The most recommended criminal books

Who picked these books? Meet our 95 experts.

95 authors created a book list connected to criminals, and here are their favorite criminal books.
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Book cover of The Whisky King: The Remarkable True Story of Canada's Most Infamous Bootlegger and the Undercover Mountie on His Trail

Dean Jobb Author Of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer

From my list on Canadian historical true crime.

Why am I passionate about this?

True crime stories offer a window into the past, transporting readers to another time and place. They reveal human behaviour at its worst and people striving to do the right thing. And the narrative is always dramatic and compelling, with mysteries to be solved, suspects to be captured, justice to be done. My books profile a Jazz Age con artist, a Victorian Era serial killer, and a gentleman jewel thief of the 1920s. I write a column of true crime stories and book reviews for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and I teach in the MFA in Creative Nonfiction program at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dean's book list on Canadian historical true crime

Dean Jobb Why did Dean love this book?

Rocco Perri, Canada’s most notorious gangster of the Jazz Age, built an Ontario-based bootlegging and vice empire with his wife, Bessie. Cole, an award-winning novelist, tells the story of this Al Capone wannabe who grabbed headlines, eliminated rivals, and evaded the law for years as he smuggled booze into the Prohibition-parched United States. And to add a twist, the story of Perri’s rise to underworld power is told in tandem with the efforts of Frank Zaneth, an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, to bring the kingpin to justice.

By Trevor Cole,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Whisky King as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“True-crime writing at its finest.” —Dean Jobb, author of Empire of Deception

A rich and fascinating history of Canada’s first celebrity mobster, Rocco Perri—King of the Bootleggers—and the man who pursued him, Canada’s first undercover Mountie, for readers of Erik Larson, Dean Jobb and Charlotte Gray

At the dawn of the 20th century, two Italian men arrived in Canada amid waves of immigration. One, Rocco Perri, from southern Italy, rose from the life of a petty criminal on the streets of Toronto to running the most prominent bootlegging operation of the Prohibition era, taking over Hamilton and leading one of…


Book cover of The Lucky One

Deborah Halber Author Of The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Coldest Cases

From my list on cold cases involving unidentified victims.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’d always known about the Lady of the Dunes. I’d read about how she was found in the dunes of Provincetown, Massachusetts, on July 26, 1974. I didn’t know about the tens of thousands of other unidentified victims like her, stowed around the US in the back rooms of morgues and unmarked graves. As a journalist who has always given a voice to those who struggle to be heard, I feel compelled to research and write about these Jane and John Does and the people who work to keep their cases in the public eye. I share a unique bond with writers who do the same.

Deborah's book list on cold cases involving unidentified victims

Deborah Halber Why did Deborah love this book?

I am biased toward any writer who features amateur sleuths. Lori Rader-Day not only plunges readers into a compelling story with a delightfully twisty ending, she also pays tribute to the volunteers who slave away on real-life sites such as The Doe Network. When the protagonist comes across a picture of a missing person, she realizes it’s someone from her past and resolves, for complicated reasons, to track him down. 

By Lori Rader-Day,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lucky One as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"This might well be my favorite Rader-Day so far: a brilliant premise intriguingly developed, totally believable characters and a climax that took my breath away." - Ann Cleeves, New York Times bestselling author of The Shetland and Vera Series

From the author of the Edgar Award (R)-nominated Under A Dark Sky comes an unforgettable, chilling novel about a young woman who recognizes the man who kidnapped her as a child, setting off a search for justice, and into danger.

Most people who go missing are never found. But Alice was the lucky one...

As a child, Alice was stolen from…


Book cover of East End Underworld: Chapters in the Life of Arthur Harding

Fiona Rule Author Of The Worst Street in London

From my list on Victorian London.

Why am I passionate about this?

Fiona Rule is a writer, researcher, and historian specialising in the history of London. ​ She is the author of five books: The Worst Street In London, London's Docklands, London's Labyrinth, Streets Of Sin, and The Oldest House In London. ​ A regular contributor to television and radio programmes, Fiona also has her own company, House Histories, which specialises in researching the history of people's homes. She holds an Advanced Diploma in Local History from the University of Oxford.

