Bill James' 6 favorite crime-solving books
The baseball writer has unlocked the game's secrets through detailed statistical analysis — now he surveys the best true-crime stories

Final Verdict by Adela Rogers St. Johns (out of print). Adela Rogers St. Johns’s father, Earl Rogers, was perhaps the most famous lawyer of his time. Put it this way: When Clarence Darrow was arrested and put on trial for bribery, he hired Earl Rogers to defend him. Adela was among the best-known writers of her era. This book is her memoir of growing up in her father’s law office—an absolutely astonishing true-life story, told by a skilled and talented author.
He Made it Safe to Murder by Howard K. Berry (out of print). Moman Pruiett, an Oklahoma lawyer from 1895 into the early 1940s, was a scoundrel who defended other scoundrels—brilliantly. Pruiett defended more than 300 accused murderers, got virtually all of them off, and observed very few ethical restraints while doing so. Howard Berry’s gawking, naïve account of Pruiett’s astonishing career feels all the more substantive because it’s unvarnished.
The Rose Man of Sing Sing by James McGrath Morris (Fordham, $18). A famous journalist murders his wife. Life eats Art for dinner.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Hall-Mills Murder Case by William M. Kunstler (Rutgers, $22). A New Jersey minister and a woman in his choir were murdered together in September 1922, and nobody has ever been able to figure out who shot them. The late defense attorney William Kunstler thought it was the Ku Klux Klan, but then, if the Easter Bunny didn’t show up with the eggs, Kunstler would think that the Ku Klux Klan had got him, too.
Last Rampage by James W. Clarke (Univ. of Arizona, $18). This book has stayed in print for decades because hiding underneath its crass, blood-splattered original cover is a harrowing and powerful tale.
The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius (Penguin, $15). If you like reading about really fouled-up people who do despicable things with great frequency and on a grand scale, the Roman emperors are hard to beat. The other Roman historians liked to write about battles and speeches. Suetonius liked to write about whom the emperors tortured and murdered and whom they had sex with—often, they turn out to be the same people.
—Baseball writer Bill James is the founding father of sabermetrics, the effort to unlock the game’s secrets through detailed statistical analysis. The best-selling author’s latest book, Popular Crime, is a survey of great true-crime
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
Susan Page's 6 favorite books about historical figures who stood up to authority
Feature The USA Today's Washington bureau chief recommends works by Catherine Clinton, Alexei Navalny, and more
By The Week US
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more
By The Week US
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
By The Week US
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
By The Week US
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US