Chilling reads: two thirds of Brits read true crime as Criminal Psychologist reveals why we are so intrigued by crime

LONDON, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- From notorious criminals to high profile robberies and real-life horrors, interest in true crime is high with 74 percent of people choosing to read the category as it records the highest average reading times across several genres on the Readly app.

When it comes to the nature of crimes people follow, 47 percent read high profile crimes with major twists, 41 percent chose to read about notorious serial killers that were eventually unmasked and 35 percent are gripped by criminals who lead double lives.

A third (32 percent) are captivated by disappearances with no trace and 31 percent are intrigued by reading up on wrongful convictions, showed the research by Readly digital magazine and newspaper app.

Interest in the category appears to be due to the psychological and mysterious nature of the reports. 61 percent of people said they read to understand criminal minds and the psychological aspect and 53 percent enjoy the mystery involved in solving cases. For others, it's fuelling the inner detective and justice, with 40 percent reading true crime for the desire for justice and exposing wrongful convictions and 39 percent reading due to the real-world stakes.

"There are crimes throughout history that have the power to impact every one of us personally, threatening our fundamental sense of safety, whether we recognise it or not. Year after year, stories of real people as victims and offenders and real consequences activate our emotional response and foster a strong emotional connection with the victim and their families.

"Our fascination with true crime and the horror of the stories, is essentially a way of reminding us that we're not as civilised and safe as we may think and this destabilizing of people is a reminder that we have to find a way of dealing with the sense of threat and fears. For some people, when they solve a 'whodunnit', they are actually reassuring themselves that they are clever enough that they would never get caught out. Other people want to know every detail of how a particularly notorious serial killer operated as their way of dealing with the fear these crimes generate.

"So the popularity of reading true crime, especially the raw reactions captured in the articles on Readly from years ago, I believe helps us deal with our own hidden fears," says Professor Donna Youngs, Criminal and Investigative Psychologist

Interest in true crime also appears to also be about escapism and thrill, with 48 percent believing they would make a good detective and 28 percent saying it is a safe way to experience fear and suspense.

The category is trending in terms of time spent reading too as Readly's in app data shows that true crime content generates the highest average reading time per issue across several genres including history, lifestyle, and celebrity titles. Lifestyle magazines with true crime specials demonstrate even higher engagement, with 44 and 35 minutes of average reading time per issue, respectively. This compares with TV, film and cinema (27 minutes), Science (20 minutes) and Cars and Motoring (19 minutes) which were Readly's top categories in terms of time spent reading per session according to its 2024 trends report.

Readly has launched a true crime retro series with The Evening Standard, featuring some of the most well known crimes across history such as Jack the Ripper, The Great Train Robbery, Serial killer Fred West House of Horrors and The Pearl Robbery.

"Interest in reading around crime past and present has grown in recent years and true crime themed lifestyle, history and celebrity magazines are amongst some of the most read on the Readly app in terms of reading time. People are spending time deep diving into articles or reading back on crimes from history.True Crime is a genre with increasing interest across all forms of media so we're delighted to bring this historic series to our readers.  We are dedicated to providing our subscribers with the content they crave and are committed to offering intriguing and distinctive content like this to, complement the array of magazines and newspapers available on our app," says Chris Couchman, Head of Content at Readly

The True Crime retro series includes:

• Jack the Ripper, breaking coverage of final murder, 10 Nov 1888
• Notorious Dr. Crippen Trial, 18 Oct 1910
• The Pearl Robbery, 18 Sep 1913
• Infamous NY gangster in London Underworld, 30 Aug 1930
• Ruth Ellis Case (last woman to be executed in Britain), 28 April 1955
• The Profumo Affair, Christine Keller and Soviet espionage, 14 Jun 1963
• The Great Train Robbery, 8 Aug 1963
• Kray Twins arrest, 8 May 1968
• Kray Twins accused of murder, 15 Oct 1968
• The Yorkshire Ripper captured, 5 Jan 1981
• Brinks Matt Robbery, Guard sentenced, 17 Feb 1984
• Serial killer Fred West caught, House of Horrors, 7 May 1994

The launch of the True Crime Retro Series with the Evening Standard is the latest in a series of retro launches for Readly and part of its continued effort to bolster its content portfolio, offering its readers a broad range of content and over 8,000 digital magazines and newspapers on the platform.

For more information visit www.readly.com.

For more details contact: kate.tegelaars@readly.com or 07879 818 711

Research: The representative online survey was conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Readly in March 2025. 1,000 people in the UK were surveyed. Comparative data from Sweden and Germany is also available.

About Readly
Readly is a European category leader for digital magazines and newspapers. The Company offers a digital subscription service where customers have unlimited access to 8,000 national and international titles - all in one app and at a fixed monthly fee. Readly has subscribers in 50 countries and content available in 17 different languages. In collaboration with around 1,000 publishers worldwide, Readly is digitising the newspaper and magazine industry. In 2024, revenues amounted to SEK 725 million. The Readly share is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market and FNCA Sweden AB is the Company's Certified Advisor. For more information, please visit https://corporate.readly.com

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