ARC Review: Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

Love in the Time of Serial Killers
Author: Alicia Thompson
Publication: Berkley (August 16, 2022)

Description: 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.

My Thoughts: Grad student Phoebe Walsh is in Florida helping to clean out her deceased father's house after his sudden death. Her parents had an acrimonious divorce, and she left with her mother. She has very mixed feelings about her relationship, or lack of a relationship, with her father. But she is helping her younger brother Conner.

Phoebe is also writing her dissertation which focuses on how serial killers are written about. She has something of an obsession with the topic of serial killers. Every new acquaintance is a potential serial killer in her mind. 

When she meets her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, her first thought is to rate him on her serial killer scale. He also seems to be behaving mysteriously in her glimpses of him going about his daily life. He acts like a genuinely nice guy, helping her when she's unloading a large desk, mowing her lawn, helping her when her car battery dies. But can she trust him?

Between cleaning out her father the borderline hoarder's house, helping her brother come up with a creative way to propose to his long-term girlfriend, working on her dissertation and preparing her resume, Phoebe doesn't know if she has the time or the courage to begin a relationship.

This was an entertaining romance with a unique main character. While I had to look up some of the acronyms used in this first-person narrative, I enjoyed getting to know this serial killer obsessed young woman.

Favorite Quote:

It always blew my mind, when people on social media posted things like "I'm having a bad day, please send compliments!" I loved that for them, being so open, but I'd rather saw off my own foot.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.