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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayTrue crime is a genre synonymous with blood, but murder isn’t the only kind of crime. Nonviolent true crime books are a great introduction to the genre if you’re not interested in reading about serial killers, and they’re also good variety if bloody true crime reads are your usual fare. That’s why task #22 of the 2026 Read Harder Challenge is “Read a nonviolent true crime book.”
Here are eight to get you started, including feather thieves, art forgers, book burglars, white-collar criminals, and more.
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Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World’s Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro, with Giampiero Ambrosi
Art forgery is one of those crimes it’s hard for me to be too mad about. After all, I’m never going to be in the position to buy a Rembrandt. Those who do probably got their filthy lucre through the exploitation of other’s labors, so I’ll be over here playing the world’s smallest violin to accompany their suffering. Tony Tetro’s story of forging art that ended up in such esteemed places as King Charles III’s collection is a wild and cinematic ride. It’s up to you to decide how much is true and whether Tetro’s holding back even more secrets. —Isabelle Popp
Diamond Doris: True Story of the World’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne, with Zelda Lockhart
In her own words, Doris Payne describes her decades as a jewel thief. Starting when she was young, Payne was determined to rise out of her situation as a poor Black girl during the Depression. Her life of crime started when she was kicked out of a jewelry store by a racist owner, and she discovered she had a knack for boosting gems. Over six decades, she stole from all over the world, fencing the jewels for profit and even selling some to Hollywood celebrities. Even more amazing, Payne was suspected or arrested multiple times in her career and had more than one prison break to her name. She was caught stealing as recently as 2015 when she was 84! —Liberty Hardy
All Access members, read on for six more nonviolent true crime books.
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Someone can love books too much? It’s not possible, you say! But when it leads to a life of crime, it is true. John Charles Gilkey felt such a need to own rare books, he became one of the most prolific book burglars in the country. It took an equally driven detective to hunt him down and put an end to (sorry not sorry) that chapter in his life. —Liberty Hardy
The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Brian Regan, a former government military agent, was given the moniker “The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell” due to his dyslexia. In 2000, Regan attempted to sell classified information which he had gained access to during his time as a government agent, and this book details both the FBI’s attempts to apprehend Regan and everything that drove Regan to make the decision to sell secrets in the first place. —Neymat Raboobee
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
Art thefts have been happening for almost as long as people have been making art. Big jobs like the (still unsolved) Gardner Museum heist and the (temporary) loss of the Mona Lisa captivated the world. But there was one man who didn’t always make headlines but did make off with over 300 works of art across Europe over an eight-year span. Stéphane Breitwieser is considered the world’s most prolific art thief — and the most successful — until his need to keep stealing, despite the writing on the wall, led to his capture. —Liberty Hardy
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
From the opening, there are so many layers to this book: a fascinating history of expeditions (thieving ants! Charles Darwin! Blackmail!) and a museum heist by a 20-year-old flutist who stole hundreds of rare bird specimens (a physical theft of property and potential knowledge). This is where it always gets hard for me to hand-sell this book—I SWEAR this is a super interesting book that grabs your attention like a thriller would, including how the author got involved with this story and needed to investigate what was still unknown after the trial! —Jamie Canaves
The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams
Like falcon eggs, diamonds, orchids, and artwork, possessing a dinosaur bone is something many collectors would like to do despite the legality of owning one. In this case, it was a whole skeleton, stolen from Mongolia by a fossil hunter from Florida. He made his living finding bones and selling them to museums, rich people, and celebrities, who would pay top dollar. But his brazen theft of a whole skeleton and the ensuing custody battle is what finally brought his enterprise crashing to the ground. —Liberty Hardy
Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street by Sheelah Kolhatkar
Hedge funds are sort of confusing, because they only seem to exist to make rich people richer by playing with money, but they still have ramifications for the entire economy. I clearly do not understand the economy. Anyway, hedge fund guy Stephen A. Cohen seemed like a trading wizard, but surprise! It was insider trading all along. But it took a huge and years-long effort to take him down, which this nonfiction legal thriller chronicles. This one will make you mad because of who actually faces the consequences. Sigh. —Isabelle Popp
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