Books like The Trial of Lizzie Borden — picked by fans

It is a book that deep dives into a historical event, in this case, the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Check. It is a nonfiction book that reads like a gripping thriller, in this case, the serial killer H.H. Holmes, who built a three-story building featuring secret rooms, torture chambers, and a crematorium. Check. Chicago leaps off the page. By the end of the book, I was able to envision the massive exposition, its hundreds of temporary buildings, all white colored, interlaced with ponds and canals.

Much like that exposition helped raise Chicago up from its Great Fire, so I could see a Chicago of the past, in a glorious triumph of industry and innovation. Oh, and yeah, a serial killer constructing a horrific murder building.

Stagolee, the bad man who will not back down, is an icon of African American mythology. His defining moment, the Christmas night murder of Billy Lyons is the subject of folk and blues songs from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day. Though many know the story, before Cecil Brown’s book, most did not realize that the story was true. On Christmas night, 1895, in St. Louis, “Stack” Lee Shelton shot Billy Lyons in a fight over a Stetson hat. Stagolee Shot Billy documents the events leading to the murder while shining a light on the culture, attitudes, and politics of the St. Louis black community in the 1890s. The shooting of Billy Lyons is a Gilded Age murder that continues to resonate.

Arsenic Under the Elms tells the story of two sensational but unrelated murders in New Haven, Connecticut, in the late 19th century. Mary Stannard a 22-year-old domestic servant was found stabbed and poisoned on a path near her home. The prime suspect was her pastor, former employer, and alleged seducer, Rev. Herbert H. Hayden. Jennie Cramer, a beautiful young woman from a poor family was also poisoned, her body found floating in the ocean. Suspicion fell on Jimmie and Walter Malley, nephew and son of the richest man in New Haven. In both cases, the disparity in social class between victim and suspect became the defining feature of the case and the greatest impediment in obtaining justice for the murdered woman.

Carlyle W. Harris was a promising young medical student in 1891 with an unfortunate obsession with sex. He would constantly regale his friends and associates with tales of his sexual conquests. When he failed to seduce 19-year-old Helen Potts, he convinced her to marry him but keep the marriage a secret. Six Capsules tells the story of Harris’s plot to murder Helen with a poisoned capsule to keep the secret from being revealed. The author, George R. Dekle Sr., a retired law professor and former prosecutor, provides a detailed analysis of Harris’s sensational trial for murder. The book’s vivid account of the murder and its consequences contrasts the moral and legal atmosphere of the 1890s with that of today.

This book tells the story of Therese Humbert, swindler extraordinaire. There’s just something thrilling about a con artist fighting their way through life with nothing more than their own wits. I loved reading about Therese’s boldness and cleverness.

I felt I could live vicariously through her as she hustled her way into French society. Her fraud lasted for years, and I couldn’t help admiring her coolness under fire. Her story made for an exciting and incredible read.

I don’t read that many nonfiction books, but this one was well worth my time.

After World War I and the Great Influenza epidemic of 1918, many people turned to spiritualism. Jaher digs into the rivalry between Margery Crandon, dubbed by some the Witch of Lime Street, and Harry Houdini.

I enjoyed learning about the many feats Margery regaled her admirers with. And I saw a side of Houdini that most people don’t know about: he was more than a great magician and escape artist.

And the first time I put the book on my bedside table and turned off the lights, I discovered that the book cover glows in the dark!

In June of 1897, a group of New York children discovered a human torso, catapulting the city into a brutal mystery. Who was this man? And who killed him? I could not put this book down.

The central mystery kept me riveted, and the cold-blooded woman at the heart of it truly chilled me to my core. I also found my jaw on the floor reading about the antics of reporters for the warring New York Journal and New York World as they threw ethics out the window to get the best scoop.

In 1920s Chicago, the theater and the courtroom collided as a pair of men dropped dead in the vicinity of beautiful, duplicitous women. The musical Chicago has always been one of my favorites, and I was delighted to read this book about the real women who inspired Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart. It did not disappoint.

Douglas Perry tells the story of Beulah and Belva with all the flair and drama of the musical. I will never forget reading about how callously Beulah Annan sipped cocktails and listened to music for hours as her lover lay bleeding on the floor. It sent chills down my spine.

This is another book that cuts through the hype, helping to define the often sensationalized connections between mafiosi in Italy and the United States.

Historian Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian, brings a perspective often missing in American books on the Mafia. His meticulous research knocks down the idea that the American Mafia was ever some giant “alien conspiracy” with Sicilian overlords, but it does examine whatever interconnections and parallels exist in real life between the two Mafias.

Much like the Critchley book, this is for those who want the facts, facts, facts. And Italian experts have a lot to contribute to the story of the American Mafia.

As someone with bipolar 2, I’ve struggled with addiction and compulsive behavior all my life. And for so long, those behaviors kept me locked in a cycle of shame. I was told that addiction is an incurable illness, which tethered me to my own story of brokenness.

This book helped me reframe my entire understanding of drugs, addiction, and how the war on drugs has done far more harm than good. It helped me understand that addiction is not a personal fundamental flaw but a symptom of broader systemic issues whose impacts are expressed through individuals, creating a culture of rejection and isolation.

Most importantly, it helped me release the story of shame and powerlessness that I’d inherited, and that had been reinforced by rehab and so many clinical interactions. It was as if someone had turned on a light in the basement of shame and pointed out a staircase… show more.