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True Crime Books

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Search for some shocking True Crime Books right here at The Works. We've got everything from heartbreaking true crime stories to some of the most notorious serial killers in history within our collection. So if you're feeling up to it, dive into the fascinating world of true crime below.

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January, 1945. 14-year-old Moshe Kessler steps off the train at Buchenwald concentration camp. Having endured the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, lost touch with his entire family, and survived the death march in the freezing European winter, he has seen more than his share of tragedy. Moshe knows only one thing about Buchenwald. Everyone knows it. If you want to survive, you have to get to Block 66. The Germans are cruel and determined - but they are not prepared for Buchenwald's secret resistance, which rises up with one mission only: to protect the camp's children from harm. This is the incredible true story of Moshe Kessler and Block 66 - the children's block that was at the forefront of one of the most shocking and inspiring stories of Holocaust survival. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781802472509 • Author:  Limor Regev • Publisher:  Ad Lib Publishers Ltd • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  244 • Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm

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"My life will always be in danger. My beautiful sister Banaz Mahmod was murdered in an ‘honour killing’ ordered by our father and uncle. If those evil men find me, they will kill me too." Bekhal Mahmod was one of six siblings from a Sunni Muslim family in Iraqi Kurdistan who sought a new life as asylum seekers and arrived in London in 1998. When Bekhal's father tried to force her into an arranged marriage at 15, she ran away. This caused her father to ‘lose respect’ within the Kurdish community and Bekhal became the target of an honour killing and her younger sisters Banaz and Payzee were quickly married off to restore the family's reputation. When Banaz left her husband, claiming he'd beaten and raped her, Mahmod decided this 'shame' to the family meant Banaz must die. Within weeks, she had vanished. Her body was finally discovered, crammed into a suitcase and buried in a garden in Birmingham. Banaz, age 20, had been raped and killed in a sickening plot orchestrated by her father and uncle. Still fearing for her own life, Bekhal bravely faced her father and uncle in court - making her the first female in British legal history to give evidence against family members in an honour killing trial - and won justice for her beloved sister Banaz. Bekhal now has a new identity after entering the police witness protection programme. She lives in terror of her father’s release from jail. This is her story. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781913543051 • Author:  Bekhal Mahmod  • Publisher:  Ad Lib Publishers Ltd • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  240 • Dimensions: 12.7 x 2.03 x 19.69 cm

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I was unwanted, beaten, sold, swapped, photographed, filmed, left for dead, corrupted, blamed, betrayed, ignored and orphaned. But I was also born with a fire inside me. I call it my Phoenix Fire. I am no victim – that word only describes what happened to me. Nor am I a survivor because that implies I am over it. I am a Phoenix – a work in progress. This is my story…” Product Information: • ISBN: 9781914451003 • Author: Shy Keenan • Publisher: Mardle Books • Format: Paperback • Pages: 311 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 cm

4.7 ({1})
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An exploration of the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of the Londoners who lived through it, including eye-witness accounts and inquest testimonies. The shocking murders carried out by an unknown serial killer in London's East End in during the autumn of 1888 dominated the news and public imagination at the time and have continued to exert a baleful influence ever since. But what was it like to live through those terrifying weeks? No matter what precautions the locals took, the killings continued. Featuring eye-witness accounts, photographs and documents of the time, this book looks at the crimes of Jack the Ripper and their impact on the people of Victorian London. It follows the way the crimes affected the local population, the rumours that swept the streets, the alarms, the riots, the persecutions, the suspicions and the sheer naked terror of the awful autumn when Jack the Ripper stalked the streets. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781398845664 • Author:  Rupert Matthews • Publisher: Arcturus Publishing • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  256 • Dimensions: 12.5 x 2.1 x 19.5 cm

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Bobby's heartbreaking true story of neglect, secrets and abuse. Three young siblings arrive at Maggie's door after being taken into care. Teachers of eight-year-old Bobby spotted distinct hand-shaped bruises on his arm and his dad and stepmother are uncooperative and hostile to Social Services. While they investigate, Bobby, as well as Melodie and Poppy, are looked after in Maggie's home. As the children settle in, a thought won't let Maggie go. While Melodie and Poppy are clean, well-fed and immaculately dressed, Bobby is pale, severely underweight and extremely quiet. What looks like a case of neglect is actually something much more sinister. Bobby and his half-sisters are hiding a cruel secret, but can Maggie find the truth? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781399606608 • Author:  Maggie Hartley • Publisher:  Seven Dials • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  272 • Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.91 x 19.05 cm

