🚨 Investigative Failures

Books that examine cases where investigations went wrong—through incompetence, corruption, or systemic failure—and the devastating consequences for justice and the people left behind.

Zero Fail

by Carol Leonnig • 2021

A bulletproof reputation, repeated near misses, and the rot the Secret Service hid for decades.

4.23

10k+

🏛️ Presidential History 🚔 Federal Law Enforcement 🏚️ Institutional Failure

Zero Fail 88%

A bulletproof reputation, repeated near misses, and the rot the Secret Service hid for decades.

by Carol Leonnig 2021

4.23

10k+ ratings

🏛️ Presidential History 🚔 Federal Law Enforcement 🏚️ Institutional Failure

London Falling

by Patrick Radden Keefe • 2026

A young impostor dies in the Thames. Police close the case. His parents don't.

4.37

36k+

🕵️ Investigative Journalism 🔍 Family Investigation 🎭 Impostor Narrative

London Falling 88%

A young impostor dies in the Thames. Police close the case. His parents don't.

by Patrick Radden Keefe 2026

4.37

36k+ ratings

🕵️ Investigative Journalism 🔍 Family Investigation 🎭 Impostor Narrative

Legacy of Ashes

by Tim Weiner • 2007

Born to inform presidents, the CIA chose covert action instead, and its failures are fatal.

3.96

16k+

🕵️ Intelligence Agencies 🕶️ Covert Operations 🚨 Institutional Failure

Legacy of Ashes 88%

Born to inform presidents, the CIA chose covert action instead, and its failures are fatal.

by Tim Weiner 2007

3.96

16k+ ratings

🕵️ Intelligence Agencies 🕶️ Covert Operations 🚨 Institutional Failure

The Franklin Scandal

by Nick Bryant • 2008

A credit union fronted a child-trafficking ring. The cover-up is better documented than the crime.

4.30

926

🔗 Human Trafficking 📁 Institutional Cover-Up 🔍 Investigative Journalism

The Franklin Scandal 88%

A credit union fronted a child-trafficking ring. The cover-up is better documented than the crime.

by Nick Bryant 2008

4.30

926 ratings

🔗 Human Trafficking 📁 Institutional Cover-Up 🔍 Investigative Journalism

College Girl, Missing

by Shawn Cohen • 2024

She vanished after a night of partying, barefoot on the security footage. The witnesses went silent.

3.54

18k+

🔍 Unsolved Disappearances 🎓 College Campus Crime 📺 Media And Crime

College Girl, Missing 88%

She vanished after a night of partying, barefoot on the security footage. The witnesses went silent.

by Shawn Cohen 2024

3.54

18k+ ratings

🔍 Unsolved Disappearances 🎓 College Campus Crime 📺 Media And Crime

Hauptmann's Ladder

by Richard T. Cahill Jr. • 2014

The Lindbergh case retried: a ladder, a money trail, and doubts the execution never settled.

4.17

125

🕰️ Historical True Crime ⭐ Celebrity Crime 🔬 Forensic Evidence

Hauptmann's Ladder 87%

The Lindbergh case retried: a ladder, a money trail, and doubts the execution never settled.

by Richard T. Cahill Jr. 2014

4.17

125 ratings

🕰️ Historical True Crime ⭐ Celebrity Crime 🔬 Forensic Evidence

The Doctor Who Fooled the World

by Brian Deer • 2020

The vaccine study that scared the world was a lie. Twelve children's medical records held the proof.

4.04

2k+

🩺 Medical Fraud 💉 Vaccine Misinformation 🔍 Investigative Journalism

The Doctor Who Fooled the World 87%

The vaccine study that scared the world was a lie. Twelve children's medical records held the proof.

by Brian Deer 2020

4.04

2k+ ratings

🩺 Medical Fraud 💉 Vaccine Misinformation 🔍 Investigative Journalism

The Innocent Man

by John Grisham • 2006

Ada, Oklahoma. Two men condemned for murder. Twelve years later, DNA pointed to the real killer.

3.87

85k+

🏛️ Wrongful Convictions ⚖️ Death Penalty 📋 Prosecutorial Misconduct

The Innocent Man 87%

Ada, Oklahoma. Two men condemned for murder. Twelve years later, DNA pointed to the real killer.

by John Grisham 2006

3.87

85k+ ratings

🏛️ Wrongful Convictions ⚖️ Death Penalty 📋 Prosecutorial Misconduct

We Keep the Dead Close

by Becky Cooper • 2020

Red ochre. A Harvard student murdered. Anthropology department blamed. DNA named a stranger.

