7 True Crime Books Everyone Needs to Read

Jul 18, 2023, 10:20 IST

WION Desk

1. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The Clutter family had a farm in Kansas, and in 1959, four of them were fatally shot inside their own home. Conversations with people who knew the deceased and the criminals are woven into In Cold Blood's narrative of the murders and the detectives who searched them out.

2. Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker

In his debut non-fiction work, Robert Kolker examines the stories of five women. Each of them was a prostitute and murdered by a serial killer. It tells a story of how society and the police failed these young ladies.

3. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson's memoir emphasises the injustice present in the American legal system through his account of a specific case he handled as a young lawyer. In this case, a guy was charged with a murder that he did not commit.

4. The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

Ted Bundy and Ann Rule both worked at a suicide hotline. Ted Bundy was a serial killer, and Rule has discussed the inner thoughts and life of Ted during the time of their arrest, trial, and execution for his killing of 30 women.

5.Missoula: Rape and Justice in a College Town by Jon Krakauer  

Jon Krakauer, an investigative journalist, visits the University of Montana's Missoula College. In Missoula, Krakauer speaks with several women and documents the rapes, the women's self-doubt during the legal proceedings, and the price they paid for speaking out.

6. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson  

This is the true story of the 1893 World's Fair and the serial killer who built a hotel close to it to draw unsuspecting attendees to their deaths. The book includes real historical detail and built suspense.

7. My Dark Places by James Ellroy

James Ellroy's mother was killed when he was 10 years old. The murder consumed his thoughts, even though he wouldn't even admit to love his mother, and finally drove him to abuse drugs and alcohol as a distraction.

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