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Well, if it has to be a novel, I'd vote for Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Not usually thought of in this genre, but it does fit and it is a book that continues to reverberate across the literary world.
However, why go the novel route when there are so many real-life crime and mystery events that have been written about. How about, for example, these three:
Honor Killing by David Stannard, which is about the killing of a native Hawaiian in the 1930s by the people who framed the boy for rape (needless to say, whites). Story involves the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Congress, Hawaiian royalty and more. Clarence Darrow to the defense.
Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgement of Mankind by Bruce Watson. Sacco and Vanzetti were anarchists but did they really do the crime for which they were executed.
The Trial of The Scottsboro Boys by David Aretha. Framed for rape and convicted. A tragedy of justice.
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Hat tip to the poster rhadin, who provided these recommendations on another thread and graciously permitted me to post these selections on this thread.
The best crime nonfiction book that I have read is :
Homicide, David Simon
It chronicles a year in the life of some homicide detectives in Baltimore City in the year 1988. If you want the gritty , "hard boiled " reality of how big city homicide detectives do their work, then this is the book for you. I was in Baltimore at the time and had some contact with that milieu, and he was spot on.
This was the same David Simon who went on to create several award winning TV series, including one based on the book.