The Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2026

Former FBI special agent, author, and television writer/producer Jim Clemente selects the best true crime writing from the past year, aided by series editor Michael Pintauro, to produce an eclectic lineup of fascinating, mysterious, and provocative true tales.

The second edition of this annual collection offers a fascinating variety of essays and expertly reported crime stories, taken from regional, national, and international publications. Among the stories is a decades-long unsolved case involving the death of an English baroness and her assistant in the Italian mountains, which may have been a botched kidnapping or even a mafia assassination. Another tale profiles a young Texan whose pursuit of the American Dream involved building a powerful empire around the party drug ecstasy. Then there’s the New York-based con artist who bribed members of the NYPD, stole millions of dollars in diamonds, and lured professional fighter Floyd Merriweather, Jr., and celebrity Kim Kardashian into hawking a cryptocurrency scam. Other stories examine the growing phenomenon of amateur sleuths obsessed with solving cold cases.

A must-read for anyone interested in true crime, The Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2026, offers an array of longform stories in this increasingly popular genre.

This compilation of true crime stories recognizes topics beyond the expected. A recommended title that will surely be popular with a vast audience.”
—Library Journal on Best True Crime Stories of the Year 2025

Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Jim Clemente was a member of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, an integral part of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group. During his prosecutive and investigative careers, Clemente investigated hundreds of cases involving the sexual victimization of children and has consulted and assisted in the investigation and prosecution of thousands more. Since his retirement from the FBI, Clemente has served as co-founder and board Chair of XG Productions, Inc. He has also served as inspiration for and Writer/Producer of, one of Television’s longest running prime time dramatic series, Criminal Minds. His audiobook, Bluebeard, based on real events surrounding Los Angeles’s first known serial killer received rave reviews following its 2023 release.