The Greatest True Crime Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
109 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
1150 Witness Whittaker Chambers 1952 American English
1159 Eichmann in Jerusalem Hannah Arendt 1963 German English
1315 Voices from Chernobyl Svetlana Alexievich 1997 Belarusian Russian
1366 The Adversary Emmanuel Carrère 2000 French French
1433 Random Family Adrian Nicole LeBlanc 2003 American English
1542 The Devil In The White City Erik Larson 2003 American English
1701 The New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander 2010 American English
1817 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot 2010 American English
1873 And the Band Played On Randy Shilts 1987 American English
1884 The Looming Tower Lawrence Wright 2006 American English
1995 Say Nothing Patrick Radden Keefe 2018 American English
2220 Against Our Will Susan Brownmiller 1975 American English
2518 The American Way of Death Jessica Mitford 1963 American English
2534 Into the Wild Jon Krakauer 1996 American English
2730 The Executioner's Song Norman Mailer 1979 American English
2772 Man-Eaters of Kumaon Jim Corbett 1944 British English
3148 All the President's Men Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein 1974 American English
3218 Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil John Berendt 1994 American English
3258 Killers Of The Flower Moon David Grann 2017 American English
3301 The Red Record Ida B. Wells 1895 American English
3507 The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm 1990 American English
3508 Joe Cinque's Consolation Helen Garner 2004 Australian English
3522 Bad Blood John Carreyrou 2018 American English
3536 The Death of Woman Wang MMP Jonathan Spence 1978 American English
3589 Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson 2014 American English
3637 Doctors Of Infamy Unknown 1947 Unknown English
4416 A Bright Shining Lie Neil Sheehan 1988 American English
4579 Papillon Henri Charrière 1969 French French
4587 Columbine Dave Cullen 2009 American English
4813 Dreamland Sam Quinones 2015 American English
4941 Ghettoside Jill Leovy 2015 American English
4948 Dark Money Jane Mayer 2016 American English
5151 Midnight In Peking Paul French 2012 British English
5573 Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser 2001 American English
5598 The Lost City of Z David Grann 2009 American English
5651 The Unfortunate Experiment Sandra Coney 1988 New Zealand English
5739 One Of Us Asne Seierstad 2013 Norwegian Norwegian
5805 Five Days at Memorial Sheri Fink 2013 American English
6151 Hell's Angels Hunter S. Thompson 1966 American English
6193 Know My Name Chanel Miller 2019 American English
6611 Hidden Valley Road Robert Kolker 2020 American English
6652 The Beast Óscar Martínez 2013 Salvadoran Spanish
6745 Life With Billy Brian Vallee 1986 Canadian English
6835 There Are No Children Here Alex Kotlowitz 1991 American English
6898 A City Possessed Lynley Hood 2001 New Zealand English
6982 American Prison Shane Bauer 2018 American English
7028 Going Clear Lawrence Wright 2013 American English
7722 Unnatural Selection Mara Hvistendahl 2011 American English
7855 Salvation on Sand Mountain Dennis Covington 1995 American English
7948 George & Rue George Elliott Clarke 2005 Canadian English
7960 The Starr Report Kenneth W. Starr 1998 American English
8224 The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen 2023 Unknown English
8231 The Unabomber Manifesto Theodore Kaczynski 1995 American English
8297 Empire Of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe 2021 American English
8400 Genie Russ Rymer 1993 American English
8426 She Said Jodi Kantor 2019 American English
8433 Arc of Justice Kevin Boyle 2004 American English
8433 Shadow Divers Robert Kurson 2004 American English
8464 The Poisoner's Handbook Deborah Blum 2010 American English
8555 The Tall Man Chloe Hooper 2008 Australian English
8558 Under The Banner Of Heaven Jon Krakauer 2003 American English
8565 Ghost Wars Steve Coll 2004 American English
8843 Zeitoun Dave Eggers 2009 American English
8847 Tragedy At Pike River Mine Rebecca Macfie 2013 New Zealand English
8953 Money To Burn Ricardo Piglia 1997 Argentinian Spanish
9038 Anansi’s Gold Yepoka Yeebo 2023 Unknown English
9057 Challenger Adam Higginbotham 2024 British English
9104 The Art Thief Michael Finkel 2023 Unknown English
9191 The Saboteur Paul Kix 2017 Unknown English
9261 The Price of Power Seymour M. Hersh 1983 American English
9324 The Hacker Crackdown Bruce Sterling 1992 American English
9535 The Tiger John Vaillant 2010 Canadian English
9607 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission 2004 American English
9620 Curse Of The Narrows Laura Mac Donald 2005 Canadian English
9739 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9959 The Strange Last Voyage Of Donald Crowhurst Nicholas Tomalin, Ron Hall 1970 British English
10057 In the Heart of the Sea Nathaniel Philbrick 2000 American English
10381 Rogue Forces Mark Willacy 2021 Unknown English
10434 Gomorrah Roberto Saviano 2006 Italian Italian
10445 Patriot Alexei Navalny 2024 Unknown English
10450 This Republic of Suffering Drew Gilpin Faust 2008 American English
10450 Dopesick Beth Macy 2018 American English
10554 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale 2008 British English
10686 Your Face Belongs To Us Kashmir Hill 2024 American English
10722 In The Belly Of The Beast Jack Henry Abbott 1981 American English
10734 Le Pull Over Rouge Gilles Perrault 1978 French French
10759 A Moonless, Starless Sky Alexis Okeowo 2017 American English
10901 Rising Out Of Hatred Eli Saslow 2018 American English
10939 The 57 Bus Dashka Slater 2017 American English
10969 This Machine Kills Secrets Andy Greenberg 2012 Unknown English
11081 Praying for Sheetrock Melissa Fay Greene 1991 American English
11191 High Price Carl Hart 2013 American English
11228 The Real Lolita Sarah Weinman 2018 Unknown English
11354 The Girl In The Green Dress Jeni Haynes 2019 Unknown English
11481 Ali Jonathan Eig 2017 American English
11533 Countdown To Zero Day Kim Zetter 2014 American English
11576 The Last Days of Hitler Hugh Trevor-Roper 1947 British English
11661 No Visible Bruises Rachel Louise Snyder 2019 American English
11661 The Dark Side Jane Mayer 2008 American English
11661 The Nine Jeffrey Toobin 2007 American English
11661 Bad Blood James Jones 1981 American Unknown
11661 The Rosenberg File Ronald Radosh, Joyce Milton 1983 American English
11661 Brothers And Keepers John Edgar Wideman 1984 American English
11661 Deadly Gambits Strobe Talbott 1984 American English
11661 Veil Bob Woodward 1987 American English
11661 Into The Raging Sea Rachel Slade 2018 American English
11661 The Dinosaur Artist Paige Williams 2018 American English
12324 Biting At The Grave Padraig O'Malley 1990 British English
12324 An Affair Of State Richard A. Posner 1999 American English
12513 The Montreal Massacre Louise Malette, Marie Chalouh 1991 Canadian French
12655 The Barbary Coast Herbert Asbury 2009 American English
12832 Princess Jean Sasson 1992 American English
13359 Strange People Frank Edwards 1961 American English
13968 In The Matter Of Nat Turner Christopher Tomlins 2020 Unknown English
14022 Becoming Unbecoming Una 2015 British English
14498 News Of A Kidnapping Gabriel García Márquez 1996 Colombian Spanish
14498 Nowhere To Run Gerri Hirshey 2001 American English
14730 The Looting Machine Tom Burgis 2015 British English
14891 Nicholas And Alexandra Robert K. Massie 1967 American English