Sunday book pick: ‘Love in the Time of Serial Killers’ is a perfect romance for cynics and sceptics

A non-reader of romance, I picked up Love in the Time of Serial Killers as a beach read on a recent vacation. The agenda was not to commit to anything serious, but rather to let off steam. Dear reader, I’m happy to report that not only did it make my holiday more fun, but it was also an excellent romance.

Meet the neighbour

Phoebe Walsh, a PhD candidate and a true-blue true crime nut, decides to spend the summer in Florida to get her dead father’s business in order. True crime is also her area of research, and over the summer, she plans to write a chapter on Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood – a book she has been obsessed with all her life and forms a major crux of her dissertation. All she has brought from North Carolina is her massive desk in the hopes that she doesn’t slack off and takes her writing seriously.

When she arrives at her childhood home at midnight, she is stumped by just how heavy the desk is and as she wonders about how to move it into the house, a strange man – quite literally appearing out of nowhere – offers to help. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, his eyes barely visible...

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