I’ve been hooked on true crime podcasts ever since Serial burst onto the scene in 2014. My favourites are set in remote locations and breathe life into long-forgotten cases, giving victims’ families hopes of resolution and delivering justice. Initially dispassionate podcasters often find themselves sucked into the stories they cover, continuing for years in a bid to discover the truth. I’m fascinated by what motivates the men and women behind the microphones, which inspired me to write my own podcast novel. Now Unsolved is out there, I love reading other authors’ takes on true crime podcasters and these are five of my favourites – dark and sinister with buckets of atmosphere!
He won’t rest until he finds out the truth… Cal Lovett is obsessed with finding justice for the families of missing people. His true crime podcast is his way of helping others, even if he can’t help himself.
His sister, Margot, disappeared when he was a child. Only one man seems to know something. But he’s behind bars and can’t be trusted.
So when the family of a missing Scottish woman begs for his help, he heads to Aberdeenshire in search of the truth.
Does Cal have what it takes to unearth the secrets hiding in the hills? And what if he finds something that leads him back to the heart of his own family’s past?
When I had the idea for my book, I had originally wondered about writing full podcast episodes but abandoned that idea as it was so tricky. In Six Stories Matt Wesolowski does exactly that and very successfully.
In the book, elusive podcaster Scott King investigates the murder of a teenager at a deserted outward-bound centre on Scarclaw Fell. As the reader you’re put in the shoes of listeners as King digs deeper into the horrifying setting and the group of people who were staying at the centre and live nearby.
This is the first in the series of six atmospheric novels. They’re chilling, unpredictable, and will keep you up at night. Matt’s writing skills blow me away.
Elusive online journalist Scott King investigates the murder of a teenager at an outward bound centre, in the first episode of the critically acclaimed, international bestselling Six Stories series...
For fans of Serial
'Bold, clever and genuinely chilling' Sunday Mirror
'Haunting, horrifying, and heartrending. Fans of Arthur Machen, whose unsettling tale The White People provides an epigraph, will want to check this one out' Publishers Weekly
'Wonderfully horrifying ... the suspense crackles' James Oswald
'A complex and subtle mystery, unfolding like dark origami to reveal the black heart inside' Michael Marshall Smith
One of the things that appeals to me about true crime podcasts is the idea that people who have harboured secrets for decades can be ready to set them free.
In Beneath Devil’s Bridge, young true crime podcaster Trinity Scott wants to make a name for herself and interviewing the killer locked up for the shocking murder of a local teenager is her way to do that. Despite having confessed to the crime, he now claims he wasn’t the killer after all.
The revelations aired in the podcast episodes force ex-police officer Rachel Walczak to question everything she thought she knew. Beautifully written, the characters in this book got right under my skin and the small-town backdrop is the perfect setting.
A true crime podcast yields new revelations about a shocking murder in a riveting novel of suspense by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White.
True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial may get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley. More than two decades ago, the respected family man and guidance counselor confessed to the brutal murder of teenage student Leena Rai. But why he killed her has always been a mystery.
In a series of exclusive interviews from prison, Clayton discloses to Trinity the truth about what happened…
This book broke my heart. Runaway Sadie Smith is on a mission to avenge her murdered sister Mattie. West McCray is the podcaster on the trail of the missing teenager, desperate to find her before it’s too late.
Interspersing podcast episodes with Sadie’s perspective, the story is dark and the events horrifying. There’s something about Sadie that creeps inside you and stays with you long after the final page. Utterly captivating and brutal, it’s the kind of book that makes me want to be a better writer. It also made me cry!
Technically YA but I’m not sure my young teenager would cope with this yet so I’m keeping it…
A missing girl on a journey of revenge and a Serial - like podcast following the clues she's left behind.
Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.
But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.
Having grown up in rural Aberdeenshire, surrounded by wide open spaces, I’m a sucker for a remote setting and the Lincolnshire landscape forms a formidable backdrop in Black Valley Farm.
Add in some strong women, a sinister community living in isolation, and a podcaster who’s not been entirely truthful and I was hooked.
A decade ago, the bodies of nine people were discovered at Black Valley Farm. The only suspect vanished without a trace. But then a true crime podcast brings new attention to the old mystery. With politics weaved into the storyline, this tale feels fresh and relevant – it twists and turns very satisfyingly.
The complex female characters and relationships are particularly engrossing. I was lucky to get a proof copy of this and tore through it.
This is Stacy’s second novel and, after reading both, I’m now a confirmed fan and will be buying all her books.
She delivers the most incredible prose that sucks you into America’s humid marshy south, with shifting memories and a dark past rearing up through the swamps. The mother of a missing baby is desperately trying to keep her son’s abduction investigation alive.
A year on from his disappearance, everyone around Isabelle is giving up, she is unable to sleep and her life is falling apart. Then she teams up with podcaster Waylon and together they attempt to piece together the truth.
I particularly loved the flashbacks to Isabelle’s childhood and the impact of her sleep deprivation on the present.
The gripping new atmospheric thriller from the author of the instant New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark
From the author of New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, comes an atmospheric new thriller about one woman's search for the truth
'I devoured this in two evenings and i'm adding Stacy as a go-to author... Thriller fans will adore this read.' Prima
'Pacy and sinister, ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS has a palpable tension that keeps the pages turning.' Sunday Times and internationally bestselling author, Karin Slaughter
'Brilliant! ... I had to finish this marvelous thriller in…
I have been writing all my life, but was never able to find my voice until I had my daughters. It was for them I wrote “Wrightsville Beach”. I wanted to show them what a good relationship should look like and how their decisions make a difference in where they will go. I want my readers to relive that feeling of falling in love and to be sent in unexpected directions, as life so often does to us. I want you to enjoy it so much, you don’t want to put the book down until it’s finished and once you do, to sit and reflect on it, savoring the feeling it has left behind.
Two years ago, devastated by the sudden death of his older brother, Hank Atwater went on a drinking rampage that ended in his being arrested. Since then, he has been working to rebuild his reputation in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, with little luck. But everything changes after a chance meeting with Jess Wade, a UNCW student studying to be a marine biologist. Hank and Jess feel connected to each other in a way neither has ever felt before.
But when Hank’s past leads to a frightful incident, it ends their relationship. Jess leaves to work on the beach with sea turtles, thinking about what really happened that summer with Hank, while Hank sets out to find his own path in hopes of one day winning her back.
Two years ago, Hank Atwater made a terrible mistake. Devastated by the sudden death of his older brother, Rob, he went on a drinking rampage that ended in his being arrested for aggravated assault. Sober since then, he has been working to rebuild his reputation in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, with little luck.
Working a dead-end delivery job, Hank uses surfing and running to deal with being ostracized as he waits for his probation to end. But everything changes after a chance meeting with Jess Wade, a UNCW student studying to be a marine biologist. Hank and Jess…
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