Introduction
Published in August 2022 by Alicia Thompson, Love in the Time of Serial Killers was a hit amongst the rom-com readers with a morbid curiosity in true crime. It’s a funny standalone that recently hit the shelves at The Works and has surged into popularity once again.
A Summary
Phoebe Walsh is a PhD student who knows more about cold cases than meets‑cutes, which is… not ideal when she’s back in Florida for the summer, sorting through her childhood home and trying to make peace with a father she barely knew. She’s exhausted, prickly, chronically suspicious—and then there’s Sam Dennings, the neighbor who looks like he files taxes early and hides bodies after dark. Except he doesn’t. He’s just painfully kind, annoyingly thoughtful, and exactly the sort of man who makes Phoebe’s carefully fortified heart feel like it’s cracking open.
Writing Style
Love in the Time of Serial Killers has a singular POV and is written in first person. The prose is light and humorous which combats the heaviness of some of the topics discussed.
My Thoughts
I’m a sucker for a good romantic comedy, with humor, cute characters and a happy ending. When I picked this book up, I was so excited for my love for rom-coms and my morbid interest in true crime to merge together, but I found myself having a few issues with how the story was told.
Throughout the story we are told rather than shown about a lot of things. We are told that she has a difficult relationship with her brother, but oftentimes, the depth of the complexity is lost on us in favor of Phoebe going on an internal tangent about a serial killer. It felt like a lot of the discussions of true crime were misplaced and used as a tool to avoid nuances within Phoebe’s relationships. This may have been purposeful as a way to show her inability to let people get close to her, but I feel like it could have been done significantly cleaner than it ended up being.
The same criticism applies to her friendships (aside from the cat), which don’t show much progression until Phoebe just decides to let them in. There is little to no arc with any of the side characters, which makes them feel one-dimensional at best.
Then we have the love interest, who I actually really enjoyed. Sam was funny, kind and a genuinely good man but I found myself struggling to understand why he would be interested in Phoebe. She is rude for the majority of the novel, and even threatens him in their first interaction. This is a problem I have throughout the entire book. Sam, as a MMC, was great by himself though and he brought some well-needed light to the story.
Overall, it was a lot different than I was expecting and there is definitely a demographic that will love this—I just wanted more from it.
Is Love in the Time of Serial Killers Spicy?
Yes, it contains explicit scenes, but they are not the main focus of the novel.
Spice Level - 2/5
Trigger Warnings
Please note this is a non-comprehensive list and there may be triggers in this book not explicitly stated here.
- Sex
- Discussions of real serial killers
- Discussions of murder
- Parental death
- Parental neglect
Recommendation
Although I didn’t enjoy it, I do think I am in the minority here, so I would recommend it if you want something light. Just be aware that if you aren’t heavily knowledgeable about true crime that you may be confused occasionally throughout the book.
