20 Of The Best True Crime Audiobooks That Podcast Lovers Need To Listen To
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Posted 2 minutes ago
You won’t want to keep listening after dark.
1.
We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper
Why you’ll love it: This true crime audiobook follows the murder of 23-year-old Harvard student Jane Britton, who was bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment. The rumor was Jane had an affair with her professor, who was found to be her murderer — all because she threatened to talk about what was going on between them. But those whisperings were false. Cooper’s 10-year analysis of Britton’s story prove to be complex in this setting of privileged male elites and the narratives of female victims.
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2.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
Why you’ll love it: This audiobook is one Stephen King called “brilliant” and one that’s the basis for a six-part HBO series by the same name. Michelle McNamara dives into researching The Golden State Killer three decades after he committed his gruesome murders. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is McNamara’s findings before her untimely death — a chilling account of a criminal mastermind.
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3.
Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey
Why you’ll love it: In this powerful personal memoir, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Natasha Trethewey pens her mother’s history in the deeply segregated South all the way to her unfortunate murder by her former stepfather in 1985.
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4.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
Why you’ll love it: Set in Belfast, Ireland during The Troubles of 1972, 38-year-old mother Jean McConville was taken from her home by masked intruders and never seen again. Her 10 children were left behind. But in 2003, human bones were discovered on a beach. In this captivating true story, Keefe explores the conflict in Northern Ireland and the McConville case.
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5.
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow
Why you’ll love it: Ronan Farrow explores the corruption of insider Hollywood and the misuse of power by Harvey Weinstein as a predator in the industry. This deep dive into cover-ups, abuse of power, and silencing of victims tells the story of women behind the movement and what they did to expose the truth.
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6.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Why you’ll love it: Grann writes about the shocking series of murders of the Osage Nation Native American tribe in Oklahoma after oil was discovered beneath their land. Those who took an interest in investigating the murders were also killed, which led to the involvement of the FBI. What they uncovered was one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
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7.
The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
Why you’ll love it: In this true crime audiobook, Ann Rule shares a captivating firsthand account of her relationship with Ted Bundy and the parts of his life he shared with her. This chilling account reveals a deeper look into one of the most notorious American serial killers.
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8.
Furious Hours by Casey Cep
Why you’ll love it: Accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the ’70s, Reverend Willie Maxwell escaped justice — until a disgruntled relative killed him. Despite many witnesses, Maxwell’s murderer was acquitted. In this audiobook, Casey Cep dives deep into the shocking murders and courtroom drama.
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9.
Agent Sonya by Ben Macintyre
Why you’ll love it: This true-life spy story, set in 1942, follows a woman code-named “Sonya,” a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer who successfully evaded the Chinese, the Japanese, the Nazis, MI5, MI6, and the FBI. Macintyre recounts her life from personal diaries and research, revealing the story of a woman who influenced the course of the Cold War.
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10.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Why you’ll love it: It’s the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and during this time, Larson follows the chilling story of two men. One is Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works. The second, murderer Henry H. Holmes — a young doctor who built his “World’s Fair Hotel” west of the fairgrounds as a torture palace, which included a dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.
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11.
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
Why you’ll love it: In this true-life spy story, Oleg Gordievsky worked his way to becoming the Soviet Union’s top man in London while secretly working for MI6, exposing intelligence plots during the Cold War. The CIA became obsessed with uncovering the spy, but wasn’t able to do so until getting the help of another man: Aldrich Ames.
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12.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Why you’ll love it: True crime lovers should be familiar with Capote’s nonfiction novel, which was first published in 1966. The true story follows the brutal murder of the Clutter family, who were killed by a shotgun blast at close range. Capote, who’d traveled to Kansas at that time, reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers.
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13.
American Predator by Maureen Callahan
Why you’ll love it: This audiobook follows Israel Keyes, a man one prosecutor called “a force of pure evil.” Known for burying body-disposal tools all across the country, then using them to abduct and murder victims in broad daylight, journalist Maureen Callahan pieces together the FBI’s eventual capture of Keyes.
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14.
Mindhunter by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker
Why you’ll love it: This audiobook has also been adapted into a Netflix series by the same name. We follow John E. Douglas’s 25-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he reveals some of his most gruesome, fascinating, and challenging cases.
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15.
The Killer Across the Table by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker
Why you’ll love it: If the previous book wasn’t enough for you, The Killer Across the Table continues to follow John E. Douglas as he reveals the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing killers.
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16.
The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn
Why you’ll love it: Guinn deeply investigates the story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre, by speaking to people never previously interviewed and uncovering fresh information from Jonestown survivors.
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17.
Love Lies by Amanda Lamb
Why you’ll love it: Nancy Cooper, mother and wife to her husband Brad, was found strangled in a storm pond in 2008. Brad claimed Nancy went for a jog and never returned, but as the police investigation deepened, Brad was eventually brought to trial for the murder of his wife. This story follows the complex web of lies leading to Nancy’s cold-blooded murder.
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18.
The Book of Atlantis Black by Betsy Bonner
Why you’ll love it: In this audiobook that NPR called “gripping,” Grace Bonner details the mystery of her sister Atlantis, uncovering what happened in the final months before her disappearance, alleged overdose, and death.
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19.
The Golden Thread by Ravi Somaiya
Why you’ll love it: During the Cold War in 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld — head of the United Nations — boarded a Douglas DC6 propeller plane in Leopoldville, but hours later, he was found dead in an African jungle with an ace of spades playing card placed on his body. This is the true story behind what went wrong.
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20.
The Moscow Rules by Antonio J. Mendez and Jonna Mendez
Why you’ll love it: During the Cold War, Antonio and Jonna — two CIA operatives working to spy on Moscow in the late 1970s — prevailed during a time when intelligence work was nearly impossible using identity swaps, evasion techniques, and an armory of gadgets to evade the Soviets. This story follows how they managed to succeed.
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