You'll Be Obsessed With These True Crime Podcasts, Trust Us
Is there any podcast genre as addictive as true crime? We’re not sure there is. Since the golden days of Serial, the in-depth audio investigation of a murder case by journalist Sarah Koenig, back in 2014, our appetite for podcasts that explore real criminal cases has only grown. Now, true crime is a constant feature in podcast charts, with series covering everything from unsolved mysteries to potentially wrongful convictions – and gripping listeners in the process.
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As any podcast fan will know, there’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a series and being left with a gaping silence in your headphones. As an antidote, we’ve rounded up the best true crime podcasts to listen to now, from stranger-than-fiction tales of con artists to mysteries around missing people, plus important shows that expose miscarriages of justice and work with listeners to bring the truth to light.
Sweet Bobby
The brief: The chart-topping podcast in search of the world's most sophisticated catfish
Frequency: Seven episodes
Average run time: 40 minutes
Featuring a scam of epic proportions, this series follows the story of Kirat, a marketer and radio presenter. She's contacted online by a man she vaguely knows called Bobby, they start chatting and become close. But then Kirat is drawn into a sophisticated catfishing scam with devastating consequences.
Serial
The brief: A pioneering true crime podcast , this is an investigative journalism series hosted by Sarah Koenig.
Frequency: Series four streaming now
Average run time: One hour
This record-breaking true crime podcast is thought to have transformed the medium. It was a spin-off from the radio programme 'This American Life', covering a crime over the course of a season. The podcast has now returned for its fourth series, which features a history of notorious prison Guantánamo, exploring its complex evolution.
The Missing
The brief: Pandora Sykes' podcast about missing people
Frequency: Weekly
Average run time: 40 minutes
Hosted by Pandora Sykes and created in association with charities Locate International and Missing People, this podcast looks into cases of missing people and asks listeners for help. Every episode covers a different case, featuring original interviews with friends and family and asking the crucial question: where is the missing person?
June: Voice of a Silent Twin
The brief: A tragic story of twins who grew up in isolation and were sent to Broadmoor, the high-security psychiatric hospital.
Frequency: Eight episodes
Average run time: 30 minutes
When they were sent to Broadmoor, the notorious high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire in 1981, June and Jennifer Gibbons were its youngest female inmates. This gripping series tells the story of the childhood and crime spree that got them there.
Murder In The Hollywood Hills
The brief: A woman is invited to a photoshoot for the next Bond film in Hollywood – and then never seen again
Frequency: Weekly
Average run time: 30 minutes
This podcast takes listeners to the heart of a grisly tale from the Hollywood Hills, where a smooth-talking predator lured young women into a nightmare with false promises of fame and fortune. He evaded justice for years, but a group of women banded together to lock him up for good.
Carrie Jade Does Not Exist
The brief: A tale of one woman who took on more than six different identities
Frequency: Six episodes
Average run time: 30 minutes
Hosted by Sue Perkins and journalist Katherine Denkinson, this series tells the story of how one woman infiltrated the lives of vulnerable people to scam her way into the literary world. Adopting different identities, she eventually got tangled up in a web of lies.
Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan
The brief: The story of Nuseiba Hasan, a Jordanian-Canadian woman, who disappeared without a trace.
Frequency: Eight episodes
Average run time: 30 minutes
In the third season of the Conviction podcast, ivestigative journalist Habiba Nosheen looks into the story of Nuseiba Hasan, who vanished in 2006. Over the course of the series, Nosheen finds out the truth about why so many people have stayed quiet for years about what happened to Nuseiba.
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
The brief: A historical true crime podcast investigating women criminals from the past
Frequency: Three seasons
Average run time: 30 minutes
Hosted by historian and author Lucy Worsley, this podcast explores the lives and crimes of women from the past, considering extraordinary events from a contemporary feminist perspective. Each episode features an in-depth look at a crime with the help of women detectives. Stories include that of Mary Surratt, accused of conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
Crimetown
The brief: A podcast that explores the culture of crime and corruption in different US cities.
Frequency: Two seasons
Average run time: 30 minutes
The first season of this podcast explored crime in Providence, Rhode Island, while the second focuses on the heart of the US 'Rust Belt': Detroit, Michigan. Listeners can expect stories of police shootings, the complex drug trade and political scandals in cities that are riddled with corruption and divided by crime.
Court Junkie
The brief: Jillian Jalali aims to shine a light on the injustices of judicial systems.
Frequency: Twice monthly
Average run time: One hour
This podcast asks listeners to imagine being wrongfully convicted for a crime they didn't commit, or knowing their child's killer is still on the loose. Going through court documents, attending trials and interviewing those close to a crime, the host Jillian Jalali tells the stories of ongoing cases.
Fake Heiress
The brief: Journalist Vicky Baker and playwright Chloe Moss take a deep dive into the rise and fall of con artist Anna Delvey.
Frequency: Six episodes
Average run time: 30 minutes
Before Netflix's Inventing Anna came this investigative podcast, which explores the rise and fall of one of the most talked-about con artists of our age: Anna Delvey. This tells the true story of the young woman who conned New York high society into thinking she was a multi-millionaire heiress, with some dramatised elements.
West Cork
The brief: The story of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead near her holiday home in West Cork in 1996.
Frequency: 14 episodes
Average run time: 30 minutes
In 1996, French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier is found dead near her holiday home in West Cork – but there are no witnesses and no apparent motive. The police suspected one man in the community but couldn't charge him, and he refuses to leave, having lived under the glare of suspicion ever since. This series features the family of the victim, the suspect and the locals.
Murder They Wrote
The brief: Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling share their obsession with true crime with deep dives into shocking true stories
Frequency: Weekly
Average run time: 30 minutes
This series is a more light-hearted take on true crime, with hosts Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling making each other laugh as they unpack crucial moments to get to the heart of whodunnit stories. Recent episodes include the story of a man who stole 200,00 Cadbury Creme Eggs, as well as a group of teenagers being landed with a deadly homework assignment.
Unreliable Witness
The brief: Season 6 of Sky News' StoryCast looks into the story of Ellie Williams, who was jailed for false claims she’d been trafficked.
Frequency: Six episodes
Average run time: 40 minutes
At the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams made false claims she'd been trafficked across the North of England by an Asian grooming gang. In this series, Sky News’ Jason Farrell and Liz Lane, who reported on the case at the time, investigate what could have led her to make these claims.
Can I tell you a secret?
The brief: The Guardian podcast that takes a look at a cyberstalker who wreaked havoc across the internet and ruined people’s lives.
Frequency: Seven episodes
Average run time: 40 minutes
It starts with a seemingly innocent message from someone who appears to be a young woman asking a question: 'Can I tell you a secret?' But this six-part (plus a bonus episode) series explores the life-ruining consequences of what happened when a cyberstalker used this to wreak havoc, calling into question the lives we lead online.
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