Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more

When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.
Kate Summerscale is the best-selling author of "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" and several other acclaimed works of British true crime. Her latest work is "The Book of Phobias and Manias," to be followed in early 2025 by "The Peepshow: The Murders at Rillington Place."
'Life After Life' by Tony Parker (1990)
Parker recorded interviews with 12 British men and women who had been convicted of murder, then transcribed and edited their words to create a series of extraordinary first-person narratives. Along with Truman Capote's (very different) In Cold Blood, this book opened my eyes to the possibilities of writing about crime. Buy it here.
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.
'This House of Grief' by Helen Garner (2014)
A wonderful account of the trial of an Australian man charged with the 2005 murder of his three young sons. Garner documents every twist in the proceedings — and her own feelings about the case. Buy it here.
'The Journalist and the Murderer' by Janet Malcolm (1989)
A brilliant, bracing examination of the relationship between Jeffrey MacDonald, a U.S. Army captain who was eventually convicted of having killed his wife and children in 1970, and his biographer Joe McGinniss, who claimed to believe in MacDonald's innocence but denounced him in print. Buy it here.
'The Adversary' by Emmanuel Carrère (2000)
The shocking story of Jean-Claude Romand, an apparently respectable French doctor who murdered his wife, his children, and his parents in 1993. Romand's whole life, it emerged, had been a weird and elaborate hoax. Buy it here.
'The Devil You Know' by Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne (2021)
A forensic psychiatrist reflects on some of the criminal offenders she has treated at Broadmoor, the storied psychiatric hospital west of London. Adshead offers fascinating suggestions about the meaning of their violence. Buy it here.
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
'A Thread of Violence' by Mark O'Connell (2023)
This is another book that interrogates the act of writing about crime. O'Connell tracked down and interviewed Irish socialite Malcolm Macarthur, who killed two strangers in Dublin in 1982. To write about Macarthur, he realized, was both to exalt and to exploit him. "Whether I liked it or not," he says, "I was implicated." Buy it here.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
-
'We should end this betrayal of man's best friend'
Instant Opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - March 31, 2025
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - improper ideology, robot replacements, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Local elections 2025: where are they and who is on course to win?
The Explainer Reform UK predicted to make large gains, with 23 councils and six mayoralties up for grabs
By The Week UK Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published
-
Adolescence and the toxic online world: what's the solution?
Talking Point The hit Netflix show is a window into the manosphere, red pills and incels
By The Week Staff Published
-
Snow White: Disney's 'earnest effort to meet an impossible brief'
Talking Point Live-action remake of Disney classic is not the disaster it could have been – but where's the personality?
By The Week UK Published
-
Don McCullin picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends The photojournalist shares works by Daniel Defoe, Lesley Blanch and Roland Philipps
By The Week UK Published
-
6 breathtaking homes in capital cities
Feature Featuring a glass conservatory in Atlanta and a loft library in Boston
By The Week US Published
-
Playhouse Creatures: 'dream-like' play is 'lively, funny and sharp-witted'
Anna Chancellor offers a 'glinting performance' alongside a 'strong' supporting cast
By The Week UK Published
-
The CIA Book Club: 'entertaining and vivid' book explores a huge Cold War secret
The Week Recommends 'Gripping' narrative explores a covert smuggling operation across the Iron Curtain
By The Week UK Published