Mystery and True Crime

When Harper Lee learned of the vigilante murder of Reverend Willie Maxwell, the many deaths that preceded his, and the lawyer who both defended him and his assailant, she knew she’d found the story she wanted to write, a true crime narrative with an underlying complexity of race, place, and politics. Almost 50 years later, Casey Cep has realized the same in her first book, a remarkable work of nonfiction that distills extensive research into a broad, insightful exploration of not only the reverend and his lawyer but of Harper Lee, her drive, her demons, and the book she never finished. - Melinda

In the world of professional criminals, there’s always one last job, and it’s always a bad idea. In 2015, a crew of aging criminals called the Bad Grandpas almost pulled off one of the biggest heists of their lives—stealing $19 million in cash, gold, and jewels—almost. Former New York Times correspondent Dan Bilefsky weaves this tale from the testimony of the Scotland Yard detectives who busted the crew. A must-read for all fans of true crime. - Aric

This is the Murderino manifesto fans of the My Favorite Murder podcast have been waiting for! Part dual memoir, part advice book, SSDGM is a tender guide for all the weirdos, latchkey kids, and hot messes. Karen and Georgia dish hard truths with a heaping side of compassion and a wicked sense of humor. Brimming with hope and filled with deeply personal anecdotes from these two extraordinary women, SSDGM is essential reading for navigating this gnarly world, and it’ll show you how to be kind to yourself while still being a badass. 

Everyone knows the gruesome legacy of Jack the Ripper. We know five women were murdered, some even know their names, but few know anything about them beyond their end. Rubenhold shows us their beginnings with compassion, putting human faces on inhuman crimes. It was a perfect read for my macabre sensibilities and taught me lots of new information about these ugly crimes. 

Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in a delightful, dark and twisted psychological thriller that features a perfect loving couple with the requisite two kids, nice house, and great jobs, who also happen to be serial killers. Samantha Downing’s devious plot goes well with her warped characters in this impressive debut. The surprising twists kept me turning the pages until the final unexpected stab at the end!

Rough-and-tumble San Francisco private eye Lee Crowe gets more than he bargained for in this gritty mystery/thriller. Questions start to pile up as he investigates the suspicious death of a wealthy young woman. What are the strange marks on her back? Who is the woman living in her home, marked in the same way? Jonathan Moore has written a well-crafted, engaging tale. This is an author worth checking out.  

After She’s Gone, named the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the year by the Swedish Crime Writers Academy, is captivating. Famed psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schön is found alone, hurt, and confused in Sweden’s rural woods, with little access to her recent memories, and realizes her partner is nowhere to be found. When the murderer that Hanna and the missing detective were investigating starts to threaten the entire town, the urgency grows. Only one person, a local boy with a desperate secret of his own, can help Hanna, and as the inexplicable relationship between the two grows, so does the race against time. This is a wonderful page-turner.  

I am easily distracted by titles, and this one was no exception, luring me in with the promise of odd Swedish crimes. While it turned out not exactly what I was expecting, I quickly became caught up in the characters’ lives and the escapades that came their way (such as the search for the imaginary boyfriend). A lovely introduction to McCall Smith’s work, if you’re not already familiar with it.

Picking up a novel by Kate Atkinson always feels like running into a long-lost best friend. My brain just clicks with hers, and soon I’m 100 pages in and marveling at her ability to twist between absurd humor and piercing empathy in mere sentences. PI Jackson Brodie is my favorite of her characters, and I couldn’t be happier to see Atkinson return to his world, and to see if just this once he might catch a break (I doubt it).

The second in the Cormac Reilly series, this smartly-constructed police procedural also reads well on its own. A grisly hit-and-run on the Galway University campus sees DS Reilly heading rapidly into professional and personal crisis as his hunt for the killer leads him uncomfortably close to home. With its believable cast of characters, this series makes a good itch-scratcher for Tana French fans impatiently awaiting The Witch Elm’s paperback release.