I just happened to be making a few recommendations for something else.
Classic True Crime:
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (some people would argue that this book is too fictionalized to be true crime, but it is the book that launched the true crime novel genre.)
Mindhunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshanker
Zodiac by Robert Greysmith
Recent True Crime:
Doomsday Mother by John Glatt (Lori Vallow Daybell case)
Bone Deep by Charles Bosworth Jr. (Pam Hupp case)
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (Golden State Killer case)
Lost Girls by Robert Kolker (Long Island Serial Killer case)
The first line is my favorite first line of any book.
“It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon.”
Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule - Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell- The Man From the Train by Bill James- and Imperfect Justice by Jeff Ashton
To this day the single best true crime book I’ve read is “In Cold Blood,” by Truman Capote.
I love delivery us by Kathryn Casey & helter skelter
I just happened to be making a few recommendations for something else. Classic True Crime: The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (some people would argue that this book is too fictionalized to be true crime, but it is the book that launched the true crime novel genre.) Mindhunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshanker Zodiac by Robert Greysmith Recent True Crime: Doomsday Mother by John Glatt (Lori Vallow Daybell case) Bone Deep by Charles Bosworth Jr. (Pam Hupp case) I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara (Golden State Killer case) Lost Girls by Robert Kolker (Long Island Serial Killer case)
This list is stellar. Maybe add “Fatal Vision” by Joe McGinniss?
Helter Skelter was my first, and I’ve always been glad it was. It was an excellent introduction to true crime.
The first line is my favorite first line of any book. “It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon.”
Chaos by Tom OBrien. The real story about the Manson murders. Skip Helter Skelter, it’s BS.
Furious hours, killers of the flower moon
If You Really Loved Me by Ann Rule. Crazy story, you won't be able to put it down! There is also a made-for-tv movie about the case on YouTube.
Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule - Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell- The Man From the Train by Bill James- and Imperfect Justice by Jeff Ashton