A few years ago, a fellow writer here at Book Riot wrote a very comprehensive list of international true crime books. Back then, there was a big gap in the market between US true crime and international true crime books. I’d love to say things are different now, but it’s still a little hard to find stories in this particular genre. Still, there are several that have been published since then, and I put together a small list so more people can add them to their TBRs.
Hopefully we’ll have more lists like this in the future, where we can explore different true crime books from around the world. For this first installment, I picked four different countries whose stories often don’t get the attention they deserve. While each of these stories is unique, at least three of these books have thematic similarities. That was definitely on purpose: I wanted to share true crime books that have a more feminist angle. These are books that are very dear to my heart, that not only talk about these cases but also the larger societal issues surrounding them.
But without further ado, let’s dive into these international true crime books!
International True Crime Books for Your TBR
Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza (Mexico)
Let’s kick things off with a personal favorite, a true crime memoir that is both haunting and beautiful. Liliana’s Invincible Summer was originally written in Spanish, and it won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography. The book explores the femicide of Cristina’s sister Liliana. But it doesn’t focus on the crime itself as much as it attempts to paint a portrait of Liliana and how the criminal justice system failed her and her family. It all comes together to tell a poignant story that captures the pain and trauma of losing someone as well as the systemic violence that women in Mexico live through.
All Access Members read on for more international true crime.
The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing by Sonia Faleiro (India)
Now, let’s travel all the way to India with Sonia Faleiro’s The Good Girls. This work of true crime follows the murder of two teenage girls named Padma and Lalli. They lived in a village in western Uttar Pradesh when they disappeared, only to be found dead hours later. The investigation into their deaths sparked a national conversation, one that’s covered by Faleiro in this expertly-researched and detailed account of the whole case.
Did This Hand Kill? by Cezary Łazarewicz, translated by Sean Bye (Poland)
In the 1930s, a governess named Rita Gorgonowa was accused of murdering her employer’s 17-year-old daughter. She claimed she was innocent, but she was eventually convicted. The case became so famous, it is considered the most notorious murder trial of the Second Polish Republic. There are many questions surrounding this case, as well as Rita’s fate. She was released from prison when Germany invaded Poland, but there are very few records of what happened to her after that. Which is why Łazarewicz revisits the entire case through a more contemporary lens.
Dead Girls by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott (Argentina)
Last but certainly not least, I picked another book with similar themes to the first two on this list, because femicide is a very serious problem, especially in Latin America. It is definitely not specific to one country or one period of history, as Almada so expertly showcases here. Dead Girls follows the cases of three teenage girls who were murdered in the 1980s: Andrea Danne, María Luisa Quevedo, and Sarita Mundín. Their deaths went unpunished, as have so many others. This portrait of violence is expertly rendered in this work of journalistic fiction, in the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.
If you’re looking for more true crime books but prefer lighter stories, try these works of nonviolent true crime! You might also want to check out our list of fiction that reads like true crime.
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Source: bookriot.com
