The No. 1 Ladies’ Defrauding Agency By Rose Eveleth Feature What a 19th-century scammer can teach us about women, lying, and economic boom-and-bust cycles
A Rare Toy Heist, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight In 2017, the theft of a rare toy — a Boba “Rocket” Fett prototype that was never released for sale — rocked the Star Wars collecting community.
‘The Most Versatile Criminal In History’ By Jonny Auping Feature Journalist Evan Ratliff has uncovered the shocking reach of Paul Le Roux’s criminal enterprise — a global network of pawns, most of whom were unaware of the full extent of the empire.
The Silence of Women By Longreads Feature Women who spoke too angrily or too publicly were punished in cruel and unusual ways.
They Wanted Her Body By Rafia Zakaria Feature Thinking of Qandeel Baloch’s murder as an honor killing doesn’t capture the whole truth. She was silenced for revealing men’s hypocrisy.
The Rising Tide of Wrongful Convictions By Longreads Feature Wrongful convictions are not isolated events. They happen in every state. They happen multiple times a week. Here’s a breakdown of how and why the innocent are locked up in America.
It was Mr. Henthorn on the Cliff with a Swift Shove By Krista Stevens Highlight Oh, your first wife died in a freak accident too?
Vladimir Nabokov’s Other Favorite Crime By Sarah Weinman Feature While the Sally Horner case gave ‘Lolita’ its main character, the Edward Grammer case gave the book an almost perfect murder.
At Home on Carmine Street By Abigail Rasminsky Feature Abigail Rasminsky thought she’d survived a robbery unscathed. Then she realized it was following her everywhere.
The Castration Heard Around the World By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Lorena and John Wayne Bobbit’s famous castration story remains relevant twenty-five years after the incident, and just as painful.
The Daughter as Detective By Alice Bolin Feature A bibliophile tries to understand her father through his favorite Swedish mystery books.
The Mexican Mafia and the Conspiracy Behind the Tati Torrez Prison Murder By Krista Stevens Highlight Manuel “Tati” Torrez was killed in broad daylight in the prison yard at ADX Florence. But who was really behind it, and why?
Born Again By Longreads Feature “Rebirth therapy” was meant to help a troubled girl start over, but it ended her life instead.
Want Your Husband to Stay True? Kill a Hummingbird and Roll it in Oil and Honey By Krista Stevens Highlight People are capturing and killing hummingbirds for cockamamie love potions, and Mexico doesn’t seem to care.
Did Brian Easley Have to Die? By Aaron Gell Feature A desperate veteran, missing his disability payment, walked into a bank and took several people hostage. This is how he got there.
Elderly Japanese Women Are Turning to Crime to Find Companionship in Prison By Krista Stevens Highlight For some elderly women in Japan, prison offers companionship and a life free from worry.
What Happened Onboard the ‘Nautilus’? By Michelle Legro Highlight May Jeong searches for answers after the death of her friend, journalist Kim Wall.
What If Forensic Science Isn’t Really Science? By Michelle Legro Highlight When bad forensics enter the courtroom, it can become impossible to get rid of them.
A Teen and a Toy Gun By Leah Sottile Feature This is the story of the last day of 17-year-old Quanice Hayes’s life. It involves a police department that says they have no good way of deciphering between real guns and fake ones, and a family still searching for answers.
Stewards of the Blood By Aaron Gilbreath Feature One California woman tries to understand the code of honor that young men live by in blood feuds.
The Encyclopedia of the Missing By Jeremy Lybarger Feature She keeps watch over one of the largest databases of missing persons in the country. For Meaghan Good, the disappeared are still out here, you just have to know where to look.
Longreads Best of 2017: Local Reporting By Longreads Reading List We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in local reporting.
Longreads Best of 2017: Crime Reporting By Longreads Reading List We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in crime reporting.
No Más Fantasía By Chris Outcalt Feature What happens when you’re sentenced to life in prison as a teenager, then released 19 years later and sent to a place that’s supposed to feel like home?
Wherever You Go, There You Are. Charles Manson is There, Too. By Michelle Weber Highlight Do we carry pieces of our younger selves with us, even as we grow and change?
The Creator of Bitcoin Comes Clean, Only to Disappear Again By Longreads Feature The mysterious creator of bitcoin asks a journalist to help reveal his identity.
He Seemed Like the Real Thing, Until He Wasn’t By Michelle Legro Highlight Christopher Goffard’s seven-part series on a dangerous Orange County con man is an astonishing tale of love and violence.
The Panic in Twin Falls, Idaho By Michelle Legro Highlight It had one of the most successful refugee resettlement programs in the nation. Then Breitbart came to town.
The Death of an Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty By Longreads Feature More than fifty years ago, one man tried to hold the Coors brewery CEO for ransom. Things went very badly.