3.72

13k+

🕵️ Cold Case Investigations 🏛️ Institutional Cover-Ups 🎓 Gender In Academia

We Keep the Dead Close 87%

Red ochre. A Harvard student murdered. Anthropology department blamed. DNA named a stranger.

by Becky Cooper 2020

3.72

13k+ ratings

🕵️ Cold Case Investigations 🏛️ Institutional Cover-Ups 🎓 Gender In Academia

Champagne Football

by Mark Tighe • 2020

He ran Ireland's football body like a personal bank, and the game nearly collapsed.

4.37

2k+

🕵️ Investigative Journalism 🏛️ Governance Failure 💰 Corporate Corruption

Champagne Football 87%

He ran Ireland's football body like a personal bank, and the game nearly collapsed.

by Mark Tighe 2020

4.37

2k+ ratings

🕵️ Investigative Journalism 🏛️ Governance Failure 💰 Corporate Corruption

Inviting Disaster

by James R. Chiles • 2001

Catastrophe is never one mistake. It's small failures linking up while everyone looks elsewhere.

4.03

565

🧨 Technological Disasters 🏗️ Engineering Failures 🔗 System Failures

Inviting Disaster 87%

Catastrophe is never one mistake. It's small failures linking up while everyone looks elsewhere.

by James R. Chiles 2001

4.03

565 ratings

🧨 Technological Disasters 🏗️ Engineering Failures 🔗 System Failures

The Secret Barrister

by The Secret Barrister • 2018

A barrister reveals how criminal courts became an assembly line, and who pays the price.

3.88

23k+

🏛️ Criminal Justice 💔 Systemic Failure 💷 Austerity Politics

The Secret Barrister 87%

A barrister reveals how criminal courts became an assembly line, and who pays the price.

by The Secret Barrister 2018

3.88

23k+ ratings

🏛️ Criminal Justice 💔 Systemic Failure 💷 Austerity Politics

Bedingt dienstbereit. Im Herzen des BND - die Abrechnung eines Aussteigers

by Norbert Juretzko • 2004

The inside story of an intelligence agency so inept the Americans bought their agents a Winnebago.

3.67

🕵️ German Intelligence 📋 Bureaucratic Failure 📢 Whistleblowing

Bedingt dienstbereit. Im Herzen des BND - die Abrechnung eines Aussteigers Summary

Bedingt dienstbereit. Im Herzen des BND - die Abrechnung eines Aussteigers 87%

The inside story of an intelligence agency so inept the Americans bought their agents a Winnebago.

by Norbert Juretzko 2004

3.67

21 ratings

🕵️ German Intelligence 📋 Bureaucratic Failure 📢 Whistleblowing

Normal Accidents

by Charles Perrow • 1984

The safer we try to make a system, the more unknowable its failure modes become.

4.05

704

🏭 Sociotechnical Systems ⛓️‍💥 Systemic Failure 🪜 Cascading Failures

Normal Accidents 87%

The safer we try to make a system, the more unknowable its failure modes become.

by Charles Perrow 1984

4.05

704 ratings

🏭 Sociotechnical Systems ⛓️‍💥 Systemic Failure 🪜 Cascading Failures

Manifest Injustice

by Barry Siegel • 2013

The clemency board voted unanimously to free him. Then the governor, facing reelection, said no.

4.10

178

🚨 Wrongful Conviction 🕊️ Innocence Movement 🔬 Flawed Forensics

Manifest Injustice 87%

The clemency board voted unanimously to free him. Then the governor, facing reelection, said no.

by Barry Siegel 2013

4.10

178 ratings

🚨 Wrongful Conviction 🕊️ Innocence Movement 🔬 Flawed Forensics

The Last Coyote

by Michael Connelly • 1995

Suspended, a detective reopens his mother's cold case and stirs a cover-up someone still kills for.

4.26

86k+

🚔 Police Procedural 📁 Cold Case 🐺 Lone Wolf Detective

The Last Coyote 87%

Suspended, a detective reopens his mother's cold case and stirs a cover-up someone still kills for.

by Michael Connelly 1995

4.26

86k+ ratings

🚔 Police Procedural 📁 Cold Case 🐺 Lone Wolf Detective

Save Her Soul

by Lisa Regan • 2020

A body in her late husband's jacket, unearthed by a flood: her own high school bully.

