“We would not be who we are today without the calamities of our yesterdays.”
For many readers, what makes true crime a fascinating and sometimes terrifying genre is the fact that it is real. The acts and individuals involved are members of the world just like us, adding a dizzying new dimension to the stories that a fictional thriller cannot compete with. True crime books help us get a better understanding of criminal behaviours and psychology, the ins and outs of how crimes are committed and provide helpful insights into survivors and the wider-reaching issues plaguing our criminal justice systems in the present. Join us today at What We Reading as we run you through the best new true crime books from 2024 that we’re excited to pick up and read!
The Umbrella Murder: The Hunt For The Cold War’s Most Notorious Killer – Ulrik Skotte
Kicking off our list of the best true crime books from 2024 is Ulrik Skotte’s bestseller, The Umbrella Murder. In 1978, the Bulgarian novelist and dissident Georgi Markov was assassinated via a poisoned umbrella on Waterloo Bridge in London. His murder was one of the most high-profile and infamous during the Cold War era. And no one has ever been prosecuted for it.
The Umbrella Murder finally lifts the lid on the architect and hitman behind this extraordinary killing; a spy named Piccadilly who was employed by the Bulgarian secret service and KGB, and who has been in hiding for over four decades. Reading like a gripping thriller and delivered with over thirty years worth of documents, recordings and never-before-seen archive material, Skotte’s book is a page-turning search for justice in the murky world of espionage and intelligence.
There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America’s Biggest Catfish – Anna Akbari
In 2011, three successful and highly educated women fell head over heels for the charming Ethan Schuman. His detailed excuses about broken webcams and complex international calling plans didn’t raise suspicion; after all, Ethan wasn’t interested in making money off the women. Instead, he ensnared them in a web of intense emotional intimacy.
As the trio gradually began to question their new flame, they managed to find one another and embark on an investigation of untangling a greater deception than they could have ever imagined possible. In her 2024 true crime book, There is No Ethan, Anna Akbari and the women unpack the mystery behind ‘Ethan’ and construct a bigger picture of how technology builds and shapes our relationships, and how often truth, images, reality and identity have all become slippery terms.
Rabbit Heart: A Mother’s Murder, A Daughter’s Story – Kristine S. Ervin
Kristine S. Ervin was just eight years old when her mother, Kathy Sue Engle, was abducted from a mall parking lot in Oklahoma and violently murdered in an oil field. Without her mother, Ervin attempts to reconstruct a woman she never fully knew from both her own memories, letters she uncovers and the stories from the people who did know her in her new true memoir, Rabbit Heart.
As more and more of her mother’s death is brought to light, Ervin’s determination to know her only intensifies. And, as she grows older, she begins to run into the contradictions of what a woman is allowed to be, what a ‘victim’ is supposed to look like, and how justice can be hard to come by. Undoubtedly one of the most raw and fearless true crime memoirs, Rabbit Heart weaves together themes of power, gender, grief and justice.
A Gentleman And A Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists Of A Jazz Age Rogue – Dean Jobb
If you’re looking for some of the best historical true crime books from 2024, Dean Jobb’s A Gentleman and a Thief needs to be on your TBR list! In it, readers are introduced to Arthur Barry, the ‘greatest jewel thief who ever lived’. Adept at slipping in and out of bedrooms undetected, even whilst his victims were sleeping mere inches away, as well as charming celebrities and millionaires, Barry would steal over $60 million in pearls, diamonds and other precious gems in just seven years.
His victims included the Rockefellers, the heiress to the Woolworth Department Store fortune, an oil magnate, members of the touring Royal Family and a famous polo player. He charmed the likes of the Prince of Wales and Harry Houdini and would be dubbed the ‘Prince of Thieves’ by the press. A mesmerising tale of heists, love and the Age of Jazz, A Gentleman and a Thief is an unforgettable true crime page-turner.
The Peepshow: The Murders At 10 Rillington Place – Kate Summerscale
London, 1953. Police discover the bodies of three young women hidden in a wall at 10 Rillington Place. Searching the dingy terrace house further, they discover another body beneath the floorboards and an assortment of bones buried in the back garden. Yet, they had already investigated a double murder at 10 Rillington Place just three years ago. And the killer was hanged.
A nationwide manhunt is soon launched for the tenant of the ground floor flat, a softly-spoken former policeman named Reg Christie. The story soon triggers a frenzy, fuelled in part by the relentless rise of the tabloid press. Kate Summerscale mines the archives in her new crime book, The Peepshow, uncovering the lives of Reg Christie’s victims, the pandemonium their deaths inspired and the harrowing truth about what really happened inside 10 Rillington Place.
Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story Of The Largest Sting Operation Ever – Joseph Cox
Joseph Cox’s Dark Wire is the extraordinary story of the largest law-enforcement sting operation ever conceived. During its course, the FBI would make its own tech start-up to wiretap the world, demonstrating how cunning both drug traffickers and authorities have become. The start-up in question was Anom, a powerful new app that criminals believed allowed them to conduct their affairs from the shadows. In fact, it was being secretly run by the FBI.
From money launderers, and international smugglers to professional hitmen, tens of thousands of criminals across the globe were suddenly on show. Officers could watch drug shipments and murder plots play out and make arrests without blowing their cover. But, as the FBI began to lose control of Anom, did the agency go too far? Painstakingly researched, Dark Wire reveals the true scale of this operation and showcases how, in the modern world, we can never be sure who is listening in.
Ask Not: The Kennedys And The Women They Destroyed – Maureen Callahan
Blending politics, history and true crime, Ask Not is a new 2024 biography by Maureen Callahan. In it, the bestselling author and journalist exposes a hidden pattern of violence and exploitation from Kennedy men across history. Laying bare the unrepentant sexism and depravity involved, Callahan restores these women and girls to their rightful place at the centrepiece of the Kennedy dynasty’s legacy.
Drawing on years of explosive reporting and written in impassioned and energetic prose, Ask Not is a timely reckoning with one of the most famous families in the US, and one of the most significant eras in the country’s history. More important, however, is how Callahan is able to shine the spotlight on the women caught in the Kennedy orbit, paying tribute to those who were able to free themselves and giving voice to those who could not.
Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder – Salman Rushdie
On the morning of August 12, 2022, bestselling author Salman Rushdie was standing onstage preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black rushed toward him brandishing a knife. What followed was a harrowing act of violence that shook the literary world and reverberated far beyond.
In his new true crime book, Knife, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of the day for the first time and in unflinching detail. Documenting his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was only made possible by the support and love from his wife, Eliza, his army of doctors and therapists, and his thousands of readers worldwide. Writing with candid honesty and urgency, Rushdie’s work is a moving reminder of life, loss, love, art and the importance of finding the strength to stand up again.
Clay And Bones: My Life As An FBI Forensic Artist – Lisa G. Bailey
Lisa Bailey never considered a career working in death until she saw the FBI job advert for a forensic artist. For Lisa, the chance to use her artistic skills to help victims of crime was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Soon, she was documenting crime scenes, photographing burned corpses and digitally retouching disembodied heads of suicide bombers. Working on hundreds of cases, she soon became a master in her field. Until she found herself the target of sexual discrimination and harassment. Stunned that the FBI took the side of the abusers, and faced with retaliated threats, slander and lawsuits, she decided to fight back. Clay and Bones is Lisa Bailey’s 2024 memoir and a powerful exploration into the surreal world of working as a forensic artist.
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College Girl, Missing: The True Story Of How A Young Woman Disappeared In Plain Sight – Shawn Cohen
One of the most gripping new true crime books from 2024, Shawn Cohen offers one of the most extensive recountings of the disappearance of Lauren Spierer in College Girl, Missing. Lauren’s disappearance wasn’t just a random abduction. What makes the case so confounding for investigators is the fact that she was out with dozens of classmates in a bustling university town the night she vanished.
Despite the intense media coverage involved with the case, Lauren’s disappearance soon went cold and her body was never found. Armed with the support of Lauren’s family and never-before-seen evidence that exposes a botched investigation, conflicting testimonies and new interviews, Cohen’s book sheds light on the innocents left behind after a crime and, through minute-by-minute recaps, attempts to answer: ‘What happened to Lauren Spierer”?
The Berman Murders: Unraveling The Mojave Desert’s Most Mysterious Unsolved Crime – Doug Kari
At daybreak on January 6, 1986, a couple on a camping trip in the Mojave Desert set off on a walk and never returned. The local sheriff’s office soon discovered that Barry and Louise Berman had been murdered. As the years passed, and the case remained unsolved, the Berman double homicide spawned countless speculation and conjecture.
And even today, after extensive investigation at both local and federal levels, there’s never been an arrest made in relation to the killings. Yet, that doesn’t mean the case isn’t solvable. After years of research, investigation and interviews, author Doug Kari has been able to trace the crime back to a clandestine web of dark criminal and clandestine activity. His 2024 true crime book, The Berman Murders, is his attempt to tell the full story and reveal the most likely suspect still at large.
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).
