If you're a fan of true crime and the spoken word, you've come to the right place.

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Ever since podcasts like S-Town and Serial burst onto the scene, we've been keeping our ears pricked for the best new podcasts and audiobooks that investigate real-life crimes and mysteries.

From new classics like West Cork to financial fraud and Victorian cold cases, here are some of our top recommendations to listen on Audible right now.

Plus, we've put together a guide in case you've ever found yourself wondering, just how does Audible work?

Check back for regular updates...


West Cork

By: Audible Originals
Length: 8 hrs

west-cork-audible

West Cork has gripped listeners with its suspenseful tale of a real-life unsolved murder. The series recounts the hunt for Sophie Toscan du Plantier's killer, after the 39-year-old was found murdered just days before Christmas Day in 1996 near the town of Schull in West Cork, Ireland. Listeners are introduced to a host of characters and a potential prime suspect, and are guided throughout by investigative journalist Sam Bungey and documentarian Jennifer Forde.

Regular price: £23.49

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


The Last Days Of August

By: Jon Ronson
Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins

LDOA

Jon Ronson's podcast begins with the porn star August Ames, who died by suicide in December 2017 at the age of 23. However, Ronson begins to uncover unsettling truths about the porn industry herself, and questions the motives of people around August — including those closest to her. Ronson's other original podcast, The Butterfly Effect, is also available on Audible, as are his various books, including The Psychopath Test and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Regular price: £22.89

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


The Making Of A Massacre

By: Audible Original, Ginger Thompson
Length: 2 hrs and 10 mins

The Making Of A Massacre

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ginger Thompson investigates the devastating civilian consequences of America's war on drugs, delving into a specific 2011 event where gunmen from one of the most violent drug trafficking cartels arrived in a small Mexican border town, killing and 'disappearing' dozens.

Regular price: £23.49

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Evil Has A Name

By: Audible Original
Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Evil Has A Name

How many hours, how much paperwork and legwork — and luck — does it take to catch a serial killer? Detective Paul Holes knows. As a rookie he uncovered the 20-year-old cold case files for he Golden State Killer, the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker, and began investigating, with advances in forensic science allowing him to eventually zero in on the killer.

Regular price: £22.89

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


I’ll Be Gone In The Dark

By: Michelle McNamara
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn - introduction, Patton Oswalt - afterword
Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins

Gone In The Dark

If you found Evil Has A Name compelling, audiobook I'll Be Gone In The Dark tells the story of one woman's obsession with finding the Golden State Killer. Michelle McNamara's account of the killer's crimes was unfinished when she died under tragic circumstances, never learning the killer's true identity. The work is completed by her lead researcher, with a foreword by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by McNamara's husband.

Regular price: £14.99

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Escape From Jonestown

By: Laurence Bouvard
Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins

Jonestown

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre, where over 900 people (and over 300 children) died at 'Jonestown', a settlement in the Guyana jungle, run by cult leader Jim Jones. Tim Carter, a member of Jones' inner circle, escaped into the jungle, and tells his story of the fateful day and the events that run up to it.

Regular price: £12.99

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Damned Spot

By: Audible Originals
Length: 1 hr and 40 mins

DAMNED-SPOT-AUDIBLE

Damned Spot revisits the sites where memories of death and upheaval are still keenly felt, and explores what it takes for a place — and its people — to recover. When a tragic event occurs, thoughts go out to those immediately affected: victims, friends, and family. But what about the local residents and communities who live in the same area where the event occurred?

Regular price: £23.49

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Folsom Untold

By: Danny Robins
Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins

Folsom

Journalist Danny Robins head over the pond to unearth the behind-the-scenes tale of Johnny Cash's landmark album, At Folsom Prison, recorded in 1968. Robins unearths first-hand witnesses, including former members of Cash's band.

Regular price: £12.99

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Adnan's Story

By: Rabia Chaudry
Narrated by: Rabia Chaudry
Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins

Adnan

The Peabody-winning Serial — the mother of true-crime podcasts — told the story of Adnan Syed, who in 2000 was convicted and sentenced to life plus 30 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, whom he met in high school. Ever since, he has maintained his innocence. In Adnan's Story, family friend Rabia Chaudry tells the true story behind the hit podcast Serial, with further insights from Adnan himself.

Regular price: £19.99

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


The Last Lynching

By: Anthony S. Pitch
Narrated by: Brad Sanders, Kevin Stillwell
Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Lynching

Drawing on over 10,000 previously classified documents from the FBI and National Archives, The Last Lynching tells the story of the last mass lynching in America, which took place in 1946 in rural Monroe, Georgia. News of the crime went round the whole world, and this podcast goes into forensic detail about the crime, looking at the victims, suspects, eyewitness accounts — and the barbaric history that preceded it.

Regular price: £19.39

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


The Battered Body Beneath the Flagstones & Other Victorian Scandals

By: Michelle Morgan
Narrated by: Anne Dover
Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Battered Body

If you prefer your murders a little less close to home, check out this historical roundup of grisly deaths and violent crimes in Victorian England, including the titular the murder of Patrick O Connor, who was buried under kitchen flagstones by his lover and her husband (their public execution was even attended by author Charles Dickens).

Regular price: £19.99

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Ponzi Supernova

By: Audible Originals, Steve Fishman
Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins

Ponzi Supernova

How exactly did how the greatest financial fraud in history — the Ponzi scheme — implode? How did an enterprise worth over $65 million transform into a destructive force that still impacts the modern world? Journalist Steve Fishman speaks to the victims, the federal investigators, tracks down the accomplices, and even interviews the mastermind himself: Bernie Madoff.

Regular price: £23.49

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible


Real Crime

By: Bernard P Achampong, Thomas Glasser
Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins

Real Crime

Using police interviews, 999 calls, secret audio recordings, court room interviews and eye witness testimonies, Real Crime examines some of the most chilling and infamous crimes from modern British history, including the killing of Jamie Bulger.

Regular price: £19.99

FREE with a 30-day trial of Audible

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Authors

Flora CarrDrama Writer, RadioTimes.com
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