True Detective

The True Tale of Seattle's Sherlock Holmes

Luke May was a one-man CSI unit who solved crimes in the city’s most tumultuous era. In 1923, one wild case would take him into a world of murder, astrology, and secret codes.

09/09/2025 By Allison Williams

Death By Air

Why Have We Had So Many Serial Killers Here?

A new book connects two ugly chapters of Washington’s history.

06/10/2025 By Eric Olson

Feature

Clouded Judgment: How a Former Amazon Employee Hacked Capital One

Paige Thompson engineered one of the biggest data breaches in history from her bedroom in South Seattle. Her trial exposed us all.

04/04/2023 By Benjamin Cassidy

Data Dive

You Can Expect to Live Longer in Washington

New CDC figures show that life expectancy dipped across the U.S. as Covid began to spread. But our longevity number remains resiliently high.

09/23/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy

Choppy Start

The Weather's Not the Only Thing Raining on Seattle Beach Season

A crackdown on crime and a lifeguard shortage are also cramping dreams of a sandy summer.

06/14/2022 By Taylor McKenzie Gerlach

Gun Violence

Mass Shootings in Washington

Tracking an unbearable toll.

06/01/2022 By Angela Cabotaje

Currents

What Downtown Seattle Says about Downtown Seattle

Those who live or work at street level share their experiences about the most discussed, and mythologized, part of our city.

03/30/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy

The Truth is Out There

D.B. Cooper Con Convenes to Solve the 50-Year-Old Mystery

Washington's biggest crime enigma gets a two-day symposium in Vancouver.

11/12/2021 By Allison Williams

mystery

Is D.B. Cooper Still on the Run?

Fifty years ago a mysterious criminal parachuted out of an airliner and into legend. An FBI agent, a self-trained scientist, and an outsider theorist have all dedicated years to unraveling the Northwest's iconic puzzle. But can you catch a myth?

09/27/2021 By Allison Williams Illustrations by Joseph Laney

Review

HBO’s The Mystery of D.B. Cooper Succumbs to America's Hijacker Obsession

In 1971, Cooper jumped from a plane, likely over Washington, with $200,000 and has never been found—but people keep trying.

11/25/2020 By Stefan Milne

Enclaves

Displaced from the Central District

How the lives of two drug kingpins trace a neighborhood’s gentrification and struggle for justice.

11/24/2020 By Levi Pulkkinen

News Wire

Weekend What to Do January 25–27

Your true crime fix at the Neptune, a sophisticated, emo outfit, and a century-old play.

01/24/2019 By Gwen Hughes

Feature

The Russian Spies Who Fooled Seattle

Before hackers tried to sway the 2016 election or word spread that our new president might be compromised, a peculiar couple resided on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Have we really taken stock of the spies who lived among us?

10/30/2017 By James Ross Gardner