Fiona's book list on Victorian London

Fiona Rule Why did Fiona love this book?

In a series of interviews, Arthur Harding tells us of his life as an East End rogue at the turn of the century. The characters he encountered are a “Who’s Who” of the underworld at that time and his descriptions of Spitalfields were very useful to me during research for The Worst Street In London.

By Raphael Samuel (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked East End Underworld as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

First published in 1981, this book examines the life of Arthur Harding, a well-known figure in the East End underworld during the first half of the twentieth century. The first five chapters survey his life in the 'Jago' slum between 1887 and 1896, offering a different view of an often vilified district. The subsequent phases of his life as a cabinet-maker, street trader and wardrobe dealer reflect the changing fortunes of the East End from hand-to-mouth conditions in the late-nineteenth century to comparative security in the 1930s.

The reader is introduced to some of the major features of East End…


Book cover of The Lock Artist

Polly Iyer Author Of Murder Deja Vu

From my list on characters who overcome adversity.

Why am I passionate about this?

One review of my books mentioned that I make heroes out of damaged people, so it’s natural I would read that kind of book. I love to see lost souls, losers, battlers for justice, and the underdogs rise above all the elements that hold them down. I think most people root for the underdogs, whether in life, in sports, or the weaker in any competition. It’s in our nature to do so. I’m a wife, mother, writer, former commercial artist, former store owner, former importer, which makes me ripe to be something new. But I think I’m done. I’ve shot my wad, done my best at whatever, and it’s always been fun.

Polly's book list on characters who overcome adversity

Polly Iyer Why did Polly love this book?

Traumatized at the age of eight, causing him to be mute for ten years, Michael has a talent. He can pick any lock, no matter how complicated, and that includes safes. You can see where I’m going with this, right? It doesn’t take long to find out where that questionable talent leads him, because he’s just been released from a ten-year stint in prison. Michael is a heartbreaking character who is unwittingly led down the wrong path. The author unfolds the story through Michael’s narrative, slipping back and forth in time to explain how he got where he is, culminating in the tragic moment that sent Michael into his world of silence. The story is original and creative in character delineation and suspense.

By Steve Hamilton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lock Artist as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Steve Hamilton steps away from his Edgar Award-winning Alex McKnight series to introduce a unique new character, unlike anyone you've ever seen in the world of crime fiction.

"I was the Miracle Boy, once upon a time. Later on, the Milford Mute. The Golden Boy. The Young Ghost. The Kid. The Boxman. The Lock Artist. That was all me.

But you can call me Mike."

Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do…


Book cover of The Light of Day

Paul Meachair Author Of The Sword of Calais: The Executioner of Anne Boleyn

From Paul's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Paul's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Paul Meachair Why did Paul love this book?

This book was a joy to get myself lost in. I get to feel sorry for small-time hustler Arthur Simpson as he gets into further mishaps from being blackmailed into smuggling by international villains.

It is a humourous thriller about a jewel heist from a great author and was turned into the equally excellent 1964 film Topkapi starring Peter Ustinov.

By Eric Ambler,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Light of Day as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Arthur Abdel Simpson is a failed journalist and soon-to-be failed thief, embittered by memories of his unhappy childhood in England and eking out a living in Athens. When he spots a newly arrived tourist at the airport, he offers his services as a private driver and sees an easy chance to make some money by illicit means. But the out-matched Simpson soon finds himself embroiled in blackmail and driving a highly suspicious car to Istanbul. When he is stopped by the Turkish police, it seems his luck can't get any worse - but this is just the beginning . .…


Book cover of Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women

Colum Kenny Author Of An Irish-American Odyssey: The Remarkable Rise of the O'Shaughnessy Brothers

From my list on learn about Irish America.

Why am I passionate about this?