4.36

8k+

🚔 Police Procedural 🕵️ Cold Case Mystery 🏘️ Small Town Secrets

Save Her Soul 87%

A body in her late husband's jacket, unearthed by a flood: her own high school bully.

by Lisa Regan 2020

4.36

8k+ ratings

🚔 Police Procedural 🕵️ Cold Case Mystery 🏘️ Small Town Secrets

The Plane That Wasn't There

by Jeff Wise • 2015

No debris. Two conflicting satellite signals. The evidence MH370 went north instead of south.

3.56

2k+

🛩️ Aviation Disasters 🔍 Unsolved Disappearances 📰 Investigative Reporting

The Plane That Wasn't There 87%

No debris. Two conflicting satellite signals. The evidence MH370 went north instead of south.

by Jeff Wise 2015

3.56

2k+ ratings

🛩️ Aviation Disasters 🔍 Unsolved Disappearances 📰 Investigative Reporting

The Grim Sleeper

by Christine Pelisek • 2016

He murdered Black women for decades while police looked away. A piece of pizza ended it.

3.92

1k+

🕵️ Serial Murder Cases 📁 Cold Case Investigations 🤝 Police Mistrust

The Grim Sleeper 87%

He murdered Black women for decades while police looked away. A piece of pizza ended it.

by Christine Pelisek 2016

3.92

1k+ ratings

🕵️ Serial Murder Cases 📁 Cold Case Investigations 🤝 Police Mistrust

Hard News

by Seth Mnookin • 2004

The New York Times's worst wound: how autocracy, not one fraudster, tore the newsroom apart.

3.91

274

🗞️ Media Ethics 📰 Newsroom Culture 🏛️ Institutional Failure

Hard News 87%

The New York Times's worst wound: how autocracy, not one fraudster, tore the newsroom apart.

by Seth Mnookin 2004

3.91

274 ratings

🗞️ Media Ethics 📰 Newsroom Culture 🏛️ Institutional Failure

The Premonition

by Michael Lewis • 2021

A handful of outsiders saw COVID-19 coming and built the warning system the CDC refused to.

4.32

43k+

🏥 Public Health 🦠 Epidemiology 🚨 Pandemic Response

The Premonition 87%

A handful of outsiders saw COVID-19 coming and built the warning system the CDC refused to.

by Michael Lewis 2021

4.32

43k+ ratings

🏥 Public Health 🦠 Epidemiology 🚨 Pandemic Response

The Other Side of Prospect

by Nicholas Dawidoff • 2022

A murder in New Haven, a false confession, and the forces that made both inevitable.

4.43

462

🏚️ Urban Decay ⚖️ Criminal Justice Reform ⛓️ Wrongful Conviction

The Other Side of Prospect 87%

A murder in New Haven, a false confession, and the forces that made both inevitable.

by Nicholas Dawidoff 2022

4.43

462 ratings

🏚️ Urban Decay ⚖️ Criminal Justice Reform ⛓️ Wrongful Conviction

Three Cups of Deceit

by Jon Krakauer • 2011

The humanitarian's origin story was fiction, and his charity paid for chartered jets, not schools.

3.72

12k+

🔍 Investigative Journalism 🦸 Manufactured Heroism 📺 Media Manipulation

Three Cups of Deceit 87%

The humanitarian's origin story was fiction, and his charity paid for chartered jets, not schools.

by Jon Krakauer 2011

3.72

12k+ ratings

🔍 Investigative Journalism 🦸 Manufactured Heroism 📺 Media Manipulation

Desert Star

by Michael Connelly • 2022

An aging detective joins a cold case unit to find a family's killer in the Mojave.

4.47

86k+

🔍 Cold Case Investigation 🧬 Forensic Genealogy 🌃 LA Noir

Desert Star 87%

An aging detective joins a cold case unit to find a family's killer in the Mojave.

by Michael Connelly 2022

4.47

86k+ ratings

🔍 Cold Case Investigation 🧬 Forensic Genealogy 🌃 LA Noir

Linda, como en el asesinato de Linda

by Leif G.W. Persson • 2005

A police student murdered. A cynical detective. Too many clues, not enough answers.