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An indispensable introduction to the darker side of life, revealing the often strange and grisly stories behind the world's most infamous murderers, swindlers and crooks. 100 Most Infamous Criminals is an astounding compendium of crimes and their perpetrators. The range of crimes is extraordinary, from the bizarre to horrific, and from the heart-breaking to the ridiculous. The book tells in vivid detail the story of the history's most infamous criminals; lives they led, the crimes they committed, and the destruction and sorrow left in their wake. Find out more about: Jack the Ripper, the man who terrorized Victorian London. Ted Bundy, the serial killer beloved by his neighbours. Jeffrey Dahmer, the creator of real-life zombies. Al Capone, the king of gangsters. Harold Shipman, Britain's angel of death. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781398845206 • Author:   Jo Durden Smith • Publisher:  Arcturus Publishing • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  208 • Dimensions: 12.5 x 2.1 x 19.5 cm

4.5 ({1})
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Otto Rosenberg is 9 and living in Berlin, poor but happy, when his family are first detained. All around them, Sinti and Roma families are being torn from their homes by Nazis , leaving behind schools, jobs, friends, and businesses to live in forced encampments outside the city. One by one, families are broken up, adults and children disappear or are 'sent East'. Otto arrives in Auschwitz aged 15 and is later transferred to Buechenwald and Bergen-Belsen. He works, scrounges food whenever he can, witnesses and suffers horrific violence and is driven close to death by illness more than once. Unbelievably, he also joins an armed revolt of prisoners who, facing the SS and certain death, refuse to back down. Somehow, through luck, sheer human will to live, or both, he survives. The stories of Sinti and Roma suffering in Nazi Germany are all too often lost or untold. In this haunting account, Otto shares his story with a remarkable simplicity. Deeply moving, A Gypsy in Auschwitz is the incredible story of how a young Sinti boy miraculously survived the unimaginable darkness of the Holocaust. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800961128 • Author: Otto Rosenberg • Publisher: Monoray • Format: Paperback • Pages: 240 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.2cm

3.5 ({1})
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This book takes readers on a quest to solve the greatest mysteries, strange disappearances, suspicious cover-ups and conspiracy theories. Perfect for true crime fans! Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781398845251 • Author:  Charlotte Greig & Mike Rothschild • Publisher:  Arcturus Publishing • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  256 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1 cm

4.5 ({1})
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Belief system or brainwashing? Captivated or captive? Community or cult? Uncover stories of the world's most infamous cults in this true crime compendium... Building spacecrafts to transport humans to a new plane of existence, kidnapping children to create a master race that would survive the apocalypse, murdering innocent people to secure a place in the afterlife... these only scratch the surface of the strange, sinister and shocking world of cults. Throughout history, cult groups have formed across the globe, promising followers freedom, family and fortune. In reality, religious, destructive and doomsday cults capture, coerce and control people. From mass murders to child marriages, polygamy to life insurance policies, blackmail to sex bait, discover the cruelty and curiosities of cults in this illuminating anthology. Filled with stories of the world's most notorious cults, this book details their origins, beliefs, leaders, followers and victims, and uncovers the unthinkable horrors hidden by these "utopian" societies. Whether you're new to the subject or looking to expand on your knowledge, discover the truth behind the world's killer and criminal cults in this gripping compendium. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781837992805 • Author:  Jamie King  • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  320 • Dimensions: 12.7 x 0.51 x 20.32 cm

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US President John F. Kennedy's killing in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963, sent a shockwave around the world. The charismatic young Democrat was seen as a beacon of hope in the West, but his liberal reforming policies had made him many powerful enemies at home. For sixty years, numerous theories have swirled around this key event in American - and world - history. Yet whatever the conclusions of the official Warren Report - that the President had been assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald - many people doubt that to be true. Indeed, President Nixon later admitted on tape that the report was 'a hoax committed on the American people.' John Hughes-Wilson, a former colonel in British Intelligence, has sifted through the millions of words and thousands of pieces of evidence, to put together an intelligence assessment of what really happened that dreadful high noon in Dallas in 1963. Reading this astounding book, no one can be in any doubt that JFK's death was not at the hands of a lone deranged gunman, but a deadly plot to remove a President who threatened vested interests at home and abroad.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781789467376 • Author:  John Hughes-Wilson • Publisher:  John Blake • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  368 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm   

