Wanted: Site or mag that reviews True Crime books.

February 5, 2024 11:24 PM

US or UK is fine. Does anyone know of a site, newsletter or mag that regularly does this? Thank you.
posted by Paul Slade to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

"Best Evidence" does this! It reviews true crime in text, video, and audio.

It used to be at: https://blotterpresents.substack.com/

But they just left substack, and are now at: https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/true-crime/

And the Best Evidence newsletter can now be subscribed to here: https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/true-crime/newsletter-best-evidence/
posted by theatro at 4:10 AM on February 6 [1 favorite]

Thanks for both the question and the answer! I’ve also been looking for such a thing. It’s strange that this is apparently the only site that specializes in TC, given how popular it’s become.
posted by Bourbonesque at 7:35 AM on February 6

In retrospect, BE seems to focus on TV, so still looking for a site that essentially does two things:

- calendar of upcoming books (not TV/podcasts) and most importantly,
- reviews TC books critically.

Sites like Crime Reads primarily focus on novels.

Note: “true crime” is often being applied to “true crime novels” these days. Amazon, at least, seems to favor “fact crime” or “nonfiction crime” to get to books discussing actual crimes.

I did find one of the editors of Best Evidence’s bookstore, which specialized in TC interesting to peruse:

https://exhibitbbooks.com/

Sorry to hijack Paul’s thread!
posted by Bourbonesque at 7:50 AM on February 6

CrimeReads doesn't exclusively focus on true crime, but they do have a subsection for it: https://crimereads.com/category/true-crime/
posted by elmay at 8:29 AM on February 6

Here’s one idea: look at the previous winners of the various crime writing awards. For example:


CWA Golden Dagger for Nonfiction.

Edgar Awards: Best Fact Crime, Best Critical/Biographical Work.
posted by Bourbonesque at 8:41 AM on February 6

Sarah Weinman's newsletter, The Crime Lady, deals with both fiction and true crime. She has written a few books on crime-- really groundbreaking work. Through her newsletter, you will find additional authors.
posted by BibiRose at 3:19 AM on February 7 [1 favorite]