3.23

2k+

🚔 Police Procedural 🌨️ Nordic Noir 🕵️ Flawed Detective

Linda, como en el asesinato de Linda Summary

Linda, como en el asesinato de Linda 87%

A police student murdered. A cynical detective. Too many clues, not enough answers.

by Leif G.W. Persson 2005

3.23

2k+ ratings

🚔 Police Procedural 🌨️ Nordic Noir 🕵️ Flawed Detective

Perversion of Justice

by Julie K. Brown • 2021

Thirteen months for abusing dozens of girls. The secret deal one reporter exposed.

4.21

4k+

🔍 Investigative Journalism ⛓️ Sex Trafficking ⚖️ Justice System

Perversion of Justice 87%

Thirteen months for abusing dozens of girls. The secret deal one reporter exposed.

by Julie K. Brown 2021

4.21

4k+ ratings

🔍 Investigative Journalism ⛓️ Sex Trafficking ⚖️ Justice System

Post-Mortem

by Patricia Daniels Cornwell • 1990

A medical examiner tracks a serial strangler as a saboteur in her office buries the case.

4.03

261k+

🔬 Forensic Investigation 🩸 Serial Killer 👩‍🔬 Female Investigator

Post-Mortem 87%

A medical examiner tracks a serial strangler as a saboteur in her office buries the case.

by Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990

4.03

261k+ ratings

🔬 Forensic Investigation 🩸 Serial Killer 👩‍🔬 Female Investigator

The Ultimate Evil

by Maury Terry • 1987

Berkowitz took the fall. The Son of Sam murders were a cult operation, and the others walked.

3.87

2k+

😈 Satanic Panic 🔍 Investigative Journalism 🕯️ Occult Crime

The Ultimate Evil 87%

Berkowitz took the fall. The Son of Sam murders were a cult operation, and the others walked.

by Maury Terry 1987

3.87

2k+ ratings

😈 Satanic Panic 🔍 Investigative Journalism 🕯️ Occult Crime

The Challenger Launch Decision

by Diane Vaughan • 1997

The chain of small failures that precedes every disaster, and where to break it.

4.08

459

🔥 Organizational Failure ⚡ Crisis Leadership 📉 Risk Normalization

The Challenger Launch Decision 87%

The chain of small failures that precedes every disaster, and where to break it.

by Diane Vaughan 1997

4.08

459 ratings

🔥 Organizational Failure ⚡ Crisis Leadership 📉 Risk Normalization

Flying Blind

by Peter Robison • 2021

Boeing swapped safety for stock price, and two crashes later, 346 were dead.

4.17

4k+

🏛️ Corporate Accountability 💥 Aviation Disasters ⚖️ Regulatory Capture

Flying Blind 87%

Boeing swapped safety for stock price, and two crashes later, 346 were dead.

by Peter Robison 2021

4.17

4k+ ratings

🏛️ Corporate Accountability 💥 Aviation Disasters ⚖️ Regulatory Capture

Blind Injustice

by Mark Godsey • 2017

How good people convict the innocent: a former prosecutor on the cognitive traps built in justice.

4.39

345

⚖️ Wrongful Convictions 🏛️ Criminal Justice Reform 👁️ Eyewitness Misidentification

Blind Injustice 87%

How good people convict the innocent: a former prosecutor on the cognitive traps built in justice.

by Mark Godsey 2017

4.39

345 ratings

⚖️ Wrongful Convictions 🏛️ Criminal Justice Reform 👁️ Eyewitness Misidentification

The Autistic Brain

by Temple Grandin • 2013

The FBI made Whitey Bulger an informant. He turned his handlers into his hit squad.

4.1

11k+

🕵️ Fbi Misconduct 🚔 Police Corruption 🏙️ Boston History

The Autistic Brain 87%

The FBI made Whitey Bulger an informant. He turned his handlers into his hit squad.

by Temple Grandin 2013

4.1

11k+ ratings

🕵️ Fbi Misconduct 🚔 Police Corruption 🏙️ Boston History

Money Men

by Dan McCrum • 2022

When a reporter questioned Wirecard's Asian billions, the company hired spies to destroy him.

4.03

3k+

🏦 Corporate Fraud 🔍 Investigative Journalism 📢 Whistleblowers

Money Men 87%

When a reporter questioned Wirecard's Asian billions, the company hired spies to destroy him.

by Dan McCrum 2022

4.03

3k+ ratings

🏦 Corporate Fraud 🔍 Investigative Journalism 📢 Whistleblowers

Silent Bones

by Val McDermid • 2025

Bones beneath a motorway pull a detective into a secret club where membership is murder.

