Songs in the Key of Death looks at the historic true crimes that inspired a selection of murder ballads, combining music, true crime, history, and edge-of-your-seat storytelling, along with new recordings from SAD13 and Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

Hosted by music critic and author Courtney E. Smith, each episode of season one explores a single murder ballad that has been passed down by scores of singers, with each generation telling their own version of events and putting a new spin on stories of very real, often gruesome slaughters. After being told and retold, these songs and the murders that inspired them have become legends. The show looks at the violent criminals we can’t stop singing about, the grisly history they reflect, and the underrepresented voices of victims who didn’t get to tell their own stories.