Crime and Popular Culture: Rule Breakers analyses society's fascination with criminals and investigates the changing acceptability of rule breakers across different times and contexts through a cultural criminological lens.

Divided into two parts, the book begins by examining factual representations of rule breakers in media, tourism, and murderabilia, and then focuses on fictional representations in literature, film, music, alcohol, and gaming industries. It analyzes the romanticization of criminals and the intertwined effect of popular culture on the 'real world', including cases where offenders were allegedly inspired by popular culture. Familiar case studies include crime-related dark tourism sites, moral panics surrounding music and deviance, and the growing popularity of immersive criminal world experiences in gaming.

Crime and Popular Culture will appeal to students, scholars, and anyone with an interest in criminology, cultural studies, crime and the media, and a fascination with crime and popular culture.