4.12

7k+

🕵️ Cold Case Investigation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Noir 🎭 Secret Society

Silent Bones 87%

Bones beneath a motorway pull a detective into a secret club where membership is murder.

by Val McDermid 2025

4.12

7k+ ratings

🕵️ Cold Case Investigation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Noir 🎭 Secret Society

Success through Failure

by Henry Petroski • 2006

Every triumph contains the seed of its collapse; the art of design is spotting it early.

3.60

201

🧱 Engineering Failures 💡 Learning From Failure 📐 Design Theory

Success through Failure 87%

Every triumph contains the seed of its collapse; the art of design is spotting it early.

by Henry Petroski 2006

3.60

201 ratings

🧱 Engineering Failures 💡 Learning From Failure 📐 Design Theory

Becoming Brigitte

by Xavier Poussard • 2025

No photos before 40. A 53% face match. France jailed the people who asked why.

4.18

281

🏛️ French Politics 📰 Political Scandal 🔍 Investigative Journalism

Becoming Brigitte 87%

No photos before 40. A 53% face match. France jailed the people who asked why.

by Xavier Poussard 2025

4.18

281 ratings

🏛️ French Politics 📰 Political Scandal 🔍 Investigative Journalism

Stamped

by Jason Reynolds • 2020

A fake blood test, a charismatic founder, and the whistleblowers who risked everything to expose it.

4.46

55k+

🕵️ Corporate Fraud 💻 Tech Scandal 🗞️ Investigative Reporting

Stamped 87%

A fake blood test, a charismatic founder, and the whistleblowers who risked everything to expose it.

by Jason Reynolds 2020

4.46

55k+ ratings

🕵️ Corporate Fraud 💻 Tech Scandal 🗞️ Investigative Reporting

The First Family Detail

by Ronald Kessler • 2014

Cruelty, affairs, nuclear lapses: what Secret Service agents witnessed inside the White House.

3.37

4k+

🏛️ Presidential History 🛡️ Secret Service 📰 Political Exposé

The First Family Detail 86%

Cruelty, affairs, nuclear lapses: what Secret Service agents witnessed inside the White House.

by Ronald Kessler 2014

3.37

4k+ ratings

🏛️ Presidential History 🛡️ Secret Service 📰 Political Exposé

One Nation Under Blackmail

by Whitney Alyse Webb • 2022

Seventeen White House visits. The blackmail machine that protected Jeffrey Epstein for decades.

4.42

712

🏛️ Political Corruption 🕵️ Intelligence History 🔫 Organized Crime

One Nation Under Blackmail 86%

Seventeen White House visits. The blackmail machine that protected Jeffrey Epstein for decades.

by Whitney Alyse Webb 2022

4.42

712 ratings

🏛️ Political Corruption 🕵️ Intelligence History 🔫 Organized Crime

Framed

by John Grisham • 2024

The innocent confess. Eyewitnesses err. Science is fudged. The system buries its mistakes.

4.10

28k+

🏛️ Wrongful Convictions ⚖️ Criminal Justice Reform 🔍 Innocence Movement

Framed 86%

The innocent confess. Eyewitnesses err. Science is fudged. The system buries its mistakes.

by John Grisham 2024

4.10

28k+ ratings

🏛️ Wrongful Convictions ⚖️ Criminal Justice Reform 🔍 Innocence Movement

The Big Empty

by Robert Crais • 2025

A baker hires Elvis Cole to find her missing father. Then the witnesses start dying.

4.51

16k+

🕵️ Cold Case Mystery 🕶️ Hardboiled Private Eye 👥 Detective Duo

The Big Empty 86%

A baker hires Elvis Cole to find her missing father. Then the witnesses start dying.

by Robert Crais 2025

4.51

16k+ ratings

🕵️ Cold Case Mystery 🕶️ Hardboiled Private Eye 👥 Detective Duo

Bad City

by Paul Pringle • 2022

The dean smoked meth. The doctor assaulted hundreds. The newspaper tried to bury both stories.

