True Crime Audiobooks | Mystery, Thriller & Horror

Carnage: A succulent Chinese meal, Mr Rent-a-Kill and the Australian Manson murders

Millions have been entertained by the viral video of a man being arrested after a 'succulent Chinese meal'. But when Mark Dapin investigated, it emerged that this man's story went to the heart of the Australian underworld. A true crime cult classic in the making. Whether you know it as the 'succulent Chinese meal' video, or 'democracy manifest', chances are you have seen the video of baritone larrikin Jack Karlson getting arrested outside a Brisbane Chinese restaurant in 1991. The Guardian called it 'perhaps the pre-eminent Australian meme of the last 10 years'. When Karlson called crime writer Mark Dapin out of the blue, though, Dapin hadn't heard of him. But there was enough that intrigued him about this theatrical outlaw to continue the conversation. Over the following months emerged a dark and complex past. It turned out that Karlson had been in the background of many notorious incidents in late-twentieth century Australian crime, from collaborating with infamous prison-playwright Jim McNeil to befriending hitman Christopher Dale Flannery (Mr Rent-a-Kill). But most shockingly of all, Karlson's life story led Dapin to shed new light on a number of unsolved murders, by two serial killers. The result is an extraordinary, deeply revealing portrait of Australian crime from the 60s to the 2010s - a portrait of carnage. 'Mark Dapin could never be accused of glorifying crime, but he is guilty as sin for understanding it. Inhabited by flawed humans, filled with violence, humour, tears and dreams, Carnage is a classic Australian crime story.' Gary Jubelin, author of I Catch Killers 'True crime at its grim and richly entertaining best, and - let's face it - its truest.' Robert Drewe, author of The Shark Net 'If ever there was a book crammed with colourful villains who are "mad, bad and dangerous to know," it's definitely Mark Dapin's extraordinary book, Carnage.' Kate McClymont, author of He Who Must Be Obeid 'Carnage is a window into Australian mayhem, killingly funny and beautifully told. Dapin finds pathos in a twisted world.' Matthew Spencer, author of Black River 'Carnage begins by probing what seems a minor curiosity - an internet meme centred on a colourful character - then takes a turn into the lives of traumatised youths hurled without care or thought into brutalising reformatories. From there they graduate to rorts, robberies, violence. Bleak lives interspersed with occasional forays into squaresville - spouses, kids, even jobs - and attempts at betterment via theatre and literature. A unique, deeply felt take on the Australian underworld.' Peter Doyle, author of Crooks Like Us 'The moment I start reading anything by Mark Dapin I'm captivated, intrigued and engaged for the entire journey. There is no finer writer documenting the history and characters of Australian criminality.' Stuart Coupe

Mark Dapin (Author), Henry Nixon (Narrator)

Audiobook

Arrested Adolescence: The Secret Life of Nathan Leopold

Nathan Leopold seemed to live a charmed life: a published, polyglot college graduate by the time he was nineteen and from a prominent, wealthy Chicago family. So, it was a shock to everyone when he and his lover, Richard Loeb, confessed to killing their fourteen-year-old neighbor Bobby Franks 'for a thrill.' During the summer of 1924 the world watched in fascinated horror as the pair were defended by the famous Clarence Darrow in what many labeled 'the trial of the century.' There was a massive public outcry when the murderers were spared the death penalty, and once they were behind bars, most hoped they would never be heard from again. Thirty-three years after the murder, it seemed that Nathan Leopold was a changed man. In prison he ran a high school and library, worked as a nurse, and helped find a cure for malaria. He was deemed rehabilitated and paroled to a tiny town in the mountains of Puerto Rico. There he got a degree in social work, raised funds to build a hospital, and advocated for the abolishment of prisons and capital punishment. When he died in 1971 there was an outpouring of support for the 'gentle' 'reformed' killer. Yet his life was not what it seemed.

Erik Rebain (Author), Daniel Henning (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob

Founded in 1924, the Music Corporation of America got its start booking acts into speakeasies run by such notorious Chicago mobsters as Al Capone. How then, in only a few decades, did MCA become the driving force behind music publishing, radio, recording artists, Hollywood, and the burgeoning television industry? Enter Ronald Reagan. By the late 1950s, Reagan was a passe movie actor. As president of the Screen Actors Guild, he was also MCA's key client. With Reagan's help, MCA would become the most powerful entertainment conglomerate in the world. And with MCA's help, Reagan would secure a fortune (resulting in a federal grand jury hearing), be marketed to the public as a viable politician, and ascend to the presidency of the United States. But according to reporter Dan E. Moldea, there had always been another catalyst behind MCA: Ties to organized crime that reached back to the company's inception-and through Reagan's Teamster-backed candidacy-had never been severed. From the author of The Hoffa Wars, this is an epic and serpentine investigation into the insidious links among Hollywood, the Mob, and politics. Contains mature themes.

