Ghettoside

Not “true crime” in the conventional sense, though it does follow one specific murder case through investigation and trial. However, the victim of that murder is a young black man, as are his killers, which isn't usually the case in most true crime stories (or at least not the ones that get the most attention). Leovy also takes a wider perspective, focusing on the steady drumbeat of unsolved murders happening while the main case is still pending. One of the things you hear a lot about in criminal justice is overpolicing of poor and minority communities (which is absolutely a problem), but this book sheds light on how those communities are, at the same time, tragically under-policed when it comes to the most serious crimes. People are arrested for minor drug charges or traffic violations, while others can literally get away with murder. It's a disservice on both sides of the equation, and this book should spark conversations about what we're really doing with police resources and whose lives are ending unvalued.