RATING: 3 STARS
2019; Scribner/Simon & Schuster Canada

I think I was expecting Savage Appetites to be more about the four women instead of having the author in the book. Every time the author would appear in the story it would go on a bit of a tangent. What I mean by appear is the author's opinion, or inserting her own experience. I think because it didn't flow well with the rest of the narrative it seemed more obvious. I definitely skimmed those parts by the third section. I did agree with some of her points in the book about women being more interested in true crime than men. I have always been interested in mysteries, whether it has fiction or nonfiction - movies, televion or books. I think my interest in true crime is the why and how behind the crimes. Looking at not just the "killer" but also the victim/survivor. I liked how Monroe showed 4 very different women that were "obsessed" with (or by) crime from a different angle. It makes you think of what draws you, and other women in your life. And, even the way it influences others because of your interest in it. I know I share things I learn, or stories that are bizarre. My obsession for docs has definitely overflowed to my romantic relationships. Poor guys who were never interested in true crime started watching when I wasn't there, lol. My big interest in the justice system has been wrongly convicted and because of that, the death penalty. The first three sections of the book are relatable in some way and really brings Monroe's points to life. I would be interested to read more by her.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Delivered by the examination of the lives of four women and their true stories of personal involvement from the perspective of Detective, Victim, Defender, and Killer.

A wealthy widow becomes fanatical about recreating crime scenes through building dollhouses complete with miniature victims. A young woman methodically makes her way into the grieving Tate family after moving into a guest house on the estate where Sharon Tate was massacred. Another woman leaves her family and career after corresponding by mail with a convicted killer—falls in love and marries him. A teenager with a penchant for Columbine online fandom meets someone and becomes deeply involved in a mass shooting plot.

Obsession, parasitical, addiction, mania are just a few words that come to mind when I read about these women. What is it about violence and felons that appeal to these women?

Monroe represents each of the four archetypes with in-depth research and intense investigation. It was a riveting read discovering about these real-life women and their individual manic infatuations.

A superb sleuthing undertaking, excellent fact-finding research, dotted with personal accounts, Savage Appetites explores the systematic perspective, fascination with and behaviour of violence that affects and plagues our past and present society.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada, for the read of Rachel Monroe’s, Savage Appetites.

Opinions expressed in my reviews are my own.

This was such a great book for me to pick up. I am one of those that is drawn to all the true come docu-series and tv shows. So this one really interested me. It has a good flow and is easy to read, some of these books can tend to be a little text book like and this one wasn't at all. Savage Appetites explores the reasons women are so drawn to true crime stories. It's broken down into 4 sections: The Detective, The Victim, The Defender and The Killer. Each chapter has a different woman and their connection to a true crime story mixed with Monroe looking into her own interest in the genre. Great read if you're interested in the sociology behind the ever popular True Crime genre.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic version of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Why are women (especially) so obsessed with crime? The facts that show that women watch crime shows, read true crime novels and follow crime stories at a higher rate than men. Is it because we sympathize with the victims, or are we trying to not become victims ourselves? Rachel Monroe, through her novel, “Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime and Obsession” takes us through the fascination some of us have with violent crimes and those that commit them.
According to Monroe, women who obsess over true crime fall into four archetypes; the detective (those of us who are determined to solve the murder by finding clues the cops “must have missed”), the victim (we sympathize with the victim to extremes, becoming involved in their families, holding rallies, etc.), the defender (those of us who believe the suspect charged is indeed innocent, and decide to examine the details of the case to prove their innocence and, in more drastic extremes, even form relationships with the suspected criminal themselves) and, the smallest percentage, the killer (self-explanatory here).
This novel does not have chapters per se, in fact it has four large sections (each covering one archetype), but each section is separated in parts. Some of the sections talk about each archetype and examples from modern history, and then it is broken up by sections from the author’s crime-obsessed child hood. A memoir of sorts, of five women (including the author) who’s passion for crime has led them down different paths.
I enjoyed the true crime examples in this novel. From the 1940s, when the elderly woman who portrayed crimes through dollhouse miniatures and ingratiated herself with local police, inundating them with details and clues that they “obviously overlooked” to present day, with the teenaged girl who conspired with a young boy she met on the Internet to plot a mass shooting at a local mall (that never came to fruition, luckily). Monroe’s involvement was merely on a research basis, examining local stories and interviewing participants, attending CrimeCon (um, hello? How have I not heard of this before?) but she provides a bit more of a realistic perspective. Monroe is “one of us”, a seemingly normal woman whose obsession with crime turned into a career. She is the one who makes me feel less of a “weirdo” for my desperate fascination with the criminal mind.
Very well researched, Monroe will provide you with details from stories you already know (such as Columbine or the Sharon Tate murder) while at the same time, discussing those you may have never heard of (such as the “dollhouse detective”). A non-fiction, true crime novel for those of us who wonder if we are alone in our fascination with crime and the workings of the criminal mind (spoiler alert: we aren’t). Using the four archetypes, Monroe tries to analyze the reasons for this seemingly twisted female (in particular) interest.

Rachel Monroe is a woman after my own heart. As she described her visit to the premiere True Crime Conference called CrimeCon in 2018, I was green with envy. Living outside the city of Toronto, Ontario in Canada, there was just no feasible way for me to attend such an event, especially since it takes place quite a distance from my home.

Rachel Monroe has taken it upon herself to dig into the "why" of the appeal of True Crime to women and to explore the possible reasons.

Any female of my generation (I am 47) who are interested in this subject probably grew up reading Nancy Drew and maybe even The Hardy Boys. Rachel states that: "This detective impulse first burbled up in [her] early, say around age eight." Reading these words, I wanted to shout out loud, "Me too!"

The book focuses on four very different women, from different times, but, who all had an interest in crime and murder. Their reasons are as varied as possible, yet they are all tied together by the singular theme of True Crime.

I couldn't believe I had never heard of France's Glessner Lee. Sure, she was a child of the 1890s, and grew up "... Living in a mansion on Chicago's 'Millionaire's Row." But still, she was a role model for other women in adulthood and smashed through gender barriers that would have seemed impenetrable to other women of her time. I am impressed and glad that I now know about her. Thank you Rachel Monroe!

The author talks about the Manson murders which have been excessively covered, and yet the way she presents this crime is less about Manson, and more about how the crime changed so many things and so many people.

She speaks about the murder of Taylor Behl in 2005 which happened in her town. Rachel says "Part of what I was looking for, I realized, was overlap, all the ways she and I were similar. There was a troubling pleasure in thinking about how I could have been her, or she could have been me... It felt good, in a bad way, to think about my own proximity to violence. To imagine my life as a near miss."

Rachel also addresses a phenomenon that has always perplexed me - that of women who "date" and/or marry men serving life sentences in prison. This section is a must read.

I even learned a new word:

HYBRISTOPHOLIA - the attraction to someone who has committed murder.

I never knew there was a word for it, but, in this day and age, I should not have been surprised.

All in all, Author Rachel Monroe has gone deep down many rabbit holes in her research for this book. She extensively studied so many factors that it is amazing she was able to whittle them down into a cohesive and compelling whole.

I rate SAVAGE APPETITES as 4 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and because of it's subject matter, I forsee it becoming a book that is widely read. Perhaps she will have her own following at CrimeCon 2020.
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*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***