Dan E. Moldea (Author), Lee Goettl (Narrator)

Audiobook

My Girl: The Babes in the Woods murders. A mother’s fight for justice.

Brought to you by Penguin. On Thursday 9th October, Michelle Hadaway's worst fears came true. After watching her daughter Karen playing in the neighbour's garden with her best friend Nicola, Michelle returned to cook dinner for her family. Unbeknownst to her, this would be the last time she would ever see Karen alive. In the following days and months, shocking details would come to light about the nature of Karen and Nicola's murders, and the case which had come to be known as 'the Babes in the Wood murders' would lead to one of the most infamous and cruellest miscarriages of justice in British history. For decades, Michelle fought tirelessly to bring justice to her daughter's murder, shining light on countless police failings and media manipulations in the process. Finally, in 2018 after 32 years of suffering, Russell Bishop, the man Michelle had long known to be guilty, was sentenced in court. This is the story of two stolen lives, of the long road to justice, but most of all the story of a mother's love and determination. ©2023 Michelle Hadaway (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Michelle Hadaway (Author), Kristin Atherton (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dead Body Calls: One Cop's Experiences With Homicides, Suicides, Fatal Accidents, and Natural Deaths

Bestselling author Loren W. Christensen served as a Military Policeman in Saigon, Vietnam, 'the most dangerous city in the world,' as it was called at the time. Shortly after returning home, he joined the Portland Police Bureau in Oregon, serving for twenty-five years. As a street cop, there were times he was dispatched to dead body calls so frequently that other officers teasingly called him the 'Death Car.' It didn't help that the morgue was in his beat, which meant he and his partner were often called to identify freshly brought in corpses without identification. Dead Body Calls tells of some of his experiences with the victims of suicide, homicide, fatal accidents, and natural deaths that crossed his path. Loren shows the effects of the deaths on family and friends at the scenes and the eventual toll on him and other officers.

Loren W. Christensen (Author), Peter Berkrot (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Die Ermittler – Wahre Verbrechen, echte Polizeiarbeit: True Crime

Es ist ein grausamer Anblick. Kinder finden im Wald die verbrannten Reste einer Frauenleiche. Morde wie dieser sorgen für Schlagzeilen und sind Vorlage für zahllose Krimis, in denen Fälle in kürzester Zeit gelöst werden. Doch die Realität sieht anders aus.Der dänische Kriminalexperte Bent Isager-Nielsen, bekannt durch das ZDF-Doku-Format 'Ermittler!', gibt anhand dieses Mordes und weiterer Fälle Einblick in die faszinierende Arbeit der Polizei. Denn Mordermittlungen sind Teamarbeit. Zusammen mit dem Gerichtsmediziner Hans Petter Hougen und dem forensischen Anthropologen Niels Lynnerup zeigt er, wie es gelingen kann, selbst die kompliziertesten Fälle zu lösen. Facettenreich, realistisch und hochspannend. Ein Muss für jeden Fan von True Crime.-

Bent Isager-Nielsen, Hans Petter Hougen, Niels Lynnerup (Author), Sebastian Dunkelberg (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Red Ripper: Inside the Mind of Russia's Most Brutal Serial Killer

By the time he was brought to trial in 1992, Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo had killed more than fifty women and children, often sexually abusing them and leaving their bodies mutilated beyond recognition. Although he was initially arrested in 1984, the police lacked enough evidence to pin the unsolved murders on him and he was able to torture and kill dozens more before his eventual conviction. Compiling exclusive interviews and trial transcripts, journalist and editor at London's Sunday Times Peter Conradi reveals how the grandfather and former teacher carried out a horrific twelve-year killing spree. Based on extensive research into Chikatilo's past and the elements of Soviet society that allowed his crimes to go unsolved for so long, Conradi delves into the life of one of history's most prolific and disturbing serial killers. Interviews with Moscow police detectives detail the fervent hunt for the man who preyed on young children, prostitutes, and runaways. A chilling look into the deranged mind of a monster, The Red Ripper is a comprehensive and shocking true crime account of one of the twentieth century's deadliest killers. Contains mature themes.

Peter Conradi (Author), Michael Page (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Edge of Innocence: The Trial of Casper Bennett

Named 2018 Book of the Year by International Rubery Book Award The Edge of Innocence is a work of narrative nonfiction based on the 1964 murder trial of Casper Bennett, a man accused of drowning his wife in a bathtub of scalding water in Lorain, Ohio. Bennett's sensational trial pitted an aggressive, mercurial county prosecutor against the author's father, a civil trial attorney who had never before defended anyone for murder. The book not only recreates the tension and excitement of this courtroom battle but also highlights the uncertain edge that often divides guilt from innocence. The author was ten years old when he answered the phone late at night when Bennett called his father from jail, seeking his legal representation. Forty years later and long after his father's death, the author found the Bennett file in the bottom of his mother's closet. From the moment he began reading the papers, the long-forgotten drama cast a spell on him. As he uncovered more and more of the facts, the story he had known as a child disappeared, replaced by one far different. The Edge of Innocence takes the listener through the criminal justice system and ultimately to the trial, where the listener, like a juror, must sift through competing claims and conflicting evidence. Full of twists and turns and colorful characters, The Edge of Innocence is all the more entertaining because it tells a true story.

