Readers who enjoy nonfiction that reads like fiction will find strong, even shocking storylines make these true crime books hard to put down. They are available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library.
The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex and Murder by Carolyn Murnick
Two childhood friends grow apart as young adults and when one woman is brutally murdered, the other is determined to uncover the truth about her wild and seductive friend.
Exile on Front Street: My Life as a Hell’s Angel – and Beyond by George Christie
The former right-hand-man to the de facto world leader of Hell’s Angels motorcycle club tells his story.
Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer by Katherine Ramsland, PhD
The BTK killer had ten victims and remained on the loose for thirty years until he began to play risky games with the police and in 2004, made a mistake.
American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton
In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old programmer launched a clandestine website hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything detection free, including drugs, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poison or other contraband.
The Lynching: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan by Laurence Leamer
A civil suit that followed the criminal conviction of two Klansmen in 1981 exposed their true motives and ultimately bankrupted the organization.
Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street by Sheelah Kolhatkar
Steven A. Cohen and his hedge fund became the target of a seven-year criminal SEC investigation, the largest in Wall Street history.
A Taste for Murder by Burl Barer and Frank C. Girardot, Jr.
When her husband is found dead on the bedroom floor without a discernable cause of death, a wife badgers the police, insisting he was murdered.
My Sweet Angel: The True Story of Lacey Spears, the Seemingly Perfect Mother Who Murdered Her Son in Cold Blood by John Glatt
In 2015, prosecutors alleged a twenty-seven-year-old mother poisoned her five-year-old son with high concentrations of salt fed through a stomach tube.
Gitchie Girl: The Survivor’s Inside Story of the Mass Murders that Shocked the Heartland by Phil Hamman
In the early 1970s, a night of music and laughter around a campfire in a state park led to horror for five teenagers.
Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer by Ann McElhinney
A routine drug investigation of a doctor’s office turned into the shocking unmasking of a serial killer.
Breakaway Amish: Growing Up with the Bergholz Beard Cutters by Johnny Mast
As an Amish community became increasingly isolated, they adopted a belief that cutting their hair was a sign of repentance and undertook the strange criminal ritual of cutting off the beards of those outside their community.
The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: They Mysterious Death of What’s My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen by Mark Shaw
Although the official cause of death was an overdose of barbiturates, rumors persist that a journalist and game-show panelist was murdered in 1965 because of a tell-all book about the JFK assassination.
Ruined by Ruth Everhart
During her senior year at a small Midwestern Christian college, two armed intruders broke into the house the author shared with her roommates, held all five girls hostage and took turns assaulting them at gunpoint.
American Fire: Love Arson and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse
A reporter investigates the motives behind sixty-seven arson fires in a rural Virginia coastal town.
The Crime Book by Shanna Hogan
Explore the cases of over one hundred notorious crimes and criminals from world history, including bandits, arsonists, hucksters, white-collar criminals, organized crime, kidnappers, extortionists, and murderers.
October 13, 2017