Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling is one of the year’s best books, and it has been nice seeing the attention it has gotten, from Stephen Colbert selecting it for his book club to Traci Thomas chatting with him on The Stacks podcast.
But most books don’t get a spotlight, so I thought I’d put a few more recent true crime books on your radar. There’s a very popular crime novelist’s memoir, a sociologist’s look at the injustice system, and a Pulitzer-winning author who uses a New York subway shooting in the ‘80s to explore the decades’ politics and how the negative effects are tied to today.
No Human Involved: The Serial Murder of Black Women and Girls and the Deadly Cost of Police Indifference by Cheryl L. Neely
Read if…you want to learn about systematic injustice.
Sociologist Cheryl L. Neely takes a look at the systematic racism in our society, media, and policing, which treats the murders of Black women and girls differently. Police indifference has shown up in different ways, from rushing investigations and accusing innocent people to labeling murders as “N.H.I.— which means “No Humans Involved,” and allows the blame to fall on the victims for drugs or sex work. Neely takes a deep dive into cases across the US—including in LA, Boston, Charlotte, NC—to highlight the lives of Black women and girls who were victims, and show the lack of care and police inaction, along with the communities fighting for justice.
All access members continue below for more of the best true crime books out this year.
True Crime by Patricia Cornwell
Read if…you want a crime novelist’s true crime memoir.
Patricia Cornwell is known for her Kay Scarpetta crime series that follows a medical examiner. The series, which started in 1990 and is currently on book #29, also just got an Amazon Prime adaptation starring Nicole Kidman. In her memoir, Cornwell recounts her difficult childhood in South Florida, evangelist Billy Graham’s wife forging a lifelong relationship with her, and as an adult, being a reporter and working with a medical examiner (Scarpetta’s inspiration). If you’re curious as to what kind of life creates the brain that writes a successful, 35-year career writing crime fiction, here you go.
Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage by Heather Ann Thompson
Read if…you want to learn more about the history of a 1984 crime and its long-reaching effects, by a Pulitzer-winning author.
Historian Heather Ann Thompson comprehensively recounts the 1984 case of a man who shot four Black teens on the NY subway, the nation’s reaction, and the court proceedings. All while placing it in the context of the US’s politics at the time, and how we are still feeling the effects of policies and racism from the decade.
Browse the books recommended in Unusual Suspects’ previous newsletters on this shelf, and see 2026 releases! Until next time, come talk books with me on Bluesky, Goodreads, Litsy, and Multitudes Contained.
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