4.7 ({1})
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In 1930, at the age of twenty-seven, Liesl Herbst was the Austrian National Tennis Champion, a celebrity in Vienna. Liesl, her husband David and their daughter Dorli came to Britain after escaping the Nazis. In London, though initially stripped of their Austrian passports and rendered stateless aliens, both Liesl and her daughter Dorli competed at Wimbledon. They remain the only mother and daughter ever to have played doubles together at Wimbledon. This moving story of escape and survival is told by Liesl’s grand-daughter, Dorli’s daughter. Some of the story, the author heard first-hand from her grandmother; the rest, she has meticulously researched over many years in four countries.  It is as much a search for the author’s own identity as for her own children and grandchildren to ensure that their remarkable family history is never lost again.  Illustrated throughout with family photographs and original documents, this is a story of survival against terrible odds, an inspiring tale of resilience and hope.     Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781802471199 • Author:  Felice Hardy • Publisher:  Ad Lib Publishers • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  286 • Dimensions: 12.7 x 2.03 x 19.69 cm

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With the growth of the internet came a new type of crime. Using the un-indexed corners of the internet that make up what is known as the "dark net" criminals carry on their business online as fluently as in the real world.  Identity theft and fraud have become both simpler and more profitable for enterprising criminals. New black markets like the "silk road" have sprung up that allow customers to buy anything they desire - from drugs to guns to child pornography. Meanwhile authorities struggle to regulate these new arenas.  The internet has also created new threats to international security through cyber attacks like the "stuxnet" virus. Not all hacking is so bad - some hackers try to use their skills for humane and political purposes. From the Wikileaks revelation to the DDOS attacks of Anonymous, groups of activist hackers have attempted to hold authorities to account and force them into greater transparency. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781784288686 • Author:  Cath Senker • Publisher:  Arcturus Publishing • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  192 • Dimensions: 13.4 x 2 x 20 cm

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A leading journalist's intense, riveting and personal investigation into the worlds and minds of cults. At a new age festival in Byron Bay, Australia, German journalist Anke Richter is finding her spiritual awakening when she meets a woman – a survivor of the Centrepoint cult – who will change the course of her life and career. Over the next ten years, Anke pursued a labyrinthine investigation into how and why cults attract, entrap and destroy otherwise ordinary people, asking what the line is between tribe and cult, participant and perpetrator, seduction and sexual abuse.  From the emotional and criminal carnage of Centrepoint in Auckland, New Zealand, to an anti-cult conference in Manchester, the infamous Osho’s ashram in India, the tantric Agama Yoga school in remote Thailand and culminating in a visit to Gloriavale on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island, Anke uncovers a disturbing pattern of violence and suffering.  Cult Trip is a powerful exploration of what really goes on inside the groups we call cults, and how to reckon with their aftermath. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781802471762 • Author:  Anke Richter  • Publisher:  Ad Lib Publishers Ltd • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions: 20.5 x 2.5 x 12.8 cm

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An indispensable introduction to the darker side of life, revealing the often strange and grisly stories behind the world's most infamous murderers, swindlers and crooks. 100 Most Infamous Criminals is an astounding compendium of crimes and their perpetrators. Here you will find the stories of some of history's most notorious criminals, the lives they led, the crimes they committed and the destruction and sorrow they left in their wake. This collection includes such notorious villains as Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and others. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781398803527 • Author: Jo Durden Smith • Publisher:  Arcturus • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  208 • Dimensions: 23.5 x 1.8 x 15.3 cm

4.5 ({1})
£4.00 RRP £9.99 Save £5.99 (60% Off RRP)

Letters from Serial Killers is a unique study of the criminal mind based on the author's extensive correspondence with convicted serial murderers.  Such a collection is extremely rare, and among the killers whose correspondence is examined are: Arthur John Shawcross, aka 'The Genesee River Killer'; Phillip Carl Jablonski, aka 'The Death Row Teddy'; Melanie Lyn McGuire, aka 'The Ice Queen'; Harvey 'The Hammer' Louis Carignan, aka 'The Want-ad Killer'; Ian Stewart Brady, aka 'The Moors Murderer'; Hal Karen and Ronald 'Butch' Joseph DeFeo Jr, aka 'The Amityville Horror'; Gary Ray Bowles, aka 'The I-95 Killer';John 'J.R.' Edward Robinson, aka 'The Slavemaster' Letters from Serial Killers is Christopher Berry-Dee at his steeliest best - exploring the downright creepy correspondence with murderers, serial killers and psychopaths behind bars, with exclusive scans of letters and eerily decorated envelopes. A must-have for fans of the series, based on a collection that will eventually be bequeathed to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit at its headquarters at Quantico, Virginia.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781789466584 • Author:  Christopher Berry-Dee • Publisher:  John Blake • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  336 • Dimensions:   33.5 x 19.9 x 3.6 cm

