Blood Moon

True crime is a genre that explores real or realistically inspired criminal cases through books, podcasts, documentaries, and television. While it can raise awareness, promote justice, and memorialize victims, it also faces criticism for sensationalizing violence and sometimes reinforcing biases in the legal system. In fiction, true-crime media can serve as a lens through which to critique both justice systems and public consumption of crime narratives. Sandra Brown’s Blood Moon situates itself in this conversation by using the fictional show Crisis Point to interrogate the ethics, failures, and potential of the genre.

Crime media plays a pivotal role in the novel. Crisis Point is a fictional true crime show dissecting the Crissy Mellin case. In some ways, it brings attention to the case that encourages accountability, but it also sensationalizes and—in the case of the original episode—reproduces an incorrect narrative that threatens to ruin the reputation of an innocent man, Billy Oliver. This demonstrates that true crime can inadvertently support false narratives and injustice. The novel draws attention to the real-world consequences of such misrepresentation, including wrongful convictions, character assassinations, and irreversible harm to victims’ families.

Brown’s portrayal of the genre reflects a growing cultural debate about who controls crime narratives and to what end.