From Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil to The Devil in the White City, books that deftly combine the story of a real life crime with an in-depth look at a notable time and place make for great nonfiction reading. I recently read and enjoyed Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China by Paul French, and I’ve heard great things from coworkers about both The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann and City of Scoundrels: The Twelve Days of Disaster that Gave Birth to Modern Chicago by Gary Krist.
If this is your area, Reader Services has a great list of titles for you! Avid readers of general true crime will also want to check out the new book we have on order, Psycho USA: Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of by Harold Schechter.
By the way, if you enjoy this list you should also consider attending the next book discussion offered by the St. Charles Heritage Center. On September 4 they will be discussing Murder City: The Bloody History of Chicago in the Twenties by Michael Lesy.
