Best True-Crime Memoirs for Christian Readers

Real-Life Testimonies of Justice, Mercy, and Redemption ...
If you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by the mysteries and complexities of true crime, you’re not alone. Many readers are drawn to stories of justice, human brokenness, and the search for truth. Yet for believers, the challenge lies in finding narratives that don’t glorify evil but instead reveal how God’s light can pierce even the darkest moments.
That’s where Christian true crime memoirs come in—real-life stories that don’t sensationalize tragedy, but spotlight redemption, forgiveness, and the transforming power of grace. These books invite readers to wrestle with deep questions about justice, mercy, and the consequences of sin, while never losing sight of the God who redeems.
Whether written by survivors, investigators, or family members who clung to faith in the midst of trauma, these accounts remind us that no life is beyond God’s reach. For Christian readers seeking honesty without hopelessness, and truth without despair, faith-based true crime memoirs offer both conviction and comfort. They show that even in humanity’s darkest hours, God’s light still shines.
Terror by Night by Terry Caffey
Publisher Description:
At 3:00 a.m. on March 1, 2008, Terry Caffey awoke to find his daughter’s boyfriend standing in his bedroom with a gun. An instant later the teen opened fire, killing Terry’s wife, his two sons, and wounding him 12 times, before setting the house ablaze. Terry fell into deep depression and planned to kill himself, but God intervened.
Terror by Night tells the compelling story of how Terry Caffey found peace after his wife and sons were brutally murdered and his teenage daughter implicated in the crime. Sharing never-before-told details about the night of the crime and subsequent murder trial, it explains how Terry was able to forgive the men who murdered his family, and how he even interceded with the prosecutors on their behalf.
A powerful example of how the power of forgiveness can bring healing after tragedy and great loss, it shows how God can bring good out of even the darkest tragedies.
Forgiving My Daughter's Killer: A True Story of Loss, Faith, and Unexpected Grace by Kate Grosmarie
Publisher Description:
On March 28, 2010, Kate and Andy Grosmaire received two pieces of news that would change their lives forever. The first was their worst nightmare: "Ann has been shot."
And the second was the dumbfounding addendum: "Conor was the one who shot her."
Their nineteen-year-old daughter had been killed by her boyfriend, a young man who had lived with the family and had come to feel like part of it. In a beautiful, tragic testament to the liberating power of forgiveness, Kate Grosmaire tells the story of her daughter's murder at the hand of her boyfriend—and the stunning, deliberate forgiveness and help that Kate and her husband offered to the young man who shattered their world.
Part memoir, part spiritual testimony, Forgiving My Daughter’s Killer is the story of a family whose faith was put to the test and so found the capacity to do far more than they could have thought or imagined.
Murder by Family: The Incredible True Story of a Son's Treachery and a Father's Forgiveness by Kent Whitaker
Publisher Description:
One fateful evening, the Whitaker family walked into their house to discover a gunman waiting for them.
He opened fire on the family, killing the wife and one son. Mr. Whitaker and his other son were airlifted to a local hospital and survived the deadly attack. While lying in the emergency room, Mr. Whitaker learned of his wife and son’s deaths and had to decide whether to forever hate their killer or forgive him. Mr. Whitaker chose the path of forgiveness.
In the weeks following the murder, the police learned that the attack had been orchestrated by the son who survived—Mr. Whitaker had unknowingly forgiven his own son for destroying their family. That son was eventually arrested and convicted of the crime, and now he sits on death row.
Murder by Family is the story of Kent Whitaker’s forgiveness in the face of the ultimate betrayal.
One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting by Marie Monville
Publisher Description:
In the startling tragedy of the Amish schoolhouse shooting at Nickel Mines, one story has never been told: Marie Roberts Monville, the wife of the man who created such horror, tells her story for the very first time. It is a story of sorrow and destruction, but also one of majestic deliverance, unending compassion, breathtaking forgiveness, and grace-filled redemption.
Within a solitary moment, Marie Monville realized that life as she knew it was over. What she never anticipated was a tangible encounter with God reaching into her circumstances, through them rewriting all she believed about herself, her faith, and the God she thought she knew.
One Light Still Shines reveals three love stories: the innocent love of a devoted wife for a husband in pain, the incomprehensible love of God in the aftermath of massacre and destruction, and the redemptive love of Christ, waiting to unfold in the life of every person who reads this book.