Aged twelve, I stood just a few feet from President John F. Kennedy as he passed slowly by in June 1963. Waving and smiling from an open-top car, he was going to meet Ireland’s president in Dublin. His visit was a triumph for Irish-America. I have long enjoyed the variety of Irish-America. As an Irish student, I was one of the first foreigners to benefit from the J-1 visa program. I went to New Hampshire for the summers of 1970 and ’72 to work in an old resort hotel. On a visit to Boston then, I met a distant relative who, for decades, had worked as a domestic servant there. 

Colum's book list on learn about Irish America

Colum Kenny Why did Colum love this book?

I like this book because it remembers forgotten women. I recall visiting in the early 1970s an old and distant relative of mine in Boston who had worked in domestic service most of her life and who early on encountered signs stating “No Irish, No Negroes Need Apply”.

I think that for too long, the fate of domestic servants and other impoverished young women immigrants who became Irish Americans has been neglected. This racy account of how the American dream ended badly for too many Irish women forced to leave their homes for the USA goes some way for me to make up for that. 

By Elaine Farrell, Leanne McCormick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bad Bridget as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Number 1 Bestseller

'A captivating account of lives previously ignored' Sunday Independent

'An important, impeccably researched though eminently readable book that charts new territory' Irish Examiner

* * *

Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was not a good place to be a woman. Among the wave of emigrants from Ireland to North America were many, many young women who travelled on their own, hoping for a better life. Some lived lives of quiet industry and piety. Others quickly found themselves in trouble - bad trouble, and on an astonishing scale.

Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick, creators…


Book cover of The Man with the Golden Arm

Matthew Stokoe Author Of Colony of Whores

From my list on gritty American novels.

Why am I passionate about this?

Matthew Stokoe has been translated and published around the world, his books have set new boundaries in urban horror and gritty, pull-no-punches noir. After Cows, Stokoe turned his sights on Hollywood, producing the now-famous High Life – both a page-turning mystery and one of the most brutal critiques of Tinsel Town ever committed to fiction. Stokoe has continued to explore his uniquely dark view of lives lived in the modern world, and in 2014 was nominated for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière – France’s most prestigious crime writing award – for his novel, Empty Mile. Colony of Whores, is his latest novel.

Matthew's book list on gritty American novels

Matthew Stokoe Why did Matthew love this book?

Algren has been called a proletarian writer. Working primarily in Chicago from the 1930s to the 1950s, he was intensely concerned with the plight of the common man. His milieux were the gambling dens, the sawdust bars, the decaying hooker-prowled streets, the beat-down police stations, the shooting galleries, the slums, the cheap walk-up flats where broken men and women fought each other in desperate battles to survive one more miserable day. His characters were the poor, the ignorant, the addicted, tramps, bums, card sharps, petty crims, accidental murderers... But in all of them he found something human, something that might have been good, might have been worthy of a decent life – if only it had been given half a chance.

By Nelson Algren,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Man with the Golden Arm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Man with the Golden Arm tells the story of Frankie Machine, the golden arm dealer at a back street Chicago gambling den. Frankie reckons he's a tough guy in the Chicago underworld but finds that he's not tough enough to kick his heroin addiction. With consummate skill and a finely-tuned ear for the authentic dialogue of the backstreets, Algren lays bare the tragedy and humour of Frankie's world.

Features the first UK publication of a foreword by Kurt Vonnegut and an afterword by Studs Terkel.


Book cover of The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition's Evil Genius

Robert McParland Author Of The Last Alchemist

From my list on books where history meets mystery.

Why am I passionate about this?

I once had a history advisor in school whom I informed that I was studying history so I could write fiction better. I saw him cringe a bit at that. Even so, I think that history and fiction–and the mystery–go together well. I am always drawn by mystery dramas–and by the drama of real lives facing and unraveling their way through real events. Of course, that led to graduate studies in cultural and intellectual history, to many years of teaching literature, and to passionate reading of mystery novels. Sparkling fiction and strong narrative history, for me, continue to stimulate a sense of wonder at human experience and this incredible universe we live in.    

Robert's book list on books where history meets mystery

Robert McParland Why did Robert love this book?

History comes alive in this mysterious story of a prohibition finagler and his underground operation.

