Love in the Time of Serial Killers

The 2022 novel Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson follows protagonist Phoebe Walsh as she returns to her childhood home after her father’s death and meets his neighbor Sam. Phoebe initially suspects that Sam may be a serial killer but as she gets to know him, she realizes that he’s a genuinely nice guy. A romance blooms, but Phoebe is still reeling from a difficult adolescence and struggles to form meaningful bonds. However, through spending time with her brother, his girlfriend, and her childhood best friend, Phoebe begins to process her feelings and wonders if Sam might be “the one.”

Thompson is a contemporary American author of both mysteries and works that bridge the gap between romance and romantic comedy. Love in the Time of Serial Killers follows The Art of Catching Feelings (2024) and With Love, from Cold World (2023), and the Busybodies Collection, a series of cozy mysteries. Thompson is known for witty dialogue, socially conscious writing, and strong female characters. Although many of her books feature a central romance, she also explores the nature of families, the complexities of life in the contemporary workforce, and the ins and outs of adult friendship.

In Love in the Time of Serial Killers, Thompson uses Phoebe’s story to ask big-picture questions about the complexities of familial relationships, personal development, and the true crime genre.

This guide refers to the 2022 paperback published by Berkeley.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of suicidal ideation and sexual content.

Plot Summary

In the wake of her father’s death, Phoebe Walsh returns to her childhood home in Florida. She and brother, Conner, grew up in the house. Their father was emotionally volatile, prone to fits of rage, and had little interest in parenting, so their parents’ marriage was unhappy. After their parents divorced, Phoebe moved out with their mother, and Conner remained with their father. Even after the split, everyone struggled emotionally. Phoebe in particular failed to recover from the trauma of both her childhood and the divorce, becoming an aloof, emotionally distant adult.

Phoebe and Conner intend to clean up the house, ready the property for sale, and sell it in a few months so that Phoebe can return to her graduate program in North Carolina and finish her dissertation, an interrogation of society’s interest in high-profile serial killers and the popularity of the true crime genre.

Arriving at her father’s place late at night, Phoebe is surprised when a scruffy-looking man approaches to ask if she needs help unloading her writing desk, the only piece of furniture she brought with her from her North Carolina apartment. Partly because of her dissertation work, she’s instantly suspicious. She later learns that his name is Sam and he’s her father’s next-door neighbor. Her suspicions mount, however, when she sees him covered in what looks like blood one night, hears loud noises coming from his house, and witnesses him carrying a shocking amount of ice into his garage. Phoebe begins to suspect that Sam is a serial killer, and as her anxiety mounts, she struggles to focus on her dissertation.

Phoebe’s brother Conner and his girlfriend, Shani, laugh off Phoebe’s worries that Sam could be a serial killer, and as the three get to know Sam, Phoebe realizes that she was wrong about him. She even realizes that she might be attracted to him. Sam is an elementary school music teacher and he seems genuinely nice. The two begin a relationship of sorts, though Phoebe hesitates to give it any kind of label: She’s just about to finish her dissertation and PhD, which will necessitate a move back to North Carolina and then another move to whichever college offers her a position. It becomes clear that Sam is falling hard for Phoebe and that he’s hurt by her unwillingness to commit.

Against the backdrop of her burgeoning feelings for Sam, Phoebe struggles to finish her dissertation. She’s writing about the way the true crime genre speaks to each generation’s societal fears and approaches to crime and criminality. However, the project fails to come together in the way that she hoped it would. She and Conner are enjoying finally spending time together after more than a decade of only limited contact, and the two are working to process how their childhood impacted (and continues to impact) them. Phoebe is sure that real love is impossible and that all relationships are tainted, but she begins to see that Conner and his girlfriend Shani have a truly loving, healthy bond. In addition, Phoebe reconnects with her childhood best friend, Allison, who is in a caring and happy marriage, giving Phoebe another example of a relationship entirely unlike that of her parents.

As Conner prepares to propose to Shani and then does, Phoebe and Sam’s attraction grows. However, Phoebe worries that she ruined everything by admitting to Sam that she doesn’t think she’s capable of romantic love. Sam is interested in a fuller relationship, and they break up. She returns to North Carolina, finally makes headway on her dissertation, and prepares to finish her PhD. In a dramatic gesture, she drives back down to Florida to invite Sam (as well as Conner and Shani) to her dissertation defense. She admits to Sam that she loves him, and he’s happy to head to North Carolina to support her. Phoebe successfully defends her dissertation and, as the novel ends, is pursuing an academic career and a committed relationship with Sam in Florida. Conner and Shani purchase his father’s house, and the four are close friends.