Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson: With dark humour splattered neatly 
throughout every page, Love in the Time of Serial Killers is an exploration of what it means to love when you have braced your heart for the worst of the worst, actually falling in love and enduring the vulnerability of it all.
Phoebe, returning to Florida to put her late father’s house on the market after his unexpected death, is faced with both the metaphorical killers in her past and the ones in her future. Cynical, jaded and not at all interested in risk taking or making herself available, her heart begins to thaw when it turns out the super helpful hot guy next door Sam is indeed not a Serial Killer and her brother’s optimism maybe like a micro viral infection.
Finishing the last chapters of her post-grad dissertation on True Crime, Phoebe begins the slow journey of childhood healing and comes to terms with some harsh home truths before returning to North Carolina to find the life she believed she wanted.
Tragic, clever and littered with a cute mixture of self-deprecation and wit, Phoebe is the perfect character to highlight the power of self-sabotage. Themes of family separation, mistrust, fear and depression were managed brilliantly and the pastiche of pop-culture and True Crime references throughout were well constructed and delivered with apt timing.
Neighbour Sam, brother Conner, and ex-bestie Allison all feature as unique side characters who all route for Phoebe to climb out of her own self-perpetuated darkness, bringing with them hope and lightness that sit in stark contrast to her. Moreover, the steamy stop start romance that ensues and becomes the summer attraction might just be the thing Phoebe needs to crack her armour and help her believe again.
There was so much to love about this novel; a killer read that ticks all of the boxes and provides a little bit extra just to keep you guessing.
Book Info:
Publication: 16th August 2022 | Jove Books |
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.
