Love in the Time of Serial Killers

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of suicidal ideation.

Phoebe Walsh has just made the move from North Carolina to Florida. Her father passed away recently, and she’s temporarily moving into his house to prepare it for sale. She hasn’t lived there since her parents divorced, more than 15 years ago. Other than her father, its most recent inhabitant is her 23-year-old brother Conner. She and Conner aren’t close. He’s seven years her junior and chose to remain with their father after the divorce, while Phoebe left to live with her mother.

After a grueling 10-hour drive, it’s almost two o’ clock in the morning when Phoebe arrives at her father’s house. She’s exhausted and has no idea how she’ll move the Victorian writing desk, the only large item she brought with her, into the house. Her old landlord helped her to strap it to the top of her car, and she isn’t sure she’s strong enough to unload it, let alone drag it inside. As she contemplates this predicament, she hears a voice asking if she needs help. She whips around to see a barefoot man with shaggy hair.