Love in the Time of Serial Killers

Phoebe is a doctoral student writing her dissertation on true crime books, and her dissertation process is a major facet of the novel. Her inner monologues often focus on killers whose high-profile cases unfolded in the public eye and captured the attention of countless Americans. She mentions Jon Benet’s murderer, Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and even the fictional figure Buffalo Bill from the novel-turned-film The Silence of the Lambs. This motif helps the author explore The Societal Fascination With True Crime as a theme and provide depth and social context to a novel largely devoted to love and romance.

Phoebe’s dissertation topic is particularly relevant now, as societal interest in true crime has skyrocketed and, during the first two decades of the 21st century in particular, true crime has become a multi-billion-dollar genre. The argument Phoebe makes in her dissertation is relevant, complex, and nuanced: She notes how true crime from each particular era since the breakout success of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood has reflected the societal fears, beliefs, and values of the time it was produced. True crime stories from the 1960s reveal widespread fears about a rapidly changing, increasingly liberal society.