The Best True Crime Audiobooks for Sleuths Who Want to Feel Like They're Actually There

One of the staples in the true crime genre, Ann Rule ended up becoming part of the story she was working on. As she was investigating a series of brutal murders, she had no idea that the killer would end up being one of her closest friends.

Rule continued contact with Bundy throughout the entire investigation creating an unforgettable narrative, told from a unique perspective, that reminds us how sometimes, the people we think we know can be total strangers. 

For over a decade, the state of California was held in a state of suspense as a sexual predator terrorized dozens of victims. And then as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished. The crimes stopped; the leads dried up.

Thirty years later, Michelle McNamara became determined to find him. Thanks to her dogged investigation, she helped finally bring this violent criminal to justice—a resolution the author would never see.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is a masterpiece every true crime fan should listen to. 

The World’s Far in Chicago in 1893 was a spectacle filled with wonder and magic. Built by architect Daniel Hudson Burnham, he overcame enormous obstacles and tragedies in his life to transform Jackson Park into White City.

But within the majesty of Burnham’s effort, another man built something different. A hotel of pain and sadism, where the allure of White City brought victims to its doorstep.

An engrossing narrative that transports listeners to another time, when an architect and a killer became obsessed with a fair. 

Charles Manson has fascinated the public for decades. And no one is more familiar with how baffling and horrifying his case was than Vincent Bugliosi.

Bugliosi was the prosecuting attorney in the Manson case, giving us a rare insight into a complex crime by a truly evil man that still haunts us today. 

The first and most famous in the true crime genre, no must-listen list would be complete with Truman Capote’s poignant work. On November 15, 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas was shaken when a family of four was savagely murdered in their home. 

There were few clues and no apparent motives. Capote reconstructs the murders, investigation, and trial, spending time with the killers to paint a portrait of the killers with surprising empathy and insight. 

John E. Douglas spent twenty-five years creating psychological profiles for America’s most notorious criminals and serial killers. His work has helped capture criminals all over the country thanks to hours of interviews, confrontations, and studies of brutal killers and offenders.

Davidson’s steady voice takes listeners through some of the most horrifying, captivating, and thought-provoking cases over the course of Douglas’ career. 

Jaycee Dugard was a normal kid. She went to school, had friends, spent time with her family. And then one day, her life was stolen.

She was abducted, forced to spend the next eighteen years used and abused, unable to even speak her own name. Jaycee was forced to be a sister, forced to become a mother, forced to live a life that wasn’t hers.

Until she fought her way to freedom. In her own words, using her own voice, Jaycee reclaims her name and tells her story.

It's haunting, intimate, and absolutely unforgettable. 

Most serial killers come with a certain notoriety. Their crimes are splashed across headlines, capturing the terror of the country. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes.

A quiet construction worker devoted to raising his only daughter in Alaska. The FBI consider his behavior unprecedented, the prosecutor named him a “force of pure evil”.

This chilling narrative highlights a methodical, calculated serial killer—and how he escaped justice for over a decade. 

We’re just going to say what we’re all thinking—the book is always better. Yes, the star-studded drama from Martin Scorcese is a compelling film, but there’s a lot they left out.

While the book does cover the murders, the narrative is a taut mystery focusing on how the newly formed FBI investigated the case at the lead of former Texas Ranger Tom White.

If you loved the movie, this gripping novel covers the extraordinary other side, where law enforcement worked to find justice buried in shocking greed. 

A 2021 Audie Award Nominee for Best Nonfiction, If You Tell takes you into the harrowing childhood three sisters endured at the mercy of their sadistic mother.

Peakes narrates the horrors of torture, abuse, and murder with a heart-wrenching empathy as the sisters found strength in each other that eventually led to their courageous escape. 

For fifteen years, Billy Jensen wrote about unsolved murders. But when his good friend, Michelle McNamara suddenly died and he helped finish her groundbreaking book, he was no longer satisfied with unresolved endings.

In this captivating listen, Billy goes past where the police stopped investigating and shows you how regular, everyday citizens can be key to solving a murder.