I love True Crime — I don’t allow myself to watch Dateline or any shows like that because I will fall down a dangerous binge spiral and eventually scare myself. I LOVED Season 1 of SERIAL (please, let’s not talk about Season 2) — I was and continue to remain fully engaged in the twists of the Adnan Syed trial. But since that season ended, I’ve felt a podcast void, until I found and listened to these three podcasts. So, if you were a fan of SERIAL, take a listen. All of these podcasts are available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

ACCUSED: This eight episode podcast tells the story of the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Andes, a recent graduate of Miami University who was found naked and dead in her apartment. The police arrested her then-boyfriend, Bob Young, who was then acquitted TWICE. Did police really get the wrong guy? I really like this podcast because it was based at my alma mater, so a lot of the places mentioned are very familiar. Also, Beth Andes’ family lived in Rocky River, so a northeast Ohio connection. I also really like the narration by the journalist who investigated the case with the Cincinnati Enquirer so many years later. It moves fast, but if you’re looking for a nice tidy ending, you won’t get it.

IN THE DARK: Set in rural Minnesota, this podcast tells the story of 11 year old Jacob Wetterling, who was kidnapped at gun point in 1989 just a short distance from his home, in the presence of two witnesses. Unlike ACCUSED this does have a definitive ending that is discussed in episode one, but there are enough twists and intrigue to keep you interested. This story left me pretty angry at the ineptitude of the Sheriff’s department, and their complete unwillingness to admit they did anything wrong or should have done things differently.

CRIMINAL: Hosted by Phoebe Judge, CRIMINAL is a podcast about, you guessed it, crime! However, unlike ACCUSED and IN THE DARK, Criminal explores a story over one or two episodes, so you can listen in almost any order. The stories are not always murder or kidnapping, so there is enough to keep it interesting even if you’re only listening to a single episode. The two most recent podcasts I listened to involved identity theft by an unlikely culprit, and the story of an illegal adoption clinic that was adopting babies to Akron area parents.

There you have it: three true crime podcasts for you to explore! I’d love to hear your recommendations on new podcasts, so please leave your suggestions in the comments!