Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson Pages: 336
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC, NetGalley
Narrator: Lee Daniels
Goodreads
Turns out that reading nothing but true crime isn’t exactly conducive to modern dating—and one woman is going to have to learn how to give love a chance when she’s used to suspecting the worst.
PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analyzing the genre in her dissertation—if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years.
It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he’s clearly up to something). It’s not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier—a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.
All the true crime junkies out there will relate to Phoebe in Love in the Time of Serial Killers. Honestly, if I could figure out how to get a PhD involving true crime research, I would do it.
Phoebe falls the Crime Junkie rule of being rude, staying alive by becoming instantly skeptical of her late father’s neighbor, Sam. But, Phoebe’s gruff exterior is more than just a crime junkie life rule. She has a walled off heart to pretty much everyone. Sam is one of those genuinely nice guys, and I’m kind of surprised he stuck around because sometimes I wanted to throttle Phoebe. Perhaps the real focus of the story is on everyone around Phoebe getting her to realize not everyone is going to bail on her. Her brother is a shining light of pure happiness, and it serves to further showcase how untrusting Phoebe is.
I enjoyed Love in the Time of Serial Killers and think fans of true crime books and podcasts will as well! The story does feel slow at times, but I think it is worth hanging in there!
Lee Daniels narrates the audio version and I thought she was great!! I highly recommend the audio version.
- POV: 1st (Phoebe)
- Tears: no
- Trope: grumpy/sunshine (Phoebe is the grump)
- Triggers: View Spoiler »
- Series/Standalone: standalone
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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authors like Kerry Winfrey, Sally Thorne, Sarah Smith…then you will probably like Love in the Time of Serial Killers!
Love in the Time of Serial Killers
Yay, I’m so glad to see that you liked this one. It’s on my wish list and sounds right up my alley as a true crime lover!
-Lauren