Executive Action: "They want to believe it; they have to"
Is 1973's conspirator-POV thriller about the JFK assassination more interesting to think about than to watch? Find out here, or subscribe to get full reviews...
How much true crime is on Kevin Costner's c.v.?
[NB: Due to a Cloudflare outage, you may receive this update before the piece is available on the site; sorry about that!] Let's all make the "Is Waterworld...
4 reasons to check up on JFK: What The Doctors Saw
Paramount+'s 2023 documentary takes testimony from "first responders" to Kennedy's shooting. Is it worth a look? SDB has more here — or get these reviews...
Don't bet against John Gregory Dunne's Vegas: A Memoir of a Dark Season
I find the author tough to take at times, and it's unclear if this even IS a crimoir -- but Dunne's prose is a solid gamble. So are we! Get these review in...
Who Hired the Hitman? is a snide surprise
The new ID/HBO Max series on murders for hire isn't a work of staggering genius or anything – but it has an energy that most series like it don't. Should you...
You've watched Death By Lightning. What's next?
If you liked Netflix's four-part docudrama on the Garfield assassination, we've got further reading for your weekend. Get SDB’s full reading list right here...
What's our ruling on Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers?
The recent Netflix documentary on sui generis murderer Aileen Wuornos does a few things well, but does it leave too many things unsaid? SDB’s full review is...
Old-school spiritualist scams; New York cold cases
Plus Jim McGreevey, the Kingfish, and more Halloween true-crime reads. Get into SDB’s list here, or upgrade to paid, and get all these newsletters straight...
Don't Date Brandon is an engaging look at female solidarity and toxic masculinity
I didn't expect to like Don't Date Brandon as much as I did. The three-part series, which dropped on Paramount+ today, is pitched as a fairly standard love...
October 2025 bonus review: Nobody's Girl
Virginia Roberts Giuffre and the perils of the excerpted tell-all The crime (with a content warning for its substance, as well as mentions of suicide)The...
New True Crime For October: Aileen Wuornos, The DC Sniper, and Brandon Johnson
Hunted By My Husband: The Untold Story Of The DC Sniper October 28, Investigation Discovery I’ll spare you my feelings on months dedicated to concerns we...
Murderland, Murdaugh fatigue, and making room on the subway
Turns out the “one simple trick” to getting a three-top to yourself is reading a 1980s cop crimoir. Find out more right here, or subscribe to get all B.E....
The Alabama Solution: "We're at a humanitarian-crisis level"
Andrew Jarecki's latest HBO doc takes testimony from incarcerated men in Alabama. Should you look inside? The crimeHuman-rights violations, forced/slave...
Read-Handed: A Ponzi prequel and felony slut-shaming
Alice Crimmins, Leo Koretz, bad science, the return of Best American Crime Writing, and more in our reading round-up. To get these reviews and links straight...
Escaping cults and sentencing Combs
Plus Harold Schechter has notes on The Ed Gein Story, and a lady preacher goes missing. Read SDB’s round-up here, or! Subscribe now
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is too much
Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein. (Netflix) SDB watched the whole eight-part season. You should not watch any of it. For more on why, click here — or grab a paid...
September 2025 Bonus: The Case Against Adnan Syed, Part 5
Who is it for, why now, and other questions about an update for a six-year-old docuseries. The crimeThe 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. The storyIt's hard to...
6 true-crime audiobook narrators to keep an ear on
3 hall-of-famers and 3 up-and-comers, on cases from Wyatt Earp to Watergate. Doc Holliday and the Earps in 1994’s Wyatt Earp. (Warner Bros.) Get SDB’s full...
Life Of Crime 2: It's hell; you gotta get out
A review of the harsh but worthwhile second chapter of America Undercover's "Newark trilogy," and an art-crime round-up. The crimeThe offenses here don't...
What "real" true crime could learn from Only Murders In The Building
The show's not "about" true crime anymore, but it's still in conversation with it. Plus, Selena Gomez's mom and Howard Morris's podcast. Martin Short Gomez...