Welcome to Best Evidence’s crime-alphabet project! A handful of contributors and I have gone through the English alphabet and picked a true-crime thing for each letter — maybe a series; maybe a case — as the ne plus ultra of that letter in true crime. At the end of the month, we’ll decide on the One True(-Crime) Alphabet for 2020. Right now, it’s YOUR turn to edit/argue!

Now show your As (hee) in the comments.

Susan Howard: American Crime Story — kudos to Ryan Murphy’s anthology series for its in-depth and humane examinations of the stories behind sensational and notorious true-crime headline grabbers. (Honorable mentions: American Justice, America’s Most Wanted, Atlanta Child Murders case.)

Margaret Howie: American Gangster (2007).

Kevin Smokler: April 19th (the Oklahoma City bombing; Waco) and 20th (Hitler’s birthday; Columbine).

SDB: American Vandal. It’s the first thing I thought of, and my sense is it’s getting forgotten already, but the first season was so funny, and at the same time so knowledgeably loving in its satirizing of the genre. S2 was less successful (and emetophobes like myself found it a trial at times) but I wish it would get revived.

[edited 5/1/20 to correct Columbine and Hitler dates]