Some of the Best New True Crime Books
Article excerpt
Book Riot surveys the standout true crime releases of 2026, featuring a prominent crime novelist's memoir alongside a sociologist's examination of systemic injustice and a deep dive into an infamous 1980s subway shooting. The selection reflects the genre's current preoccupations: personal narrative from within the crime world, structural critiques of criminal justice, and historical true crime storytelling. The article spotlights works that blend investigative rigor with literary ambition, catering to readers seeking both entertainment and insight into how crime intersects with society.
Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling is one of the year’s best books, and it has been nice seeing the attention it has gotten, from Stephen Colbert selecting it for his book club to Traci Thomas chatting with him on The Stacks podcast.
But most books don’t get a spotlight, so I thought I’d put a few more recent true crime books on your radar. There’s a very popular crime novelist’s memoir, a sociologist’s look at the injustice system, and a Pulitzer-winning author who uses a New York subway shooting in the ‘80s to explore the decades’ politics and how the negative effects are tied to today.
No Human Involved: The Serial Murder of Black Women and Girls and the Deadly Cost of Police Indifference by Cheryl L. Neely
Read if…you want to learn about systematic injustice.
Sociologist Cheryl L. Neely takes a look at the systematic racism in our society, media, and policing, which treats the murders of Black women and girls differently. Police indifference has shown up in different ways, from rushing investigations and accusing innocent people to labeling murders as “N.H.I., which means “No Humans Involved,” and allows the blame to fall on the victims for drugs or sex work. Neely takes a deep dive into cases across the US, including in LA, Boston, Charlotte, NC, to highlight the lives of Black women and girls who were victims, and show the lack of care and police inaction, along with the communities fighting for justice.
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