Author: Suzanne Hamlin

Show: Fatal Family Feuds

Family feuds that end in murder

Fatal Family Feuds
Photo by Wendelin Jacober on Pexels.com

About Fatal Family Feuds

When you think of family feuds, the Hatfields and McCoys might come to mind, two feuding families that fought over decades. Fatal Family Feuds has a few cases between different families, but it mostly details murder cases involving members of the same family. And they’re not so much feuds as disagreements and issues involving child custody, inheritance, life insurance, or divorce.

Sometimes the cases consist of intimate partner homicide, or murders of one spouse by their in-laws, or sometimes adult children kill a parent out of bitterness or for money.

In each episode, family members provide their perspective on the cases, and detectives chime in on the investigations. Fatal Family Feuds has a lot of overlap with Blood Relatives, Evil Kin, and Dateline, but some cases are newly covered.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 2 (2023-)

Where to stream: Peacock, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video

More shows like Fatal Family Feuds: Blood Relatives, Evil Kin, Feuds Turned Fatal

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Cold Case Files: Dead West

Cold Cases in the American West

Cold Case Files: Dead West
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About Cold Case Files: Dead West

Cold Case Files: Dead West puts a spin on the Cold Case Files series with a focus on murders in the American West. From Montana to Texas, the show looks at murders in specific locations in the West that were long-unsolved and traces how detectives and cold case units solved them after many years, and sometimes, decades.

Unlike other Cold Case Files shows, the narrator isn’t Bill Kurtis. Instead, this show adds a little western atmosphere with a narrator who sounds like a weathered old cowboy. It’s a regional series similar to Southern Fried Homicide and Sins of the South, but focusing on cold cases.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 1 (2025-)

Where to stream: Hulu

More shows like Cold Case Files: Dead West: Southern Fried Homicide, Sins of the South, Murder in the Wicked West, Homicide City: Charlotte, Homicide Squad: Atlanta, Murder Nation: Blood on the Bayou, The Real Murders of Atlanta, Serial Killer Capital: Baton Rouge, Southern Gothic

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✘ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Murder Under the Friday Night Lights

Football is the setting for murder

Murder Under the Friday Night Lights
Photo by Jean-Daniel Francoeur on Pexels.com

About Murder Under the Friday Night Lights

Football is a violent sport, no doubt, but who knew there were so many murders associated with it? Murder Under the Friday Night Lights presents cases of cheerleaders, football players, coaches, and even marching band members involved in murders and attempted murders, either as victims or perpetrators.

These murders occurred in various areas of the US—many in small towns, where football is a major part of life—and some even involved NFL players.

Re-creations are minimal, and there is no narration, so detectives, journalists, and victims’ friends and family are the main voices for the story.

Even if you’re not a football fan, you’ll likely find most of the cases in the series engaging.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 4 (2022-)

Where to stream: HBO Max, Hulu, Discovery+

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✘ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Death by Fame

Fame leads to murder

Death by Fame
Photo by Ekaterina Belinskaya on Pexels.com

About Death by Fame

Fame has its perks and its downsides, but no one expects murder to be part of celebrity. Death by Fame features stories of murders about famous, almost famous, and aspiring actors, musicians, models, fashion designers, reality TV stars, and filmmakers, either as victims or suspects.

Included in episodes are the stories of detectives who investigated the cases, family and friends of victims, and police interviews of suspects.

Some of the cases involve people as famous as Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, and others only aspire to fame, but all had their lives and career paths changed by murder. The show might make any wannabe celebrity think twice.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 3 (2023-)

Where to stream: HBO Max, Hulu, Discovery+, Amazon Prime Video

More shows like Death by Fame: Hollywood & Crime, Murders of Hollywood, Hollywood Demons

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✘ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Show: Murder by Medic

Murders by medical professionals

Murder by Medic
Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com

About Murder by Medic

They’re supposed to save lives, but sometimes, they take lives. Murder by Medic details murders by healthcare professionals in the US, UK, Australia, and Germany, including doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and paramedics, who killed patients, spouses, or others, many in healthcare or elder care settings.

Few episodes include victims’ loved ones and their stories. Instead, experts like criminologists, psychologists, retired detectives, and doctors such as Bryanna Fox, Joni Johnston, Donna Youngs, Sarah Jarvis, and Rod Demery are joined by investigators to describe the murders.

