One of my esteemed fellow book reviewers, Simon from Stuck In A Book, recently commented on one of my posts that he’s “too much of a coward for true crime” – and it got me to thinking: there’s got to be a lot of readers out there who don’t read true crime because they don’t like or are highly sensitive to gore, violence, and abuse. But true crime is such a wide and varied genre that there’s got to be books out there that would suit them too, doesn’t there? I went digging through my collection and unearthed these gems: ten true crime books for wimps.
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The crime at the heart of The Library Book is a horrifying one for booklovers, but there’s no bloodshed, at least. It’s the 1986 Los Angeles Central Library Fire – and no shame if you’ve never heard of it, as the news was almost immediately drowned out by that of the Chernobyl disaster. Firefighters were injured while working to contain the blaze, but that’s almost incidental to this true crime story. Instead, Orlean focuses on our collective love of public libraries, the history of the institution, and the bungled investigation into the crime that threatened one. Read my full review of The Library Book here.
Bonus: Orlean’s previous book, The Orchid Thief, is another bloodless true crime book. Even the flowers in this one are honoured and cherished – especially the flowers, even. Read my full review of The Orchid Thief here.
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Bad Blood isn’t technically bloodless – in fact, the whole thing begins with a young woman determined to find a better way to conduct everyday blood tests – but it’s still a good true crime book for wimps. There’s no stabbings, or shootings, or abuses, just an incredible story of entrepreneurial spirit gone horribly awry. John Carreyrou traces the decade’s worth of lies and deception that Elizabeth Holmes undertook as the head of her company Theranos, a name that’s become synonymous in the public consciousness with Silicon Valley hubris and corporate fraud. Read my full review of Bad Blood here.
Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
If you’re looking for a non-violent true crime book that’s every bit as gripping as a well-written epic, pick up Empire Of Pain. You might not know the Sacklers (unless you spend a lot of time in the museums they’ve paid a lot of money to adorn with the family name), but you definitely know their product: OxyContin, the opioid that triggered an epidemic of abuse. With the precision of a prosecutor, but the even-handedness of a responsible journalist, Radden Keefe picks apart the origins of this dynasty’s deadly legacy. Read my full review of Empire Of Pain here.
Bonus: Keefe also published Rogues, a collection of his long-form journalism about “grifters, killers, rebels, and crooks” that’s fairly non-violent and mostly about people that you wouldn’t trust to hold your handbag but would love to sit next to at a dinner party. Read my full review of Rogues here.
My Friend Anna by Rachel DeLoache Williams
My Friend Anna is the kind of story that, on its face, sounds almost funny – as long as you’re not the victim of it. A beautiful young woman seeks a life of luxury, travel and indulgence, but lacks the means to make it happen. So, she ingratiates herself to the wealthiest upper echelons of New York City, posing as a German heiress and fleecing them for tens of thousands of dollars. It’s not like she killed anyone or anything… but still, very naughty of her. In her true crime memoir, Williams lays out Anna’s crimes, and details exactly how her house of cards came tumbling down. Read my full review of My Friend Anna here.
Going Dark by Julia Ebner
Julia Ebner is a journalist and a research fellow working at a counter-extremism think tank that monitors the activity of radical groups right across the spectrum. You’d think that after a long day at work, she’d want to go home and put her feet up, but instead she goes undercover in the online world of extremists, taking on secret identities to gain access to the darkest corners of the internet that you can imagine. In Going Dark, a true crime book for the 21st century, she presents a multi-dimensional view of online extremism and reveals just how easy it is to become radicalised in the virtual world. Read my full review of Going Dark here.
Squat by John Safran
John Safran is no stranger to the world of bad behaviour, and he’s never afraid to flirt with the line of legality to get a good story. In his latest novel, Squat, he takes it further than he ever has before – spending a week squatting in one of Kanye’s mansions. Yes, that Kanye. What might seem like a young man’s ill-advised lark is actually an important meditation on identity and belonging, with Safran exploring his response as a Jewish man to Kanye’s outrageous antisemitism.
The Journalist And The Murderer by Janet Malcolm
If you want to get meta about true crime books, you need to read The Journalist And The Murderer. A few steps removed from the gory reality, Malcolm examines the role of the true crime writer and their obligations to their subject. Joe McGinnis went to extraordinary lengths to ingratiate himself with accused murderer Jeffrey MacDonald, only to eviscerate his defense and portray him as undoubtedly guilty in his book Fatal Vision. Malcom picks apart this ethical quagmire, and turns her keen critical eye to the role of the journalist and the ‘limits of factual truth’.
Fake Law by The Secret Barrister
Most true crime books seem to cover aberrations in reality – most of us will never know a murderer, or be kidnapped by a drug cartel, or participate in massive corporate malfeasance. But the truth of it is, the law (and, by logical extension, crime) touches every aspect of our day-to-day lives. That’s what ‘the Secret Barrister’ explains in Fake Law, a book about common misconceptions about the law, and the truth behind some of the most mind-blowing legal stories of recent years. Educating ourselves about the legal system is essential to prevent our becoming victimised by it, and this book is a great place to start. Read my full review of Fake Law here.
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
If your objection to true crime books is based in their glorification of violence and violent people, The Five is a great alternative. Hallie Rubenhold looks at a story we all think we already ‘know’ – that of Jack The Ripper – and shifts focus to his victims. For most of history, they’ve been written off as ‘just prostitutes’ or ‘poor women’, but in fact they lived rich and meaningful lives, with their own families and troubles and ambitions. It’s a much-needed addition to the canon of literature about the Whitechapel Murders, and thankfully skims much of the over-saturated detail about the murders themselves. Read my full review of The Five here.
Whiteley On Trial by Gabriella Coslovich
Sometimes, you’re lucky enough to encounter a true crime book about a mystery more intriguing and gripping than even the best crime fiction novel. Whiteley On Trial covers “the biggest case of alleged art fraud to come before the Australian criminal justice system, a $4.5 million sting drawing in one of the country’s most gifted and ultimately tragic artists, Brett Whiteley”. Two men are found guilty of faking Whiteley works, but then their conviction is overturned, and the legitimacy of the artworks in question is never fully resolved. What would you pay for a Whiteley that might not be a Whiteley at all?
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