15 Edgar-Winning Mystery and True Crime Books

Detective Jack Caffery’s newest case seems like a routine carjacking until he realizes the sickening truth: the thief wasn’t after the car, but the 11-year-old girl in the backseat. The carjacker is always a step ahead of the Major Crime Investigation Unit, and as the chances for his victims grow slimmer, Jack races to fit the pieces together in time.

In this masterwork of reporting, Dave Cullen takes us back to the event that shocked the nation and arguably began the modern age of gun violence: the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, police files, and tapes, Cullen presents a close-up portrait of the killers, but also of the community and country that they forever changed. Sadly, this is still so relevant today.

During the 1967 Detroit riots, Celia Scott and her husband, Arthur, are forced to pack up their family and return to the small town where Arthur’s sister Eve mysteriously died 20 years ago. When a local girl disappears, the family is catapulted back into the secrets of the past that Arthur has hid from for so many years.

During the roaring twenties in Boston, Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent police captain, has long since turned his back on his proper upbringing. As he embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime, this spellbinding tour de force introduces Joe to a life of betrayal and redemption, music and murder.

In 1937, Peking was thick with tension. A heady mix of privilege and opulence—Japanese troops had occupied nearby Manchuria and were encircling the ancient city walls, One night, the mutilated body of Pamela Werner, the daughter of a former British consul to China, is discovered, and even as the Japanese tighten their noose around the city, her murder transfixes Peking. Based on seven years of research, historian and China expert Paul French at last uncovers the truth behind this notorious murder and offers a rare glimpse of the last days of colonial China.

When tragedy unexpectedly comes to call on his family, thirteen-year-old Frank Drum finds himself thrust into a world of secrets, adultery, and betrayal. Set in 1961, Ordinary Grace is the story of what a shocking murder does to a boy standing at the door of adulthood and the fabric of a small Minnesota town.

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In this incredible first novel in the RED SPARROW trilogy set against the backdrop of modern-day Russia, Dominika Egorova is drafted to become a “Sparrow” for the Russian state intelligence. Her complex journey has all the makings of the perfect espionage tale: Moles, double lives, betrayals, and yes... even love. The only pairing that makes any sense with this book should be shaken—not stirred.

Retired cop Bill Hodges feels depressed and purposeless, still haunted by the one that got away—a sadistic killer who drove a Mercedes into the crowd at a job fair. But when he receives a taunting letter from someone claiming to be the Mercedes killer, Hodges will have to come out of retirement to prevent another massacre.

When an elderly recluse discovers a corpse on his land, Officer Henry Farrell is drawn into a murder investigation that might tear his sleepy community apart. This chilling and evocative mystery uncovers a haunting section of rural Pennsylvania, where gas drilling is bringing new wealth and eroding neighborly trust.

In the roaring twenties, the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, became a legendary unsolved crime. Mann unpacks the story of Taylor and the diverse cast that surrounded him—including three ambitious actresses; a grasping stage mother; a devoted valet; and a gang of two-bit thugs—any of whom might have fired the fatal bullet.

A year after 14-year-old Johnny’s twin sister vanished, no one believes his insistence that she is still alive. Johnny vows that he will risk everything to explore the dark side of his hometown and find her. Aided by his last friend, Johnny plunges into the wild, to a forgotten place with a history of violence that goes back more than 100 years.

The first novel written under Rendell’s nom de plume, Barbara Vine. When Faith Severn’s aunt was hanged for murder, the reason behind her dark deed died with her. For thirty years, the family hid the truth—until a journalist prompts Faith to look back to the day when her aunt entered a child’s nursery with a knife.

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move into an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary's reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband takes a special shine to them. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets' circle is not what it seems...

Philip Marlowe befriends down-on-his-luck war veteran Terry Lennox and discovers that Lennox has a very wealthy nymphomaniac wife, whom he divorced and remarried and who ends up dead. And now Terry Lennox is on the lam and the cops and a crazy gangster are after Philip Marlowe.