Love in the Time of Serial Killers

Content Warning: Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

Love in the Time of Serial Killers heavily references Truman Capote’s seminal work of nonfiction In Cold Blood (1965). This work is typically considered the first in the true crime genre: a work of narrative nonfiction that provides an in-depth exploration of a real-life criminal case. Works of true crime examine not only a crime but also its aftermath. They give detailed accounts of everyone involved, from those who commit the crime to the victim(s) and the investigators. They unpack the investigation process, interviewing the investigators to provide a step-by-step account of how they solved the crime, and discuss the crime’s impact on the victims, their families, and the community. They also present the judicial process, providing a window into the case’s legal proceedings and outcomes.

As Phoebe notes, true crime both explores and shapes public perception of both crime and criminality, and its popularity as a genre has only grown since In Cold Blood’s publication. What was once a literary genre has evolved along with advances in technology and in cultural production: During the 1980s and 1990s, televised series in the genre such as Dateline joined paper books, and the introduction of podcasts into the media world catapulted the genre further into the mainstream.