There’s any number of reasons to be fascinated by books about con artists, scammers, and grifters. Some of us are looking for tips to avoid being victimised ourselves, some of us are attracted to the glamour, some of us enjoy the schadenfreude of watching it all fall apart for them, and some of us simply admire the gall and audacity of these people who run the most incredible schemes. Here are ten gripping books about con artists – fiction and non-fiction – that will make your jaw drop.
Non-fiction books about con artists, scammers, and grifters
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
John Carreyrou is the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the story behind Theranos, the Silicon Valley biotech startup he revealed to be a multi-billion dollar fraud. The story of Theranos, and its charismatic founder Elizabeth Holmes, has reached mythic proportions in popular culture. Bad Blood is the riveting true story told in full, straight from the source, so if you’ve only heard it in snippets and memes, this is the book for you. Read my full review of Bad Blood here.
Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe
Rogues (subtitle: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks) contains twelve of Patrick Radden Keefe’s traditional long-form magazine stories, written over the past decade. These delightfully detailed investigative pieces focus on his favourite subjects: “crime and corruption, secrets and lies, the permeable membrane separating licit and illicit worlds, the bonds of family, the power of denial”. Each and every one is masterfully crafted, perfectly balanced, and totally gripping. Read my full review of Rogues here.
My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams
The best non-fiction books are the true stories that are stranger than fiction. My Friend Anna definitely delivers on that front, “the true story of Anna Delvey, the fake heiress of New York City”. It’s a memoir by Rachel DeLoache Williams, an American writer and photographer who was (as the title suggests) friends with the woman who became a world-famous con artist. Williams does an excellent job of portraying the human cost of Anna’s crimes. It’s not so much about the money as it is the exhaustion, the stress, and the emotional toll it takes to confront someone you consider a friend. Read my full review of My Friend Anna here.
Fake by Stephanie Wood
The thing about dating a writer is that you’ve got to accept the fact that your relationship might be used in their work one day. That goes double if you’re dating a journalist, and triple if you do them wrong. A con artist (pseudonym ‘Joe’) found that out to his peril when his romance with Fairfax journalist Stephanie Wood went sour. First, there was an article in Good Weekend, then there was Fake. Don’t feel too sorry for Joe, though: he thoroughly deserved to have Wood read him to filth in a public forum. Read my full review of Fake here.
Whiteley On Trial by Gabriella Coslovich
Whiteley On Trial covers one of the most sensational cases of alleged art fraud in Australia’s criminal history. Two men stood accused of creating forgeries of the work of Brett Whiteley, one of the country’s most revered artists who died in 1992. A jury found the two men guilty – only for an appeals court to later acquit them entirely. The paintings in question were returned to their rightful owners, but are they forgeries, or genuine articles? That’s the $4.5 million question, one that the justice system struggles to definitively answer, and it is examined from every angle in this searching and penetrating non-fiction book.
Fiction books about con artists, scammers, and grifters
A Routine Infidelity by Elizabeth Coleman
A Routine Infidelity follows Ted, a prickly private detective with “intimacy issues”. She mostly tails cheating spouses and serves court documents, but she’s eager to grow her business into something more. Things heat up when one of her subjects turns out to be embezzling millions from his business partner – only his flinty wife seems to be more concerned about the girlfriend he has on the side. Plus, Ted’s sister is being catfished on a dating app, and Ted is determined to get to the bottom of it. Read my full review of A Routine Infidelity here.
The Truth About Her by Jacqueline Maley
The conceit of The Truth About Her will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix (or, indeed, followed the real-life exposure of “wellness” grifter Belle Gibson, on which that series is based). In Jacqueline Maley’s novel, a 39-year-old journalist and single mother reckons with the professional and psychological fallout after the subject of her exposé – a 28-year-old wellness influencer who faked having, then curing, her own cancer – takes her own life. Read my full review of The Truth About Her here.
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
As per the blurb, The Plot is “a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it”. Evan Parker dies, sadly and suddenly, without ever having published his game-changing bestseller-for-sure novel. Three years later, his writing teacher has written and published the story as his own. It’s gone on to have all the success that Evan Parker predicted it would, and all seems to be going well, until the ‘author’ receives an email that reads, simply: “You are a thief.” Read my full review of The Plot here.
The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth
The Mother-In-Law is the perfect thriller to pick up if you’re spending the season with in-laws who are driving you crazy. Diana, Lucy’s titular mother-in-law, is a pillar of the community – or so it would seem. She dies by apparent suicide, but the autopsy reveals foul play. Plus, her will was changed at the last minute, disinheritng both of her children. Very suspicious, wouldn’t you say? Everyone in the family has something to hide, and Lucy might just find herself at the end of an accusation.
Motherfaker by Anna Brook-Mitchell
Barri Brown is a bitter high school English teacher, and an impulsive idea strikes her in a moment of desperation: she will fake a pregnancy, in order to take advantage of her employer’s generous parental leave allowance (not to mention finally balancing the ledger of all the times she’s covered for colleagues with kid emergencies). That’s how Barri becomes a Motherfaker: “I used to be a DINK. Now I’m a SIFK (Single Income, Fake Kid),” as she puts it. Read my full review of Motherfaker here.
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