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38 of Your Favorite Page-Turning Reads About Proving Innocence

María Cristina García Lynch

Staff Writer

María Cristina García lives in New York with her favorite spouse, her favorite toddler, her favorite cat, and her second-favorite cat. When not ranking members of her household, she's catching up on Supergirl, strumming her mandolin, or trying to beat the clock on her library loans. Twitter: @MeowyCristina Blog: MeowyCristina.com

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This Riot Recommendation for page-turning reads about proving innocence is sponsored by Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea.

Don't Believe It by Charlie Donlea coverBestselling author Charlie Donlea explores the dark side of crime docudramas like “Making a Murderer” and “The Jinx” as a TV producer strives to clear a woman convicted of murdering her boyfriend.

False convictions are an incredibly frustrating flaw in our justice system. But they do make for compelling reading in fiction. And cathartic reading, too, when the innocent person is ultimately vindicated. So we asked you to comment with your picks for those page-turning reads about proving innocence. Here’s a sampling of your responses in fiction and nonfiction:

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Fever in the Dark by Ellen Hart

Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell

The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns

Triptych by Karin Slaughter

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

A Death in Live Oak by James Grippando

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

A Twist in Time by Julie McElwain

The Verdict by Nick Stone

Tulia by Nate Blakeslee

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redeption by Stephen King

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Hush-Hush by Laura Lippman

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

An Expendable Man by Margaret Edds

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

Blind Injustice by Mark Godsey

Exit to Freedom by Calvin Johnson

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard

Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino

Getting Life by Michael Morton

Bloodsworth by Tim Junkin

Lie to Me by J. T. Ellison

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

Convicting the Innocent by Brandon Garrett

False Justice by Nancy and Jim Petro

Caught by Harlan Coben

Robicheaux by James Lee Burke