Member-only story
The Conflicted Life of a True Crime Fan
Does the genre challenge our assumptions about crime, prisons, and justice, or does it reinforce them?
“What are you reading these days?” a family friend asks at a baby shower. Sheepishly, I tell her that I am reading true crime.
My rueful admission is met with a flurry of high energy, a suddenly bright and fluttering conversation, freed of mandatory small talk. We are newly ravenous in our conversation, eagerly sharing our favorite true crime books and documentaries and happily interrogating one another about our reading lists. Have you read Dead by Sunset? It happened just a few miles from here. Have you seen Evil Genius? What did you think of Serial? Are you excited about Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile?
This has become a regular feature of my social life with other white women. Light and inconsequential conversation suddenly turns voracious, insatiable in its dissection of so many violent crimes, all of which happened to real people, none of which seem like they did. Our voices become percussive, eager cymbals and snares, bright with the promise of gruesome new murders to explore.
In recent years, I have met dozens of true crime fans. Over time, it has become apparent that often, we are more alike than different…
