Why read Savage Appetites?

Book cover of Savage Appetites: True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession

Book description

A “necessary and brilliant” (NPR) exploration of our cultural fascination with true crime told through four “enthralling” (The New York Times Book Review) narratives of obsession.

In Savage Appetites,Rachel Monroe links four criminal roles—Detective, Victim, Defender, and Killer—to four true stories about women driven by obsession. From a frustrated and…

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True crime

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Why read it?

1 author picked Savage Appetites as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Elizabeth Greenwood

Author

Women are the top consumers of true crime. But why, when the stories so often feature women as victims of violence? New Yorker journalist Rachel Monroe profiles four different women in the roles of Detective, Victim, Defender, and Killer to see what it’s all about. The reporting and context in this book are staggering, and Monroe’s writing is both critical and empathic.

From Elizabeth's list on The best true crime-adjacent books.