Letters to the Purple Satin Killer feels like the epistolary novel I've been waiting for since I returned to reading fiction. They are so easy to screw up in a novel format versus a short story; the temptation is always there to add exchanges of quoted dialogue, to describe locations, to have characters stop while running for their lives to jot down some thoughts in their journals... While here, I think there are two short quoted exchanges of dialogue in the entire novel. I know a large factor of my enjoyment of this book comes from finally reading something that felt like it had been written by someone who has sent a letter or kept a journal before.

Because this is not normally something I would read. It's a non-speculative story about a serial killer/rapist told with a satirical bent from the perspective of deeply troubled and bigoted people. Our first letter has a transphobic slur in it. I've never read so many references to feces in a novel before. Many of our PoV characters are women in the grips of intense internalized misogyny, some of them never escaping its grasp. And yet, over these many letters, I came to care about them and their emotional arcs. Ginny Goodwinch might be a disgustingly ableist woman but I found myself cheering for her by the end! New information about the characters, their lives, and the Jonas Williker himself kept emerging right until the final letters and I couldn't stop turning the pages.

We never hear from the serial killer himself, which I think was the right choice. While Jonas Williker is the star that these other characters are caught in the gravity of, it's not really about him. We only get little pieces of his actions and his gruesome crimes through other people talking about them. I think it's this choice in particular that makes the novel sing.

The main issue I had with it is that I don't feel like the satirical tone went far enough. It poked fun at a variety of things - true crime podcasters, serial killer fangirls, black metal bands, action networks named "Moms Against...", true crime memorabilia collectors - but I don't think it went far enough. It didn't seem to say anything about these groups beyond "aren't these people silly?" The fact that occasional factoids about the failures of the real-life justice system were sprinkled in furthered the tonal dissonance. It made me think of how much better Chain-Gang All-Stars is in its focus and theme.

Overall, this is a really fun novel about a bunch of dysfunctional people connected to or obsessed with a serial killer. I think I know some slasher fans who would have a blast with this one.

Thank you NetGalley and CLASH Books for giving me this ARC.

This excellent novel blew me away with it's true crime vibe and the way it's presented.

Seriously, if you like true crime this book reads like one. To the point where you might find yourself using Google to see if these events are real or fictional.

These are letters written to a notorious serial killer. We never hear from him though. But there's enough information in their correspondence to tell an extremely creepy and unsettling narrative. Even behind bars and facing execution, this killer manipulates and motivates people.

From potential girlfriends and mates, to his mother who is clearly in denial, to fans of his "work", to people who want to exploit his crimes for profit, to religious people trying to save his soul... they all write to him and we get glimpses into their minds as we're reading. And I'm telling you, it's uncomfortable at times because it's so realistic. You don't have to stretch your imagination to see these things happening in real life.

I absolutely loved this book and I highly recommend it.