
When the Night Comes Falling
A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · July 1, 2025
Instant New York Times Bestseller “Compelling. . . .
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- Who it’s for
- A grim, focused true-crime read with a classroom-ready angle and sustained narrative momentum.
- Themes
- true crime, murder investigation, college tragedy
- Pacing
- Steady
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American PredatorMaureen Callahan, Amy Landon60% match
A Serial Killer's DaughterKerri Rawson, Devon O'day56% match
If You TellGregg Olsen54% match
Black DahliaWilliam J Mann60% match
Presumed InnocentScott Turow58% match
For younger readers: Girl on Trial, She's Gone, All These Bodies
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Instant New York Times Bestseller “Compelling. . . . Blum capably maintains the suspense and thoughtfully probes into the motives of key players in this intriguing yet profoundly unsettling story.”—Kirkus Reviews From the bestselling author of The Spy Who Knew Too Much and American Lightning comes the definitive account of the Idaho student murders—an updated paperback edition in time for the long-anticipated trial.
Continue reading
Timed for a trial that will capture national attention, When the Night Comes Falling examines the mysterious murders of the four University of Idaho students. Having covered this case from its start, Edgar award winning investigative reporter Howard Blum takes readers behind the scenes of the police manhunt that eventually led to suspected killer, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, and uncovered larger, lurid questions within this unthinkable tragedy. Reminiscent of the panoramic portraiture of In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song, When the Night Comes Falling offers a suspenseful, richly detailed narrative that will have readers transfixed.
Dark Case Notes
A grim, focused true-crime read with a classroom-ready angle and sustained narrative momentum.
Come here for
- true-crime severity, college-campus unease
- Howard Blum’s tightly paced crime framing
Expect
- mass-murder case context
- serial-killer-adjacent dread, handled straight
Where it sits
| Murder & Homicide | 59% |
|---|---|
| Mass Murder Cases | 18% |
| Forensics | 17% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Criminals & Outlaws
- 21st-Century America
- Western U.S. History
- Criminal Law
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Criminology
- Violence in Society
- Murder & Homicide
- Forensics
- Authors
- Howard Blum
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- July 1, 2025
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- true crime · murder investigation · college tragedy
- Reading lane
- Criminals & Outlaws