About the Authors
Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala are co-hosts of the smash hit true crime podcast RedHanded, which offers a weekly dose of murder, wit, and WTFs delivered with facts, anecdotal tangents, serious scrutiny, and real British flavor. RedHanded prides itself on looking past sensational headlines and getting to the truth of every murder, cult, and serial killer.
What is it about killers, cults, and cannibals that capture our imaginations even as they terrify and disturb us? How do we carefully consume these cases and what can they teach us about what makes victims and their murderers our collective responsibility?
RedHanded rejects the outdated narrative of killers as monsters and that a victim ‘was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ Instead, it dissects the stories of killers in a way that challenges perceptions and asks the hard questions about society, gender, poverty, culture, and even our politics.
With Bala and Maguire’s trademark humour, research on real-life cases, and unflinching analysis of what makes a criminal, the authors take you through the societal, behavioural, and cultural drivers of the most extreme of human behaviour to find out once and for all: what makes a killer tick?
CrimeBookJunkie – My Thoughts
True crime fans will be keen to check this #badboy out but ? OMFG ? if you are easily offended or have a weak stomach – you’ve been warned!
As an ex-Senior Probation Officer, Criminologist, Crime Writer and long time true crime fan, this book fascinated me on various levels. I had knowledge of many of the serial killers featured in this book but I did highlight a few I will be looking up having never come across them before.
The authors are true crime podcasters (who I’ve now added to my ? LISTEN LIST ?) and come at the subject matter from this aspect. I do love their hashtag of #spookybitches – it fits ??
This is a book filled to the brim with what I perceive as informative content (see my background above ??). They put forth some interesting and somewhat convincing theories, insights and views relating to their opening question: what makes a serial killer tick?
I think this book would certainly appeal to a wide audience: crime writers, true crime readers, criminologists, and readers who want to dip their toes on the darker side of crime. To balance the subject matter, humour (not sensationalistic) is used to lighten the very dark facts you will come across. An interesting concept of pointing out the killers mentioned are NOT monsters but people, really intrigued me and I’m sure would be an interesting conversation to have around a dinner table of like-minded readers of true crime. They explain why they say this, but I’m curious whether it is a common viewpoint or not – especially from the perspective of victim’s families – why can’t they be both?
Readers – what do you think? Should killers be viewed | labelled as monsters?
I liked the fact that there were a lot of good references and snippets from the courts/news and victims who escaped the clutches of a killer included too. My TBR has grown as my bank account depleted…
Would I recommend this read? You bet I would, #spookybitches! There’s something about crime and true crime that appeals to readers of the thriller genre and I suspect – many others. A safe way to hear of those horrific crimes that shock the world and a way to try and deep dive into the mind of a killer. Is it nature? Is it nurture? Read the book to find out! A definite recommended read from me! ??
My thanks to Trapeze | the publisher for this ARC.