“He loses his power when we know his face.”
True crime stories have always been some of the most powerful books in the literary world, leaving an impact on readers few other genres can match. And why is that? Simply put, because these stories all actually happened. Without the defence of fiction, true crime books put the depths of depravity humans are capable of reaching on show for the whole world to see. Join us here at What We Reading as we look back at 8 of the best true crime books from the 2010s!
People Who Eat Darkness – Richard Lloyd Parry
In the summer of 2000, 21-year-old Lucie Blackman stepped out into the city of Tokyo and was never seen again. The following winter, her dismembered remains were discovered in a seaside cave.
Richard Lloyd Parry’s 2010 book People Who Eat Darkness details his decade-long personal investigation into the crime. From working undercover in a Tokyo strip club to interviews with those closest to Lucie and the officers on the case, he delves into a hidden part of Japanese society, the ‘extremely evil’ man accused of the crime, and how a loving family were torn apart by grief in the wake of this sickening crime.
The Road To Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple – Jeff Guinn
Nominated for Best History & Biography in the Goodreads Choice Awards, The Road to Jonestown is the most complete work behind the largest murder-suicide in American history. In it, New York Times bestselling author Manson Jeff Guinn tells readers the story of a preacher named Jim Jones and how his life of contradictions and charisma enabled one of the biggest cults of personality the US had ever seen.
With access to thousands of FBI files, interviews with never-before-spoken-to figures and an in-person visit to Jonestown itself, Guinn’s work is the most complete study on Jones ever produced.
I’ll Be Gone In The Dark – Michelle McNamara
The influence behind the 2020 HBO series, I’ll Be Gone In The Dark is undoubtedly one of the best true crime books from the 2010s. The debut novel from Michelle McNamara, the novel was not a Goodreads Choice Nonfiction Award winner, but also one of the best examples of where true crime literature inspires law enforcement.
The book follows the hours and hours of a painstaking investigation conducted by Michelle McNamara in her efforts to track down one of America’s most infamous men: the Golden State Killer. The story of how one man terrorised a nation for a decade and a woman’s desperate hunt for the truth, McNamara’s sudden death prior to the book’s completion has immortalised I’ll Be Gone In The Dark forever.
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The Wicked Boy – Kate Summerscale
Acclaimed journalist Kate Summerscale presents a chilling tale of death and redemption set across Victorian England in one of the best true crime books from the 2010s, The Wicked Boy.
The story follows 13-year-old Robert Coombes, a boy who stabbed his mother but continued to live alongside his younger brother for ten days, going for days out with the expenses paid for by the family member he had killed. However, instead of focusing on the crime itself, Summerscale uses meticulous research on the boy behind the crime, including his love of Penny Dreadful comics and hatred of the beatings his brother endured at the hands of his mother.
A truly unique read that explores how a child murderer was viewed in Victorian society, Summerscale examines how the capacity of a minor led to rehabilitation and a worthy life.
The Girls Of Murder City – Douglas Perry
Chicago in the 1920s was known as the gangland capital of the world, with violent crime on the rise during the era of Prohibition. However, in The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago, author Douglas Perry through shocking stories that both terrified and amazed American society.
Perry paints a vivid picture of Chicago during the Age of Jazz, and how the circus atmosphere of the city gave rise to how criminals found themselves as world-famous celebrities.
The book follows “Stylish Belva” Gaertner and “Beautiful Beulah”, two enigmatic women who shot their lovers dead. Men sent these killers flowers in prison, women strived to replicate their crimes for a shot at being in the limelight, and the influence of these criminals even extended as far as the musical stage.
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The Killer Of Little Shepherds – Douglas Starr
In rural France during the closing chapters of the nineteenth century, serial killer Joseph Vacher terrorised communities and constantly evaded capture from the police. That was, at least, until the man called ‘The Killer of Little Shepherds’ ran into Emile Fourquet and Dr Alexandre Lacassagne
In one of the most gripping and fascinating crime books from the 2010s, Douglas Starr whisks readers back to the opening days of criminal profiling and modern forensics in his book The Killer of Little Shepherds.
The book naturally tackles Vacher’s reign of terror, however, it is in its detailing of how prosecutors Fourquet and Lacassagne revolutionised criminal justice with everything from psychiatric profiling, painstaking eyewitness recounting, blood spatter analysis and systemising autopsies in one of the most dramatic trials France has ever seen.
The Skies Belong To Us – Brendan I. Koerner
Throughout the 1960s, the desperate and disillusioned United States populace contributed to an air hijacking occurring every week. However, one love-struck couple took this commonplace crime to new extremes when they embarked on the longest-distance hijacking in American history.
Brendan I. Koerner’s The Skies Belong To Us is the staggering story of Roger Holder and Cathy Kerkow, a couple that, through blind luck and impressive ingenuity, commandeered Western Airlines Flight 701 in a protest against the Vietnam War. Unearthing over 4,000 declassified documents, this 2013 true crime book is as much a character study on the fragmented state of American society in the ‘60s as it is about these two infamous criminals.
American Predator – Maureen Callahan
Nominated for Best Nonfiction in the 2019 Goodreads Choice Awards, Maureen Callahan’s American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century is the most profound work on the investigation and capture of Israel Keyes.
Described by the FBI as ‘a force of pure evil’, Keyes’ reign of terror was one the likes of which had never been seen before. Over the course of twelve years, Keyes was able to evade capture, stashing kill counts around the country to use on his victims before returning to his life as a quiet tradesman in Alaska.
In American Predator, Callahan recounts the restrictions of traditional law enforcement, whilst also journeying into the mind of one of the most nightmare-inducing killers the US has ever seen.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