The show has a lot of overlap with Nurses Who Kill, but also includes high-profile cases like Jack Kevorkian, Christopher Duntsch, and Yolanda Saldivar.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 4 (2024-)

Where to stream: The Roku Channel, Tubi, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video

More shows like Murder by Medic: Nurses Who Kill, Deadly Dentists

See also this list of true crime shows

✓ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✘ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✓ Experts
✘ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Documentary: An Update on Our Family

The fall of the Stauffer family and its popular YouTube channel

The perfect family is not always what it seems, and An Update on Our Family documents the crumbling facade of one such family: the Stauffers. The Stauffers attempted to sell its perfection through a YouTube channel that presented their idyllic family life. The channel became increasingly popular with pregnancy announcements, and ultimately, the adoption of a boy from China with special needs.

But as with all perfect families, the facade fell apart, a deterioration that began when the adoption did not go the way the Stauffers intended and did not fit into the glossy presentation of their family.

This three-part HBO docuseries reveals the monetization behind these types of channels, what happens when fans become overly invested in a family, and particularly, what happened when the Stauffer family made a tough decision about their adopted child, and the backlash that occurred. It includes interviews with other family channel parents, journalists, adoption experts, and a YouTube expert, but not the Stauffers themselves.

Anyone who has watched a family channel, read a mommy blog, or is interested in the dark side of this type of content should check out An Update on Our Family.

Show: Impostors

Criminals who use fake personas to commit crime

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com

About Impostors

Impostors tells the stories of people pretending to be someone else, using fake names, professions, or disguises, in order to steal money from others. Even though these crimes are despicable and changed the lives of the victims, the show treats the cases with a lighter touch.

Some of the perpetrators appear in episodes, along with victims’ loved ones and investigators involved in the cases. The show is similar to American Greed in its focus on financial crimes, but has a semi-humorous tone, like Bizarre Murders.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 1 (2014)

Where to stream: Discovery+

More shows like Impostors: American Greed, The Big Swindle, The Con, Serial Swindlers

See also this list of true crime shows

✘ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Documentary: Sweet Bobby

A story of catfishing, power, and manipulation

The Netflix documentary Sweet Bobby is a catfishing story like no other. It’s a tangled tale of power and manipulation perpetrated for no other reason than control. A chilling one, at that.

Kirat meets Bobby Jandu online through a family member, and they become friends, talking on Facebook for months and forging what seems like a close relationship. Kirat learns that Bobby is getting divorced, but he gets engaged to someone else, all while he and Kirat maintain their close online friendship. Tragedy hits Bobby when he is shot, has a stroke, and ends his relationship. As Kirat continues to support him, they find that they have feelings for each other and get engaged, but they have never meet in person—not even once—and every time they make plans to meet, something comes up. When Karit finally tries to find him, Bobby’s true identity is revealed.

Kirat was catfished by “Bobby” for almost nine years. She tells the story from her perspective, an often painful trip through manipulation and control, made even more painful when she discovers the real person behind Bobby’s fake persona. She shares many of the texts, photos, and videos they exchanged, and is joined by family members and friends, who provide their insights on the tragic situation.

Show: Nightmare Next Door

Murders in small towns

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

About Nightmare Next Door

No one expects their neighbor to be the victim of a murder, especially residents of small towns, where everything seems idyllic and protected from big-city crime. But these homicides do happen, and Nightmare Next Door tells their stories.

The show focuses on murder cases in small towns, and a few smaller cities. These cases are mostly stranger murders and often occur in the person’s home.

Early episodes incorporate brief glimpses into detectives’ or prosecutors’ backgrounds or hobbies, which do not connect to any aspect of the case and so seem oddly included. Perhaps the show was trying to make law enforcement seem like everyday people, but this attempt falls flat.

In general, the show is pretty low-quality and not all that interesting. Skip it unless you’re looking for emphasis on murders in small towns, or a show with a lot of seasons. Try Murder Comes to Town or Heartland Homicide, instead.

The Show Elements

Seasons: 10 (2011-2021)

Where to stream: Tubi, The Roku Channel, Discovery+, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video

More shows like Nightmare Next Door: Murder Comes to Town, Murder in the Heartland, Heartland Homicide

See also this list of true crime shows

✘ Police interviews
✘ Trial clips
✓ Narration
✓ Re-creations
✘ Experts
✓ Victims’ families and friends

Latest Posts

Documentary: Can I Tell You a Secret?

Can I Tell You A Secret? details the story of the stalking and harassment of several women in the UK on social media, which escalated to text messages and phone calls, all perpetrated by one person. The stalker relentlessly terrorized these women by creating fake profiles, impersonating them, spreading rumors about them, and even contacting their friends and families and telling lies about them. These crimes weren’t fully investigated until one police officer took charge.

What were the reasons for this despicable behavior? Would the perpetrator be prosecuted for his crimes? The Netflix documentary features two episodes that tell the story through first-person accounts from the victims, the police officer who took on the case, and others. It shines a light on the dangers of social media and the evil ways people can use it.