# Recommend true crime narrative non-fiction books, please?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/41 "2011-08-05T20:49:15Z")

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> [@eclectic\_wench](#):
>
> While I’m picking your brains, does anyone know a really good book in this vein about Jack the Ripper?

[Complete History of Jack the Ripper](http://www.amazon.com/Complete-History-Ripper-Philip-Sugden/dp/1841193976/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312577274&sr=1-1) is a very interesting and fascinating no nonsense super accurate page turner.

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**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/42 "2011-08-06T00:20:41Z")

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Don’t dismiss Helter Skelter out of hand. It started me on a lifetime of reading true crime.

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**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:** [August 7, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/43 "2011-08-07T23:28:24Z")

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Oh, _sweet_, a second installment of recommendations and I didn’t even have to ask! That sound you hear is me frantically scribbling.

I have to come back when it’s not bedtime and update a bit, but one I’ve read since I started this thread, and enjoyed: The Maul and the Pear Tree, by PD James (whose fiction I’ve always liked a lot). It wasn’t perfect - the conclusion is pretty sketchy and unsatisfying - but I loved the way it was rooted in intricate social/historical detail.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/44 "2011-08-07T23:49:42Z")

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And Never let her go by Ann Rule is also very good.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson is very good too.

Jerry Bledsoe’s Bitter Blood and Blood Games and While He Sleeps are top notch but not well known.

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**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-true-crime-narrative-non-fiction-books-please/552981/45 "2011-10-02T04:15:23Z")

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Many of the ones I’d recommend have already been mentioned but I’ll add: [Model Crime](http://www.amazon.com/Model-Crime-Curtis-Gathje/dp/1556114281) by Curtis Gathje

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