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£4.00

All the varieties of power – star, political, sexual, criminal and emotional – are on show in this definitive, untold story of Frank Sinatra and the Mafia. Drawing on an enormous archive of previously unseen records held by international law agencies, the FBI, the CIA and big-city police departments, Rothmiller and Thompson reveal Sinatra’s pact with the Mob in shocking detail. With additional evidence from decades of investigations and testimony, they expose Sinatra’s lifelong association with the Mafia, which he always denied, and its deadly collateral damage. This revelatory showstopper is a wild dance made coherent by intelligent choreography. Sinatra may not have been an actual made man, but the Mafia certainly made him. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781802470840 • Author:  Mike Rothmiller & Douglas Thompson   • Publisher:  Ad Lib Publishers • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  256 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 19.8cm

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How did the most ordinary of couples pull off one of the most outrageous frauds of modern times? And why did they carry on with the lie for so long? Drowning in debt and facing almost certain bankruptcy, John Darwin did the unthinkable - he paddled out to sea in his red canoe and disappeared. After a massive search and rescue operation failed to find his body, he was assumed dead, lost in the bleak North Sea. But everything was far from what it seemed. Nearly six years later, after John miraculously returned from the dead with a strange tale of 'amnesia' and sporting a suspicious golden tan, the police and the Press were desperate to discover the truth behind his remarkable resurrection. Journalist David Leigh was despatched to Panama, where he tracked down John's wife, Anne Darwin, who had started a secretive new life with the insurance money claimed from her husband's 'death'. But what lay behind her decision to move to Central America, thousands of miles away from her family and friends? The truth would gradually unravel during an astonishing week of jaw-dropping revelations. The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe is the definitive behind-the-scenes account of this true story of audacious deception and coercion, offering an unprecedented insight into a mind-boggling story that gripped the nation - and into the inscrutable minds of 'Canoe Man' John and Anne Darwin, his long-suffering partner in crime.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781529395167 • Author:  David Leigh & Tony Hutchinson • Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  228 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.6 x 19.6 cm

3.7 ({1})
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From the detective who helped catch the Golden State Killer, a memoir about investigating America's toughest cold cases, and the rewards - and toll - of a life spent solving crime. For a decade, from 1973, The Golden State Killer stalked and murdered Californians in the dead of night, leaving entire communities afraid to turn off the lights. Then he vanished, and the case remained unsolved. In 1994, when cold-case investigator Paul Holes came across the old file, he swore he would unmask GSK and finally give these families closure. Twenty-four years later, Holes fulfilled that promise, identifying 73-year-old Joseph J. DeAngelo. Headlines blasted around the world: one of America's most prolific serial killers had been caught. That case launched Paul's career into the stratosphere, turning him into an icon in the true-crime world. But while many know the story of the capture of GSK, until now, no one has truly known the man behind it all.  Product Information: • ISBN:  9781472270399 • Author:  Paul Holes • Publisher:  Wildfire • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  288 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 2.4 x 19.8 cm

5 ({1})
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Check out this terrifying True Crime Stories book by Al Cimino! Learn more about the world's most monstrous murderers...  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781398827769 • Author:  Al Cimino • Publisher:  Arcturus Publishing Ltd • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  96 • Dimensions:  23.4  x 1.6 x 15.3 cm

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Among the lush, tree-lined waterways of South Carolina low country, the Murdaugh name means power. A century-old, multimillion-dollar law practice has catapulted the family into incredible wealth and local celebrity--but it was an unimaginable tragedy that would thrust them into the national spotlight.  On June 7th, 2021, prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the grounds of their thousand-acre hunting lodge. The mystery deepened only months later when Alex himself was discovered shot in the head on a local roadside. But as authorities scrambled for clues and the community reeled from the loss and media attention, dark secrets about this Southern legal dynasty came to light. The Murdaughs, it turned out, were feared as much as they were loved. And they wouldn't hesitate to wield their influence to protect one of their own.  As bombshells of financial fraud were revealed and more suspicious deaths were linked to the Murdaughs, a new portrait of Alex Murdaugh emerged: a desperate man on the brink of ruin who would do anything, even plan his own death, to save his family's reputation. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781789467383 • Author:  John Glatt • Publisher:  John Blake • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  320 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.8 x 19.8cm 

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£2.50