4.21

4k+

🏛️ University Scandals 🕵️ Institutional Coverup ⚠️ Campus Sexual Abuse

Bad City 86%

The dean smoked meth. The doctor assaulted hundreds. The newspaper tried to bury both stories.

by Paul Pringle 2022

4.21

4k+ ratings

🏛️ University Scandals 🕵️ Institutional Coverup ⚠️ Campus Sexual Abuse

True Crime Addict

by James Renner • 2016

One journalist's obsessive search for a missing student leads to arrests, addiction, insanity.

3.65

9k+

🔍 True Crime Memoir 🕵️ Cold Cases 🔎 Obsessive Investigations

True Crime Addict 86%

One journalist's obsessive search for a missing student leads to arrests, addiction, insanity.

by James Renner 2016

3.65

9k+ ratings

🔍 True Crime Memoir 🕵️ Cold Cases 🔎 Obsessive Investigations

If You Tell

by Gregg Olsen • 2019

Oil made the Osage the richest people on earth. Then trusted friends began murdering them for it.

3.98

360k+

📜 Historical True Crime 📰 Investigative Journalism 🏛️ Institutional Corruption

If You Tell 86%

Oil made the Osage the richest people on earth. Then trusted friends began murdering them for it.

by Gregg Olsen 2019

3.98

360k+ ratings

📜 Historical True Crime 📰 Investigative Journalism 🏛️ Institutional Corruption

Bête noire

by Éric Dupond-Moretti • 2012

In French courts, judges shield their own, experts peddle junk, and acquittals mean war.

3.80

186

🏛️ Criminal Justice ⚖️ Wrongful Conviction 🛡️ Criminal Defense

Bête noire 86%

In French courts, judges shield their own, experts peddle junk, and acquittals mean war.

by Éric Dupond-Moretti 2012

3.80

186 ratings

🏛️ Criminal Justice ⚖️ Wrongful Conviction 🛡️ Criminal Defense

Dark Alliance

by Gary Webb • 1998

The CIA's Contra army needed money. The cocaine they smuggled to get it fueled LA's crack epidemic.

4.30

2k+

🕵️ Investigative Journalism 💥 Crack Epidemic 🕶️ Covert Operations

Dark Alliance 86%

The CIA's Contra army needed money. The cocaine they smuggled to get it fueled LA's crack epidemic.

by Gary Webb 1998

4.30

2k+ ratings

🕵️ Investigative Journalism 💥 Crack Epidemic 🕶️ Covert Operations

Follow the Money

by Dan Bongino • 2020

A Cambridge dinner, a monitored phone call, and the trap that felled a national security advisor.

4.36

757

🕵️ Deep State 🏛️ Political Corruption 📰 Media Bias

Follow the Money 86%

A Cambridge dinner, a monitored phone call, and the trap that felled a national security advisor.

by Dan Bongino 2020

4.36

757 ratings

🕵️ Deep State 🏛️ Political Corruption 📰 Media Bias

Ironwood

by Michael Connelly • 2026

A Catalina stakeout kills a deputy. The detective in charge chases a killer wearing a badge.

4.41

21k+

🚔 Police Procedural 📁 Cold Case Investigation 🔪 Serial Killer Hunt

Ironwood 86%

A Catalina stakeout kills a deputy. The detective in charge chases a killer wearing a badge.

by Michael Connelly 2026

4.41

21k+ ratings

🚔 Police Procedural 📁 Cold Case Investigation 🔪 Serial Killer Hunt

Lying for Money

by Dan Davies • 2018

Fraud is the price of trust: a predictable equilibrium with its own rules, not a system glitch.

3.99

1k+

🕵️ White Collar Crime 🤝 Systems Of Trust 🪤 Perverse Incentives

Lying for Money 86%

Fraud is the price of trust: a predictable equilibrium with its own rules, not a system glitch.

by Dan Davies 2018

3.99

1k+ ratings

🕵️ White Collar Crime 🤝 Systems Of Trust 🪤 Perverse Incentives

The Secret History of the Rape Kit

by Pagan Kennedy • 2025

Marty Goddard invented the rape kit. The Chicago PD gave the credit to a male sergeant.

3.89

10k+

⚖️ Criminal Justice 🔬 Forensic Science 🛡️ Sexual Assault Advocacy

The Secret History of the Rape Kit Summary

The Secret History of the Rape Kit 86%

Marty Goddard invented the rape kit. The Chicago PD gave the credit to a male sergeant.

by Pagan Kennedy 2025

3.89

10k+ ratings

⚖️ Criminal Justice 🔬 Forensic Science 🛡️ Sexual Assault Advocacy

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