Accessibility Tools

Web Accessibility plugin by DJ-Extensions.com
Skip to main content
Cover of The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science. Black and white images of people murdering others with knives, strangling, and other methods, with blood pooling on the left hand side of the cover.

True Crime

Written by alamancelibraries on . Posted in Book Reviews.

If you’re a fan of books about True Crime, Alamance County Libraries are here for you! We are expanding our collection through patron recommendations, staff selections, and the True Crime and Thriller focused book club, Dying to Read in Mebane. 

Check Out some of the new True Crime additions to the collection!

Cover of The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science. Black and white images of people murdering others with knives, strangling, and other methods, with blood pooling on the left hand side of the cover.

The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science by Douglas Starr

Examines the arrest and trial of serial murderer Joseph Vacher, discussing how prosecutor Emile Fourquet and Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne used forensic evidence and techniques which were new at the time to catch and convict him.

Winner of the Gold Dagger Award

Cover of This House of Grief. The cover is white, with a purple car drawn in lines on the bottom third of the cover.

This House of Grief : the story of a murder trial by Helen Garner

The engrossing, definitive chronicle of an infamous true-crime saga, about a father suspected of murdering his three sons, the trial that gripped a nation, and the brutal spectacle of Australia’s criminal justice system.

The New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

Cover of The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective. Cover is a photo of men in front of what looks like a car and might be a blast area. The photo is tinted red.

Infernal machine: a true story of dynamite, terror, and the rise of the modern detective by Steven Johnson

A sweeping account of the anarchists who terrorized the streets of New York and the detective duo who transformed policing to meet the threat—a tale of fanaticism, forensic science, and dynamite

Edgar Award Winner – True Crime

Cover of The Killer Across the Table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter. Photo of a green chair at a wood table; chair is lit while the rest of the room is dark.

Killer across the table: Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI’s Original Mindhunter by John Douglas

The legendary FBI criminal profiler, number-one New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the hit Netflix show Mindhunter delves deep into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers.

Cover of The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators. The cover is black, with the tip of a fountain pen dominating the cover. The tip of the pen has red ink running downwards.

The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators by Martin Edwards

In this groundbreaking history of crime fiction, acclaimed expert Martin Edwards traces the evolution of the genre from the eighteenth century to the present, offering a brand-new perspective on the world’s most popular form of storytelling.

Multiple Award Winner

Cover of Crooked: The Roaring 20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, A Crusading Senator, and the Birth of The American Political Scandal. The cover looks like a newspaper, with a section torn out. What shows through are two photos of men from the 1920s.

Crooked : the roaring twenties tale of a corrupt attorney general, a crusading senator, and the birth of the American political scandal by Nathan Masters

A story of murderers, con artists, secret lovers, spies, bootleggers, and corrupt politicians to its full, page-turning glory. Newly elected to the Senate on a promise to root out corruption, Burton ‘Boxcar Burt’ Wheeler sets his sights on ousting Attorney General Harry Daugherty, puppet-master behind President Harding’s unlikely rise to power. With the muckraking senator hot on his trail, Daugherty turns to his greatest weapon, the nascent Federal Bureau of Investigation, whose eager second-in-command, J. Edgar Hoover, sees opportunity amidst the chaos. 

Adrian Z. is the Branch Manager of Mebane Public Library.

Leave a Reply