This is a terrific collection of true crime tales. Readers get variety of reads from these hand-picked gems. Some are heartbreaking, some amusing, some bizarre, and some just poignant. This isn't like a series of whodunnits. There's a fair amount of background, even academic, information, but everything is handled by writers who know how to balance info-dumps with story telling. I was pleased to see the narrative on Frances Glessner Lee, and even an experiential essay on the strangeness of CrimeCon. The "Incel Terrorist" was especially insightful. I also enjoyed Douglas Preston's commentary in the Introduction. Not satisfied with the typical ideas about why people like true crime, he proposed a deeper theory. He clearly thought it out, and it's a great way to plunge into this sophisticated set of dark narratives. I hope this series continues annually. It's bound to get a large audience.

Douglas Preston is one of my favorite thriller authors, but he has also distinguished himself with great works of nonfiction, including “The Monster of Florence” and “The Lost City of the Monkey God,” but especially “The Lost Tomb,” a compendium of true life mysteries/events that have influenced fiction writers. In “The Best True Crime Stories of the Year,” Preston writes a brilliant forward about our national obsession with true crime and how it has evolved.

Aided by editor Peter Crooks, this book is a collection of great examples of long form journalism (also a dying art form) collected from prestigious publications such as Slate, Vanity Fair, Texas Monthly, The Atavist (which specializes in long true stories), MacLean’s, Boston Globe, Harper’s, New England Review, and San Francisco Standard. The criteria was that all 12 stories were published in 2024, but the crimes did not need to be recent or solved. Old stories like the Hillside Strangler, new stories like Gabby Petito, lesser known stories like the nudists vs pirates or Frances Glessner Lee are all fascinating thanks to their accomplished individual authors. It’s great that these tales live on beyond a single magazine issue or newspaper special feature. I was fascinated by each one and I’ll probably long remember “The Memoirist and the Lie Detector” by Justin St. Germain, that explores the fact that polygraphs are totally unreliable, dependent of the skill (or non-skill) of the examiner, and the United States is the only country relying on this discredited technology (which our Supreme Court agrees is worthless, but the results are used to hire many of our law enforcement people). 5 stars!

Thank you to Penzler Publishers, Crime Ink, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

The Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2025 was a solid and engaging read. Douglas Preston did a great job pulling this collection together in a way that felt intentional and easy to follow. I especially appreciated his perspective on why so many people are drawn to true crime. His insights made me reflect on the genre in a new way.

As someone who spent most of my life in Atlanta and now lives in Austin, I found it especially interesting to revisit some of the stories connected to places I know. That added an unexpected personal layer to the reading experience.

Some of the stories didn’t offer much new if you follow true crime closely, but overall, the mix kept me interested. Even the more familiar cases were placed thoughtfully within the broader themes Preston was exploring. The collection has a good pace and variety, and I appreciated how easy it was to move through.

Thanks so much to Douglas Preston, Penzler Publishers, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC!