Best Investigative Journalism Books

Recommended Reading List

On this page: a personal selection of the best investigative journalism books in the nonfiction genre. Find also links to notable articles, community book ratings and reviews, book details and valuable podcast episodes. Every recommended book has a read more button included.

For this selection of nonfiction books, I’ve included the best investigative journalism books that I was able to find in this category. Interestingly, most of these top investigative journalism stories happened to be true crime books as well. From digging deep into the world of Hell’s Angels or Scientology to sex scandals, these investigative journalists below have tackled subjects to uncover the truth.

The book pickings below, are the best investigative journalism books I’ve found so far. The books are published by some of the best investigative journalists and I thoughtfully selected the titles and obviously read every single one of them. The selection is a celebration of the genre and of the effort, these journalists put into their work. Stay tuned if you want to discover the top investigative journalism books.

Best investigative journalism books

Bad Blood

Bol.com | Amazon |
Waterstones | Bookshop.org

John Carreyrou spent 20 years working as an investigative journalist for the Wall Street Journal and is known for reporting on several corporate scandals during his career. In late 2015, Carreyrou started a deep investigation on a story that was – and still is, in many ways almost too wild to believe. Bad Blood reads as a psychological thriller that chronicles the downfall of Theranos – a multibillion dollar startup owned by high school drop-out Elizabeth Holmes. The startup had a bold promise: to change the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. I found it an incredible, top investigative journalism book written by a great author.

Going Clear

The Book Depository | Amazon | Bol.com
Waterstones | Bookshop.org

Journalist Lawrence Wright delivered an insightful glimpse into the world of Scientology with Going Clear. This book is based on more than 200 personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists. Wright did years of archival research to capture and uncover for us the inner workings of Scientology. It´s incredibly fascinating to read about its vast, secret campaign to infiltrate the U.S. government, the struggles to find acceptance as a legitimate and legally acknowledged religion and its fight to grow and prevail after the death of the Scientology founder. The book leaves you with questions like: what makes a religion a religion.

Hell’s Angels

The Book Depository | Amazon |
Waterstones | Bookshop.org

Thompson is considered to be the founder of Gonzo journalism – a genre of its own, which helped him capture the best account we have of the truth behind Hell’s Angels closed doors.

Best investigative journalism books 2022

Here are the investigative journalism books I read in 2022 and would like to recommend:

Catch and Kill

The Book Depository | Amazon |
Waterstones | Bookshop.org

When journalist Ronan Farrow caught wind of a story about a powerful Hollywood producer who was known to be a prolific sexual predator, he began digging—and immediately faced backlash, threats, and even blackmail. This book is a high-level investigative journalism piece of how powerful people leverage their wealth and privilege to protect themselves, and how he relentlessly pursued the truth to bring down a predator and all of the people who enabled him.

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I’ll be regularly updating this roundup to include additional thrilling new offerings of the best investigative journalism books.

Lisanne

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