True Crime is one of the most popular genres of film, podcasting, literature, and TV worldwide. We are obsessed with tales of the morbid, dark, and most importantly, true. As one cold-case detective believes, we can’t get enough true crime because of what it teaches us about our human nature. But that same detective found that these lessons on humanity could also be found in – what was for him – the unlikeliest place: The Bible.

Meet our guest

Links

Special thanks to our season sponsor Zondervan Academic. Get discounts on MasterLectures video courses and exclusive samples of their books at zondervanacademic.com/undeceptions

You can order a copy of Jim’s new book “The Truth in True Crime” here

A transcript of this episode is available here. Please note, that due to software not all exchanges between guests will be completely accurate.

Extras

Check out the helpful links below for more information on what was discussed in this episode.

To Read

• A lot has been written about the effects of the true crime genre recently. Here’s a fascinating New York Times article on the potential drawbacks of the craze
• Sometimes our obsession with true crime can run away with us – as this story from The Atlantic documented
• John himself loved the hit show Only Murders in the Building – here’s a fun explainer all about it
• Prince Harry’s revelation that he killed 25 insurgents on the battlefield drew a maelstrom of controversy – read about the reaction here
• This book isn’t Jim’s first time writing about this topic. Order yourself a copy of his companion work Cold Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels here

To Watch

• A Dickson favourite is the hit TV crime drama Broadchurch – featuring this fearsome scene in which David Tennant channels his inner-protective father’s angst
• Jim is no stranger to the video world either – check out his YouTube channel here, featuring all manner of cool videos on Christianity
• Here’s a video from Fox News featuring a case that Jim himself worked on
• Officer401 is a fascinating YouTube channel of a policeman answering real-time questions – such as “what’s it like to be a detective? “

To Listen

• Of course, we refer back to multiple Undeceptions episodes in this one. Check out our recent feature on Augustine here, and our episode Just War here
• There are too many true crime podcasts to list here – but if you want to dip your toe in, check out Serial, arguably the most famous of them all (and a favourite of Producer Kaley)
• Jim also hosts his own podcast! Check out The Cold-Case Christianity Podcast here
• If you want to check out a true crime show but don’t have the patience for an episode-by-episode investigation, Casefile looks at just one case per episode

… and finally

• Did you know one of the most celebrated crime writers in America was a man called John Dickson Carr? He’s been dubbed the “king of the locked room mystery”. Check out his story