I enjoyed how Bob Batchelor gives us the dirt on this smuggler of the prohibition years: his business, his secrets, his cronies, and his enemies. This is a stunningly sharp narrative that reads like a novel. 

By Bob Batchelor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bourbon King as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

Dames Handsome Author Of Fairy Knights: The Beginning

From my list on elementary students who love games.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a gamer all of my life and am a teacher of elementary school students. After finding the LitRPG genre I wished to share this with other kids... like the one I had once been. Most parents in the genre push full 200k books on their children with an expectation of found love. While I imagine it works for a few of them, I rather expect that the majority of those attempts end in failure. Kids have their own world and their own sense of humor. I write to them, to inspire them and make them laugh, to make them entertained even as I teach them universal morals and lessons about the world.


Dames' book list on elementary students who love games

Dames Handsome Why did Dames love this book?

I bought the book out of curiosity not even knowing it was for kids. And once I realized what it was, I read it to my son. He loved it. Let me describe it in the style it is written:

High-energy text right from the beginning. Honestly the inspiration for my own series and its style of writing. The protagonist has special powers that are ranked in a game-like manner using levels. It appeals to the gamer youth of today, relating to the games that they play even now despite having been written thirty years ago. A solid A plus production.

By James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Dangerous Days of Daniel X as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Fifteen-year-old alien hunter Daniel X is on a mission to finish the job that killed his parents - to wipe out the world's most bloodthirsty aliens on The List. At the number-one spot, The Prayer is Daniel's ultimate target. With mind-blowing skills like telepathy and the ability to transform and create, Daniel's got more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Along with his friends Willy, Joe-Joe, Emma and Dana, Daniel hunts down the aliens on The List one by one. But as he battles towards his top target he can't forget one thing: he's got a host of aliens…


Book cover of Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family

Craig McGuire Author Of Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys: Surviving Brooklyn's Colombo Mob

From my list on diving deep into the dark side of Brooklyn.

Why am I passionate about this?

It’s no wonder South Brooklyn, in the latter half of the last century, is the setting for so many remarkable dramas for both page and screen. In fact, when legendary former NYPD Detective Thomas Dades offered to make introductions to a Colombo Crime Family associate who cooperated with the federal government, I leapt at the opportunity. I was born in Greenpoint in 1971 and grew up on 16th Avenue in the heart of Bensonhurst. It’s not just South Brooklyn’s raw, urban chaotic physical setting, but the sheer volatility of this period in time, where so many transformational trends of the larger culture were evident, and some even epi-centered.

Craig's book list on diving deep into the dark side of Brooklyn

Craig McGuire Why did Craig love this book?

In adapting Nicholas Pileggi’s 1985 non-fiction Wiseguy for film, Martin Scorsese delivered a “staged documentary,” depicting a far more gritty and authentic account of organized crime than Mario Puzo’s Godfather trilogy.

Much of what makes Pileggi’s masterpiece work is how he captures South Brooklyn culture as it morphs from the 1950s through the 1980s. Pileggi’s tale of the tarnishing of the Golden Era of Italian American organized crime is recounted from the pedestrian perspective of un-makeable underling and ultimate-turncoat Henry Hill.

That bygone Brooklyn landscape leaps off the pages, from its gambling dens and gangster bars, to its corner cafes, criminal courts, and cab stands. BONUS: Pileggi’s no-nonsense non-fiction prose, peppered with Hill’s verbatim account, delivers even more days-in-the-lives of lowlifes than Scorsese could ever have packed into his classic film. 

Locations of interest: The Prospect Park Zoo (stand-in for The Tampa Zoo); Smith Street in Red Hook (Jimmy Conway’s…

By Nicholas Pileggi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Wiseguy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A longtime member of organized crime recounts his criminal career, his involvement in the six-million dollar Lufthansa robbery, and his decision to become a federal witness


Book cover of The Whisky King: The Remarkable True Story of Canada's Most Infamous Bootlegger and the Undercover Mountie on His Trail
Book cover of The Lucky One
Book cover of East End Underworld: Chapters in the Life of Arthur Harding

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