Kate Summerscale

A Thread of Violence

A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder

by Mark O'Connell

“A Thread of Violence is about a man called Malcolm Macarthur who murdered two people in Dublin in the 1980s. He was sentenced to a life term but had been released and was living in Dublin again when Mark O’Connell thought of writing a book about him. O’Connell met him, befriended him and interviewed him over a long period.” — via Interview, March 2025

Ghosts of the Tsunami

Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone

by Richard Lloyd Parry

“Richard Lloyd Parry was a foreign correspondent in Tokyo at the time of the Japanese tsunami in 2011. In telling the story of that disaster, he focuses on one village primary school where almost all the children lost their lives, and the long investigation into whether their teachers were partly to blame for their deaths.” — via Interview, March 2025

The Wager

A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

by David Grann

“Grann has translated what he found in the archives and in printed materials from the 18th century into this very live, vivid story. It reminded me of how transporting it can be to read old papers and documents.” — via Interview, March 2025

This House of Grief

by Helen Garner

“Helen Garner went to the trial of a man in Australia who stood accused of murdering his sons by driving his car into a dam.” — via Interview, March 2025

In Cold Blood

by Truman Capote · 1966 · Nonfiction

“In the book, Capote presumes to go inside the heads of his subjects, the murderers, and he invents dialogue.” — via Interview, March 2025