After the 2008 publication of my true crime memoir, Luggage By Kroger, I discovered the opportunity to compete in several major national book contests for independent and academic publishers with titles in the true crime genre. So, I entered every one I could find in an effort to gauge the book’s level of universal appeal. Gratified to emerge as a winner of medals in three of these so far in 2009 with one more contest scheduled to report later in the year, I decided to research other winners in past years and compile a list of recent small press true crime award-winning books. I have not been able to read all of these books, yet, and have not attempted to rank them in any fashion besides their numbers of awards. Although these books were published outside the mainstream, their recognition by judges in these contests should qualify them as titles worth a look for readers eager to find a good yarn off the beaten path. I would encourage readers to comment on the selections in this list or submit titles of other award-winning true crime titled I may have missed. These books collected true crime genre honors from four national contests: ForeWord Magazine’s National Book-of-the-Year Awards, the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs), the National Indie Excellence Awards and the USA Book News National Book Awards. Here are books recognized in recent years for these contests in the true crime genre.