Savage Appetites: True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession
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Why are so many women obsessed with true crime?
In Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe explores this question through four unforgettable archetypes—Detective, Victim, Defender, and Killer—each linked to a true story of obsession. From a wealthy heiress building intricate crime-scene dollhouses, to a woman entwined with a Manson victim’s family, to a lover of a convicted murderer, to a Columbine fangirl plotting her own attack—these stories are as mesmerizing as they are disturbing.
Blending personal narrative, cultural history, and investigative reporting, Monroe traces America’s fascination with crime through the rise of forensics, the role of victims, the Satanic Panic, and the internet’s explosion of amateur sleuths.
Savage Appetites is a provocative look at empathy, fear, and justice—and why crime stories continue to hold women in their grip.