A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson
Publisher Description:
In 2005, Kerri Rawson opened the door of her apartment to greet an FBI agent who shared the shocking news that her father had been arrested for murdering ten people, including two children.
That's also when she first learned that her father was the notorious serial killer known as BTK, a name he'd given himself that described the horrific way he committed his crimes: bind, torture, kill.
In the weeks and years that followed, Kerri was plunged into a black hole of horror and disbelief. The same man who had been a loving father, a devoted husband, church president, Boy Scout leader, and a public servant had been using their family as a cover for his heinous crimes since before she was born.
Everything she had believed about her life had been a lie. Written with candor and extraordinary courage, A Serial Killer's Daughter is an unflinching exploration of life with one of America's most infamous killers and an astonishing tale of personal and spiritual transformation.
If Walls Could Talk: The High Price of a Picture-Perfect Family by Sandee Jo Crocker
Publisher Description:
One woman's incredible true story as a survivor of partner abuse—and the shocking murder that ended it all.
How could I have let this happen? This was the torturous question circling through Sandee Jo Schankweiler’s mind as flashing red and blue lights cast eerie images against the backdrop of trees surrounding her home in rural Tennessee. In disbelief, she watched as a police officer placed his hand on the top of her seventeen-year-old son’s head to guide him into the back seat of a patrol car.
For years, Sandee Jo had lived on “Someday Isle.” Someday, she would escape her abusive husband, Tommy. Someday, her children would be safe. Someday, she would live free from fear.
But now, her worst fears had come true. Her husband, Tommy, lay dead from a gunshot wound to the head. He would terrorize his family no longer, but their safety had come at an unimaginable price.
In this riveting memoir, Sandee Jo Crocker shares her story to empower those enduring partner abuse to break free, and to equip those who love them to advocate on their behalf, as she shares dark secrets which previously could only have been revealed ...
Not Forgotten: The True Story of My Imprisonment in North Korea by Kenneth Bae
Publisher Description:
Not Forgotten is a modern story of intrigue, suspense, and heart. Driven by his passion to help the people of North Korea, Bae moves to neighboring China to lead guided tours into the secretive nation. Six years later, after eighteen successful excursions in and out of the country, Ken is suddenly stopped at the border: he inadvertently brought his hard drive, that reveals the true nature of his visits, to customs. He is arrested, brought to Pyongyang for further questioning, and sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor. His crime? Attempting to overthrow the North Korean government. He may never see his family again.
Back in America, family and friends rally support by establishing a website and creating a petition for Ken’s release. Soon, major media outlets decry Ken’s unjust imprisonment, bringing needed attention that culminates in President Obama’s call for prayer on behalf of Ken at the 2014 National Prayer Breakfast. Meanwhile, Ken grapples with his new, solitary reality as a captive of one of the world’s most brutal governments.
Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made in My Darkest Hour by Gayle Haggard
Publisher Description:
On November 2, 2006, Gayle Haggard’s life changed forever. That was the day that her husband, Ted Haggard, founder of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs and the President of the NAE, confessed to her the truth.
In Why I Stayed, Gayle walks us through the choices she made in her darkest hours. On the day and in the months ahead, everything in her life was at stake—what she believed, the husband she thought she knew, and the church community she had worked tirelessly to establish with her husband and friends in the basement of their home more than two decades ago. Out of this crucible in her life, Gayle has discovered a newfound passion for the central message of the Bible—the liberating message of forgiveness and love.
Why I Stayed is a must-read. It paints a picture of what less-than-perfect people, across this nation and all over the world, desperately need—a community of family and faith that offers healing love and a path to restoration.
The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo
Publisher Description:
Rebecca never felt safe as a child.
In 1969, her father, Robert Nichols, moved to Sellerstown, North Carolina, to serve as a pastor. There he found a small, southern community eager to welcome him―with one exception. Glaring at him from pew number seven was a man obsessed with controlling the church.
Determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way, he unleashed a plan of terror that was more devastating and violent than the Nichols family could have ever imagined. Refusing to be driven away by acts of intimidation, Rebecca’s father stood his ground until one night when an armed man walked into the family’s kitchen ...
And Rebecca’s life was shattered.
Karla Faye Tucker Set Free: Life and Faith on Death Row by Linda Strom
Publisher Description:
This gripping story about the first woman executed in Texas in over one hundred years draws on accounts from family, prisoners, government officials, and friends to show how God used a remarkable woman to reach countless lives with a message of redemption and joy.
