Welcome back to Subject spotlight, the blog series where we give you quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market. In our previous post, we shared sales and library circulation data for the Fiction / Fantasy BISAC subject. This time weâre looking into the True Crime fandom!
How did Non-Fiction / True Crime titles perform during the third quarter of 2026? Letâs find out with the help of our SalesData & LibraryData services.
Buying Non-Fiction / True Crime
As shown in the graph below, year-over-year sales of True Crime titles were down by 13% in July and August, and up by 35% in September.
In 2025, sales decreased by 30% from July to August, and by 8% in September.
In 2026, sales of True Crime titles were down 39% from July to August. However, sales then went up by a noteworthy 43% from August to September.
Overall, the sales of True Crime titles decreased by 35% and increased by 1% in the third quarters of 2025 and 2026, respectively.
These are the BISAC subcategories with the highest year-over-year increases in sales:
- True Crime / White Collar Crime â up 412%
- True Crime / Organized Crime â up 392%
- True Crime / Cybercrime â up 84%
From July to September, the most purchased True Crime subcategories were:
- True Crime / Murder â 56% of all True Crime sales
- True Crime / Organized Crime â 25% of all True Crime sales
- True Crime / While Collar Crime â 4% of all True Crime sales
Borrowing Non-Fiction / True Crime
Year-over-year, True Crime loans increased by 12% in July, by 6% in August, and by 9% in September. Overall loans decreased by 16% in the third quarter of 2025 and by 18% in the third quarter of 2026.
Year-over-year renewals increased by 14% in July, 5% in August, and 8% in September. Overall, renewals decreased by 9% in the third quarter of 2025 and decreased by 15% in the third quarter of 2026.
Which True Crime subcategories were the most popular in Canadian libraries? From July to September, these subcategories saw the greatest increases in library circulation compared to 2025:
- True Crime / General â loans up 215% and renewals up 36%
- True Crime / Cybercrime â loans up 139% and renewals up 76%
- True Crime / Historical â loans up 81% and renewals up 29%
During the third quarter of 2026, the most circulated True Crime subcategories were:
- True Crime / Murder â 48% of all True Crime loans and 56% of all True Crime renewals
- True Crime / General â 21% of all True Crime loans and 9% of all True Crime renewals
- True Crime / Organized Crime â 6% of all True Crime loans and 9% of all True Crime renewals
Reading Non-Fiction / True Crime
Here are the top selling and top borrowed True Crime titles from the third quarter of 2026.
Top sold
- Chasing Evil by Robert Hilland, John Edward, and Natasha Stoynoff
- The Girl with No Name by Catherine Fogarty đ
- Plastic Shaman by Annette McGivney
- On South Mountain by David Cruise đ and Alison Griffiths đ
- A Double Life by Mikita Brottman
Top borrowed
- London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
- Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
- Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey
- The Wager by David Grann
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
