Nonfiction Crime

On the trail of Soviet infiltrator Agent Blériot, Svetlana Lokhova takes the reader on a thrilling journey through Stalin’s most audacious intelligence operation. On a sunny September day in 1931, a Soviet spy walked down the gangplank of the luxury transatlantic liner SS Europa and into New York. Attracting no attention, Stanislav Shumovsky had completed his journey from Moscow to enrol at a top American university. He was concealed in a group of 65 Soviet students heading to prestigious academic institutions. But he was after far more than an excellent education.

Ten years ago, Katy, a promising young journalist, left her desk and was never seen again. Someone knows what happened to her. The controlling boyfriend? The inappropriate professor? The clingy colleague? When Katy went missing, it wasn’t just her devastated mother, Grace, whose life was ruined. Now, a new documentary delving into the missing person case threatens to open old wounds. As Grace gets closer to the truth, she discovers just how far people are willing to go to keep the past hidden.

Frieda "Fritizie" Mann had several identities during her brief life, and the mysterious circumstances of her death raise as many questions as they do answers. She was born in 1903 near the present border between Poland and Ukraine. And in the last year of her life, Mann became locally famous. She had reinvented herself as a flapper and "Oriental" dancer. She claimed to have friends in Hollywood and a movie contract. On the night of her murder, she said she was going to a party to meet her Hollywood friends; instead she traveled to an isolated roadside hotel where she met her death.

Even after the institution of slavery became illegal, the legacy of slavery continued through injustices created by the Jim Crow laws. Learn more about these discriminatory laws that have shaped America's past and present. Inspired by a belief that knowledge is power, Read Woke Books seek to amplify the voices of people who are not white, provide information about groups that have been disenfranchised, share perspectives of people who have been underrepresented or oppressed, challenge social norms and disrupt the status quo, and encourage readers to take action in their community.

Police called it murder on New York’s Hudson River. She said it was a tragic accident. Should her name go down in the annals of America’s female murderers, or is she just one more victim of a fractured court system? Angelika Graswald claims she’s not a cold-blooded killer, but New York prosecutors say she purposely pulled a plug on her fiance’s kayak so he’d drown in the storm-tossed waves of the Hudson River. She Cries Alone: A Shocking True Crime Story takes you through the day Vincent Viafore died, the afternoon Angelika walked and talked with a New York State Police detective,...

Real-life thrillers, mysteries, and tales of cold-blooded murder from the Reader's Digest archives.

Across the globe, millions of people are involved in the brutal, cold-blooded world of drug dealing, but only a small number make life-changing money. Only a few get to the top, make the calls, know how it all works and truly become drugs lords. And even fewer survive. I know because I am one of those drug lords. After 30 years, I've decided to retire and tell the story of how I got to the top of this tainted profession, what's involved in being a serious criminal, the tricks of the trade, the art of the deal and what it really takes to stay alive for so long.

Dovey Johnson Roundtree was most famous for her successful defense of an indigent Black man accused of the murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer, a prominent White Washington, DC, socialite, in 1965. Despite her triumph in this high-profile case, Roundtree continued to represent the poor and the underserved. She was the first lawyer to bring a bus-desegregation case before the Interstate Commerce Commission, clinching the ruling that enabled Robert F. Kennedy to enforce bus integration. She was also among the first Black women to enter the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

Avast! Are ye' ready to sail the high seas with some of the world's most feared pirates? These accounts will do more than shiver your timbers. Come aboard to witness the ruthless methods of history's most petrifying pirates.

Carefully leveled text and fresh, vibrant photos engage young readers in learning about how police cars work and what they do. Age-appropriate critical thinking questions and a photo glossary help build nonfiction learning skills.

Learn about Lyra, Parys, Ali, Ozzy, and their deputies who work hard to protect Laramie County in Wyoming. You'll discover their most heroic acts, like saving an air force base from a bomb to finding drugs, catching criminals with their teeth, and working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on certain cases.

What kind of dog works with the police? Sniffs for explosives? Keeps us safe when we travel? Law enforcement dogs! K-9 law enforcement dogs play an important role in communities everywhere. These furry friends can learn how to sniff out evidence and catch criminals. Find out what these four-legged officers do to help keep us safe!