Linda Strom, Tucker’s spiritual advisor and close friend for eleven years, includes photographs as well as excerpts from Tucker’s letters and interviews.
Hiding in the Light: Why I Risked Everything to Leave Islam and Follow Jesus by Rifqu Bary
Publisher Description:
Leaving Islam for Christianity cost her more than she imagined, but gave more than she could have dreamed.
Rifqa Bary grew up in a devout Muslim home, obediently following her parents’ orders to practice the rituals of Islam. But God was calling her to freedom and love. He was calling her to true faith. He was calling her to give up everything.
Hiding in the Light is the story of Rifqa’s remarkable spiritual journey from Islam to Christianity. It is also the untold story of how she ran from her father’s threats to find refuge with strangers in Florida, only to face a controversial court case that reached national headlines.
Most of all, it is the story of a young girl who made life-changing sacrifices to follow Jesus—and who inspires us to do the same.
Finding Baby Holly: Lost to a Cult, Surviving My Parents' Murders, and Saved by Prayer by Holly Marie
Publisher Description:
At ten months old, Holly Marie was brought to the door of a church by three barefoot women in white robes and head coverings. Adopted by the pastor and raised in a loving Christian home, Holly nevertheless struggled with the ache of not knowing what had happened to her biological parents. She still felt their absence even as she married and started a family of her own.
When two detectives showed up at the restaurant where she worked and informed her that she had a large family in Florida who had been searching for her for over 40 years, Holly’s past became the reality of her present, and she began the sometimes painful journey of discovering the truth about her origins: Her parents had been brutally murdered, their case still unsolved.
Finding Baby Holly is the true, inspiring story of a wife and mother who was “missing” for over forty years after her parents’ murders, the persistent detectives who never stopped investigating, and the birth family who never lost hope in finding her.
In the Presence of my Enemies by Gracia Burnhan
Publisher Description:
On May 27, 2001, missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham were taken hostage by terrorists. A year later, Gracia was rescued by a helicopter, but Martin with "angel's wings."
Gracia's riveting account tells about their ordeal; their relationship with each other and God; the actions of the governments involved; their captors' trial; and more.
Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife by Ruth A. Tucker
Publisher Description:
Ruth Tucker recounts a harrowing story of abuse at the hands of her husband—a well-educated, charming preacher no less—in hope that her story would help other women caught in a cycle of domestic violence and offer a balanced biblical approach to counter such abuse for pastors and counselors.
Weaving together her shocking story, stories of other women, and powerful stories of husbands who truly have demonstrated Christ’s love to their wives, with reflection on biblical, theological, historical, and contemporary issues surrounding domestic violence, she makes a compelling case for mutuality in marriage and helps women and men become more aware of potential dangers in a doctrine of male headship.
I Didn't Survive by Naghmeh Abedini Panahi
Publisher Description:
It’s hard enough having a painful secret that you are terrified of sharing. It’s even harder when you find yourself in the international limelight as the advocate wife of a Christian hero imprisoned for his faith.
The worst part is fearing that, if you did share this secret, it might devastate the lives of your family and close friends, alienate tens of thousands of active supporters, and cause persecuted people around the world to become even more vulnerable.
Naghmeh Abedini Panahi lived in constant tension from the irreconcilable realities playing out in her own life, in her family life, in the conduct of others, and on the worldwide stage as she interacted with power brokers and well-known religious leaders.
Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices by Mosab Hassan Yousef
Publisher Description:
Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power.
But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence and embarked on a spiritual journey, embracing instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.
Redeeming the True-Crime Genre for Christ!
Christian true crime memoirs do more than retell the tragedies of a fallen world. They reveal how even the most shattered lives can become testimonies of God’s grace and redemption. These stories remind us that justice and mercy are not opposites—they meet perfectly at the cross.
When we read about pain, betrayal, and loss through a faith-filled lens, we’re reminded that no act of evil can extinguish God’s goodness. Victims’ families who choose forgiveness, offenders who encounter Christ in prison, and communities healed through compassion—each story points to a Savior who redeems the irredeemable.
For Christian readers, these books serve as both a mirror and a mission: a mirror reflecting the brokenness that only God can heal, and a mission to pray for those still trapped in cycles of violence, guilt, or grief.
Because even in the darkest corners of the human heart, grace still wins.

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