Love in the Time of Serial Killers (24 in 2024 #1)

Author: Alicia Thompson
Title: Love in the Time of Serial Killers
Publisher: Berkley
Date Published: 08/16/2022

Read Dates: 01/03/2024- 01/05/2024
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My first 24 in 2024 read and a fantastic start to this challenge!

This is a single-POV story centered on Phoebe, a true-crime-obsessed PhD student who moves home to handle her father’s house after his passing. She becomes intrigued by her new neighbor, Sam, who is either a secret serial killer or just a genuinely nice person.

I absolutely LOVED this book, it was funny and unexpectedly emotional and just a perfect read for me. Definitely looking forward to more from this author!

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.