In my last post, I announced the premiere of my true crime podcast titled, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. One of the reasons I started a true crime podcast is because I am a fan of murder and mystery podcasts, so this week, I thought I’d tell you about some of my favorites and how they inspired me to begin my own podcast.
True crime podcasts take a variety of formats from a sleek sound production including interviews with those who had firsthand knowledge of the crime to dramatic recreations of events to a simple retelling of the facts of the crime. Some crime podcasts are seasonal with each season devoted to a particular murder or murderer. In these podcasts, the host breaks down the crime and the investigation. Other murder podcasts take an unsolved murder and attempt to solve it over the course of the season. Still, others involve a group of law enforcement experts discussing the pros and cons of the investigation of the crime.
The true crime genre is popular across all media formats. Take a look at the many true crime TV shows, including Dateline and 48 Hours. True crime books are immensely popular. I write a true crime newsletter, and you’ll find several true crime magazines at the newsstand. With its overwhelming popularity, it is no surprise true crime is also a major theme for podcasts.
I have not yet listened to a seasonal podcast devoted to a deep dive into one crime or one criminal, but several stand out in the rankings, including Someone Knows Something, Up and Vanished, and Accused.
If you like humor with your murder, check out White Wine True Crime or My Favorite Murder.
My favorite true crime podcasts are Sword and Scale, Criminal, Generation Why, True Crime Historian, and Casefile True Crime.
Sword and Scale is not for the squeamish. The polished, well-researched podcast takes a hard look at the most gruesome crimes.
Criminal simply does a great job of reporting well-researched crimes in a straight-forward manner.
Generation Why involves two hosts named Aaron and Justin who tell the listener the facts of a crime in a conversational manner. This is another podcast where a great deal of research is put into each episode.
True Crime Historian covers crimes from the past, and the listener not only learns about the crime but also learns a little history in the process.
Casefile True Crime is an addiction with its stellar narration and sleek production. You won’t be able to stop listening.
In the realm of “Mystery,” I highly recommend the podcast Lore. Lore looks at the creepy scary folklore legends of history to determine if there is any truth to these tales we first heard while sitting around the campfire. As the Lore website says, “Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction.”
There are many more, great true crime and mystery podcasts out there, and once you hear one, you will want to hear them all. Try out the ones I’ve suggested, and while you’re at it, I hope you will give my podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier a listen.
Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.
