Smith, deals with a sensational murder case that took place in Konitz, a town in Prussia (Eastern Germany) in 1900. Ernst Winter, an 18-year-old student, was found murdered with his body parts dismembered and hidden in various places throughout the town. The residents of Konitz turned against the community’s Jewish inhabitants, accusing them of ritual... Read The Butcher's Tale Summary
Publication year 1994
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Guilt, Death, Justice
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Dramatic Literature, Crime & Law
John Grisham’s 1994 legal thriller, The Chamber, follows Adam Hall, a young associate at a prestigious Chicago law firm who risks his career to take on a last-chance death-penalty case. His client is Sam Cayhall, an unrepentant former Klansman sentenced to die in Mississippi’s gas chamber for a fatal bombing he committed in 1967. With the execution just weeks away, Adam’s desperate legal battle is complicated by a deep personal secret: Sam is his estranged... Read The Chamber Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Power & Greed, Justice, Race, Politics & Government, Mothers, Death
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law, Social Justice, Incarceration, Grief & Death, Trauma & Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism
Publication year 2003
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Community
Tags Crime & Law, Business & Economics, Sociology, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Politics & Government
Published in 2004, The Corporation, by legal scholar Joel Bakan, demonstrates that corporations often misbehave because it is in their nature to do so. The corporate legal mandate, to pursue profit on behalf of shareholders, impels corporations to take any action, including callous, antisocial, and even unlawful behaviors, so long as they generate a profit. Because corporations are created by governments, they are beholden to the state for their survival, yet they often manage to... Read The Corporation Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags Crime & Law, US History, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Biography
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 nonfiction historical thriller by American journalist Erik Larson. The book revisits the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, following the stories of two very different history-making men: Daniel Hudson Burnham, the architect of the fair, and H. H. Holmes, the notorious serial killer. The book explores themes such as the contrast between sanity and insanity; the anonymity... Read The Devil in the White City Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Guilt, Love, Childhood & Youth, The Past, Truth & Lies
Tags Trauma & Abuse, Crime & Law
Publication year 1979
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Death, Community, Good & Evil, Justice
Tags American Literature, Journalism, Crime & Law
The Executioner’s Song (1979) is a work of literary true crime by American author Norman Mailer. The book portrays the last nine months of the life of Gary Gilmore, who kills two men after being released from prison. Using interviews, court records, and witness accounts, Mailer pieces together the story of Gilmour’s trial and execution, exploring The Death Penalty as Public Spectacle, The Influence of Love and Hate in Human Lives, and Individual Will Versus... Read The Executioner's Song Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Animals, Appearance & Reality, Art, Justice, Power & Greed
Tags Crime & Law, European History, Science & Nature, Animals, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History
The Feather Thief by American author, screenwriter, and journalist Kirk Wallace Johnson is about the 2009 heist of the British Natural History Museum at Tring. It retraces the background of the 20-year-old American thief, professional flautist, and master fly-tier, Edwin Rist, who stole 299 rare bird skins from the museum. Johnson first heard about the heist while fly-fishing on a river in New Mexico. Living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after years of aid work... Read The Feather Thief Summary
Publication year 1991
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Death, Social Class, Safety & Danger, Siblings, Revenge, Mothers, Guilt, Fear, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Marriage, Justice, Trust & Doubt, Hate & Anger, Politics & Government, Appearance & Reality, Truth & Lies, Conflict, Perseverance
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law
OverviewBook DetailsThe Firm is the second legal thriller written by attorney John Grisham. It followed his 1988 debut novel A Time to Kill. The Firm was the top-selling novel of 1991 on the New York Times bestseller list, bringing its author international fame. It focuses on new Harvard Law School graduate Mitch McDeere, who accepts a financially lucrative position with a Memphis law firm that he discovers is embroiled in unethical and illegal activities.Author HighlightsGrisham... Read The Firm Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Femininity, The Past, Social Class, Justice
Tags Crime & Law, European History, Gender & Feminism
Publication year 1997
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Fear, Self Discovery, Trust & Doubt, Safety & Danger
Tags Psychology, Self-Improvement, Trauma & Abuse, Crime & Law, Relationships, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Science & Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Mental Illness
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Coming of Age
Tags Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Dramatic Literature, Race & Racism, Crime & Law, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Depression & Suicide, Modern Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky is Heidi Durrow’s debut novel. Published in 2010 by Oneworld Publications, the novel won the PEN/Bellweather Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, an award that recognizes work by a previously unpublished author that explores a social issue. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky explores the impact of racism and loss on a young girl whose mother is a White woman from Denmark and whose father is a Black... Read The Girl Who Fell From The Sky Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Science & Technology, Politics & Government, Safety & Danger, Good & Evil, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies, Hate & Anger
Tags Crime & Law, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Biography, Health, US History, Depression & Suicide, Mental Illness, Trauma & Abuse
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber is a true crime biography of the life of Charles Cullen, one of the most prolific serial killers in US history. Graeber is an American journalist who spent time as a medical student before moving on to journalism, writing for many prolific news outlets. His joint history in medicine and writing provides him with the necessary expertise to explain the intimacies... Read The Good Nurse Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Forgiveness, Perseverance, Conflict, Equality, Truth & Lies, Power & Greed, Politics & Government
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Crime & Law, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Incarceration, Politics & Government
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Guilt, Love, Disability, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Death, Fathers, Social Class, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Crime & Law, Science Fiction
Publication year 2009
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Family, Perseverance, Death, Environment, Nation
Tags US History, Crime & Law, Action & Adventure, Dramatic Literature, Horror & Suspense, World History, Biography