Nonfiction for True Crime Lovers

What happens to our bodies after we die? Mary Roach’s hilarious investigation takes readers on a journey from plane crashes to forensic cadaver farms to crash test dummies — some of it gruesome, but all of it fascinating. Even though this book was originally written in 2003, it’s still an enduring classic for true crime fans and science buffs. (Just be careful about reading this one while you’re eating.)

Frances Glessner Lee was a Gilded Age heiress from Chicago who created the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death — 18 dollhouse-sized dioramas that depicted various crime scenes and were used to train police officers to become homicide investigators. Lee’s work made her one of the pioneers of modern forensics, but like many female pioneers, her accomplishments went largely unrecognized in her lifetime.

Mariana Enriquez is most well-known for her horror fiction and short stories, but in her first nonfiction book, she brings readers on a tour of the world’s most fascinating cemeteries. Traveling from Buenos Aires to Paris to New Orleans, she investigates each cemetery’s history, architecture, noted burials, and folklore. An absolute must-read for anyone interested in macabre and mythical history.

Myriam Gurba’s essay collection is a pointed and personal examination of the creeps in society: the villains, the abusers, and the people upholding toxic traditions. But it’s also an examination of how to challenge the creeps and challenge oppression in our lives. If you want true crime that makes you think about the larger societal issues at work, this is a great title to pick up.

Zoologist Bill Schutt takes readers on a deep biological, historical, and sociological dive into the taboo practice of cannibalism — both in the human world and in the animal world. (Did you know some amphibians consume their mothers’ skin??) Cannibalism, Schutt argues, is both normal and essential to evolution, and deserves much more scientific attention.