# Recommend true crime narrative non-fiction books, please? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981 "2010-09-07T22:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/1 "2010-09-07T22:45:19Z")
Examples of the kind of stuff I’m looking for: _In Cold Blood_ and _The Suspicions of Mr Whicher_. I know it sounds like they don’t have much in common, but they’re both really well written, they’ve both got the narrative arc of a novel rather than of a non-fiction book, they both bring the characters to life with as much detail and vividness and emotional depth as possible, and they both root the stories very deeply in social context, so you get a real insight into the time and place and how the crime and the investigation were shaped by that time and place. Can anyone recommend anything else that fits the bill? While I’m being demanding: I prefer stuff set in the past (distant or recent - anything up to about WWII) - not sure why - but if there’s something good that’s set more recently, I won’t kick it out of bed for eating crisps. I can’t get into books involving political intrigue or espionage, mainly because the scale gets too large, the politics start to overwhelm the individuals, and then I instantly switch off. I might be able to get into a political book if character’s still centre stage, but I’m way more into small-scale stuff. Thank you in advance 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/2 "2010-09-07T22:56:41Z")
One I liked was _The Napoleon of Crime_. Who could not love the bio of the guy who inspired Professor Moriarty of Sherlock Holmes fame? > **[The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief:...](https://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Crime-Times-Worth-Master/dp/0385319932)** > > The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief \[Macintyre, Ben\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief Another goodie I think was _The Devil in the White City_, about an criminal as gruesome and evil as the previous one was genteel: [http://www.amazon.com/Devil-White-City-Madness-Changed/dp/0375725601/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283900162&sr=1-1](http://www.amazon.com/Devil-White-City-Madness-Changed/dp/0375725601/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283900162&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/3 "2010-09-07T23:35:24Z")
The two that immediately came to mind are both more recent than your preferred time period, but excellent examples of what you’re looking for: [Helter Skelter](http://www.amazon.com/Helter-Skelter-Story-Manson-Murders/dp/0393322238/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books), about the 1969 Manson Family murders [Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil](http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Garden-Good-Evil-Berendt/dp/0679751521/ref=sr_1_cc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1283902276&sr=1-2-catcorr'), based on events in Savannah, Georgia in the 1980’s Both of these books are frequently compared to _In Cold Blood_ in their style and subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/4 "2010-09-07T23:38:26Z")
_Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil_ by John Berendt is a good read (though I have heard that the author stretched the definition of “nonfiction” a good bit). It is about a murder in Savannah, Georgia in the 80’s, so it’s more recent than WWII, but it has the small scale and the vivid characterization of the people involved that you are looking for. ETA: Beat to the punch! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/5 "2010-09-07T23:53:45Z")
_Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer_ by James Swanson. I thought this was excellent, it felt suspenseful when I was reading it, although kind of obviously I knew how it was going to turn out. Two that I thought were okay, not the absolute best but decent enough to get from the library were: \*The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York \*by Deborah Blum. Not so much one crime, but each chapter devoted to a different poisoning incident, most of them intentional. _American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century_ by Paula Uruburu. I will caution you that about half of it is a straight bio of Evelyn Nesbit, the crime part is mostly in the second half. It’s maybe a little sensational, but I did like how the author painted a vivid and believable picture of the social world in which they lived. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/6 "2010-09-08T12:41:03Z")
Oh, lovely!! Thank you all so much - all of those sound great (although I might have to skip _Helter Skelter_ because I have a feeling it might give me nightmares). I’m spoilt for choice now. While I’m picking your brains, does anyone know a really good book in this vein about Jack the Ripper? I read the gobsmackingly bad Patricia Cornwell one (on one page she’s pointing out that X is a possibility because there’s no evidence that it didn’t happen, and by the next page she’s using X as a proven fact and the basis for a whole theory…) and I could do with an antidote. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/7 "2010-09-08T13:37:53Z")
I saw the title of this thread and immediately thought of In Cold Blood and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. So em I’ll be seeing what suggestions you get so that I can check them out too. I’ve heard great things about Devil in the White City but its proving very difficult to find where I live. ---
**Author:** ![Nelly1964](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@Nelly1964](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelly1964)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/8 "2011-08-03T09:08:40Z")
Hi I’m new on this forum, but I saw your post and thought I’d reply. It’s maybe not the subject matter you were asking for, but given that you mention _In Cold Blood_ I would recommend The True and Complete Story of ‘Machine Gun’ Jack McGurn by Amanda J. Parr. It is written in a kind of non-fiction novel style, like _In Cold Blood_ and for me, the characters are wonderfully brought to life. It is about Jack McGurn, a hitman and bodyguard for Al Capone. Even if prohibition era stuff isn’t your thing (it wasn’t really mine) I would give it a go. It’s a thrilling read. Another little tip, if you get it from [http://www.jackmcgurn.com](http://www.jackmcgurn.com) you can buy a copy signed to you by the author. As for a good book on Jack the Ripper (and by the way I agree wholeheartedly about Patricia Cornwell) I would recommend _The Secret of Prisoner 1167: Was This Man Jack the Ripper?_ by James Tully. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/9 "2011-08-03T12:42:48Z")