David Miraldi (Author), Steve Wannall (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dark Psychology: Secret Art of Reading People and Analyzing Human Psychology

Learning to understand ourselves, the dark and the light, the kind and the cruel, that exists within each one of us, has been a driving factor in psychological studies. This book will show you various aspects of dark psychology and teach you how to comprehend your own dark side. Learn how, and why, your conscience affects your moral decisions. Find out the truth when it comes to the facts and myths of self-sabotage. Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait which sees a person so focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals. This book will dive deeper into this topic along with related factors, such as how they control and manipulate others and the consequences that come with it. This book will shed some light on how to spot a manipulator and how to outwit one. Hear about various blackmail tactics and how to spot and avoid some of the most common scams on the internet. In this book you can also hear about some of history’s most psychopathic killers of all time, as well as tactics used by human traffickers. Buy this book and begin to hear about the darkness.

Valerie Glossner (Author), Jessica Mathison (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fugitive!: On the run with Britain’s most wanted

Ground-breaking audio original exploring the reality of life on the run. What is life on the run really like? Featuring never-before heard interviews, this ground-breaking audio original gets you closer to the reality than ever before. Join Nick Reynolds as he explores the reality of the life of a fugitive. Using his own experiences of growing up on the run with the Great Train Robbers in Central America, Nick talks with some infamous fugitives and their families as they share their extraordinary experiences. From the mental toll of staying constantly vigilant and the need for money, to caring for loved ones and the long shadows cast by their pasts, this audiobook is essential listening for true crime fans. Fleeing from the law, putting yourself beyond society, leaving friends and family behind, never feeling truly safe - it takes a certain sort of person to see life as a fugitive as preferable to facing justice. The life of a fugitive is often glamorised in films and media: it's anything but. It's tough and it leaves deep scars on everyone involved - but is it harder than prison time? Listen and make up your own mind.

Nick Reynolds (Author), Amber Marks, Chris Pickard, Duncan Campbell, Nick Reynolds, Paul Britton, Peter Bleksley, Tony Sales, Zahid Khan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Conspiracy - Legends: Murders, Lies and Cover-Ups

The greatest cover-ups and unsolved mysteries in the world of celebrity In Conspiracy: Legends, David Gardner delves into the world of celebrity to investigate legendary stories that continue to fascinate and intrigue to this day. If people famously remember where they were when JFK was assassinated, many also recall where they were and what they were doing when Elvis, Princess Diana and John Lennon died. As for Marilyn Monroe, the candle flickered out long ago, but only now can the truth be told about how and why she died. After combing through thousands of recently declassified FBI files, interviewing key witnesses, crime analysts and forensic experts during years of research, investigative writer David Gardner has unearthed new information that will transform the way we look at these iconic tragedies as well as include new insights on the conspiracy theories that surround the deaths of Bob Marley, Kurt Cobain and even the Queen. For the first time, Conspiracy: Legends provides many of the answers that have been so elusive for so long, while explaining what it was about these enduring legends that made them so memorable.

David Gardner (Author), Kris Dyer (Narrator)

Audiobook

That Peckham Boy: Growing up, Getting Out and Giving Back

Brought to you by Penguin. For fans of Poverty Safari and Skint Estate, That Peckham Boy is a real-life manifesto calling for positive change for those on the fringes of society. 'When you're writing the story of your life, make sure you're holding the pen. In this life you can be whoever you want to be.' Two days after his eighteenth birthday, Kenny Imafidon was charged with the murder of a seventeen-year-old boy in south-east London. The middle child of a single mother with ambitions for her children, Kenny grew up near an estate in Peckham where deprivation and hopelessness were rife, and gang culture flourished in his community. Kenny faced a minimum of thirty years behind bars - longer than the life he had lived. When the case against Kenny collapsed, he quickly realised that his name was still inextricably linked with a horrific crime he hadn't committed. He decided to rewrite his story. It began with The Kenny Report, which he delivered to the House of Commons and which detailed the experiences of marginalised young people who drift into gangs, and has led to extensive work with charities, communities and policy-makers that is helping to change the narratives of other young people just like Kenny. A candid and unfiltered take on some of the most challenging topics that define our times, That Peckham Boy is a personal manifesto exploring what it means to be young, Black and poor in the city. It is shaped by Kenny's difficult childhood, his transformative time in prison, and the people and conversations that took him from being on trial for murder into the company of some of the most successful people in the world. © Kenny Imafidon 2023 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

Kenny Imafidon (Author), Chuku Modu (Narrator)

Audiobook

True Crime Audiobooks in Mystery, Thriller & Horror