Dallas-based journalist and podcaster Claire St. Amant has agreed to a deal with BenBella Books to publish Killer Story, a memoir revealing the inner workings of national TV crime coverage, while also offering a behind-the-scenes peek at her journey in mainstream network news.

In the book, St. Amant will recount her days as an investigative crime reporter and producer at CBS News' 48 Hours and 60 Minutes, where she lived the high-stakes game of network television. It promises a peek at the ruthless world of true-crime television reporting, behind the yellow tape and the camera flashes, to show what it really takes to get a killer story.

BenBella Books has published pop culture/celebrity bestsellers such as The Actor's Life, The Geraldo Show, Pretty Little Killers, Presumed Guilty, and Family Don't End with Blood.

In a statement, BenBella Books publisher Glenn Yeffeth says he's "thrilled to be publishing Claire's fascinating account of her career as an investigative crime reporter."

"The only thing more interesting than the true crime cases she covers is the behind-the-scenes accounts of how she breaks the news," Yeffeth says. "Claire is relentless, brilliant and does what it takes to get her story. I could not put this manuscript down!"

Told through the framework of headline-grabbing murder trials, Killer Story is St. Amant’s personal journey into—and out of—true crime television. Can you say Bombshell?

St. Amant was a founding editor for CultureMap Dallas when it launched in 2012, and subsequently spent nearly a decade in network television, pitching, producing, and writing about the biggest true crime stories in the country: American Sniper Chris Kyle, the Parkland School Shooting, and the Murdaugh Murders.

Her stories on Keller "black widow" Michele Williams are still among the top traffic-getter stories for CultureMap since they were published in 2013.

St. Amant has been face-to-face with serial killers, hit men, and cold-blooded murderers. She didn’t start out with any connections to the national media, but built an award-winning body of work that had the big three networks chasing her reporting all the way down to Texas.

"Most people would not believe what actually goes on behind the scenes when you are making true crime TV. It’s a cutthroat business in more ways than one," St. Amant says. "This book has been a dream of mine for years, and it's really exciting to see it come to life."

St. Amant, who also launched a true crime podcast series in 2021, is represented by Carrie Pestritto at Laura Dail Literary Agency. The book is set for publication in February 2025.