**Girls of Murder City** by Douglas Perry is excellent–a fairly recent book about the murderesses in 1920s Chicago who inspired the play (and movie, and then musical) _Chicago_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/10 "2011-08-03T13:26:33Z")
Ann Rule’s **The Stranger Beisde Me**. She actually knew Ted Bundy while he was committing his ghastly murders, and got the contract to write the book before he was even a suspect. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/11 "2011-08-03T13:35:43Z")
POPULAR CRIME by Bill James (yes, the baseball writer) is not only a terrific study of crime over the past few hundred years but is studded with evaluations and recommendations of exactly what you want–he tells you, for example, exactly what Ann Rule’s strong points as a reader are and her weak points. He does this for dozens of true-crime books. Can’t recommend it strongly enough. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/12 "2011-08-03T13:39:57Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Another goodie I think was _The Devil in the White City_, about an criminal as gruesome and evil as the previous one was genteel: [The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America: Erik Larson: 9780375725609: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Devil-White-City-Madness-Changed/dp/0375725601/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283900162&sr=1-1) Seconded. I’m currently reading Larson’s [Thunderstruck](http://www.amazon.com/Thunderstruck-Erik-Larson/dp/1400080673/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312378707&sr=1-3) which is about the Crippen murder as well as Marconi’s invention of practical wireless communication. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/13 "2011-08-03T13:42:33Z")
as a writer, not as a reader ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/14 "2011-08-03T14:00:18Z")
The best book I have ever read on the Crippen case is **Supper with the Crippens: A New Investigation into One of the Most Notorious Crime Cases of the 20th Century** , by David James Smith. It’s the only one that doesn’t treat poor Cora as some loudmouthed slut who got what was coming to her. Turns out she was involved in a theatrical charity and had a lot of close friends. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/15 "2011-08-03T14:03:45Z")
A bit off your main course - this is true espionage more than true crime, but at least the spy was a criminal. 😉 I recommend [Agent Zigzag](http://www.amazon.com/Agent-Zigzag-Story-Espionage-Betrayal/dp/0307353400): > [@](#): > > London Times associate editor Macintyre (The Man Who Would Be King) adroitly dissects the enigmatic World War II British double agent Eddie Chapman in this intriguing and balanced biography. Giving little thought to the morality of his decision, Chapman offered to work as a spy for the Germans in 1940 after his release from an English prison in the Channel Islands, then occupied by the Germans. After undergoing German military intelligence training, Chapman parachuted into England in December 1942 with instructions to sabotage a De Havilland aircraft factory, but he surrendered after landing safely. Doubled by MI5 (the security service responsible for counterespionage), Chapman was used to feed vital disinformation to the enemy and was one of the few double agents to delude their German handlers until the end of the war. Meticulously researched—relying extensively on recently released wartime files of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service—Macintyre’s biography often reads like a spy thriller. In the end, the author concludes that Chapman repeatedly risked his life… [and] provided invaluable intelligence, but it was never clear whether he was on the side of the angels or the devils. Of the two Zigzag biographies this fall (the other, by Nicholas Booth, is reviewed below), this is clearly superior. (Oct. 9) A fun romp of a read. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/16 "2011-08-03T14:11:11Z")
I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I’m looking forward to reading [The Killer of Little Shepherds](http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Little-Shepherds-Forensic-Science/dp/0307266192) by Douglas Starr about a serial killer in France in the 1890s. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/17 "2011-08-03T14:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I’m looking forward to reading The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr about a serial killer in France in the 1890s. I recently read that–excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/18 "2011-08-03T14:37:22Z")
I love _The Valachi Papers_. It’s a fun look at post-prohibition mob life. Valachi has been accused of being self serving and fabricating, but the scenarios in the book still have power: Shapiro in the oil drum, the Gap getting his brains blown out, and many more. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/19 "2011-08-03T14:41:06Z")
[Previous](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-81672.html) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-586676.html) [with good recommendations](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-204735.html). ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/20 "2011-08-03T15:24:49Z")
_Fatal Vision_ is an oldie-but-a-goodie about a guy who tried to blame his wife and daughters’ murder on drug-crazed hippies. My senior year of high school I took a half-semester “Law” class, and our teacher was slightly too obsessed with the case…we watched the whole miniseries and it also served as our end of semester Mock Trial. That summer I actually checked the book out of the library and read it. I’ll 2nd White City too, but I enjoyed the architecture discussion as much as the serial killer. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981.md?page=2)