Laura Tillman's The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts offers an unforgettable look at the John Allen Rubio murders that happened in Brownsville, Tex., in 2003. Tillman, who focuses on Brownsville as much as the crime itself, picks a few of her favorite nontraditional true crime books.

Many great nonfiction books begin with a crime as their point of departure, and little more. Here are nine examples of master works that use the premise of a crime to explore themes like obsession, loss, ethics, race, and the American landscape.