Content Warning: Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.

Love in the Time of Serial Killers heavily references Truman Capote’s seminal work of nonfiction In Cold Blood (1965). This work is typically considered the first in the true crime genre: a work of narrative nonfiction that provides an in-depth exploration of a real-life criminal case. Works of true crime examine not only a crime but also its aftermath. They give detailed accounts of everyone involved, from those who commit the crime to the victim(s) and the investigators. They unpack the investigation process, interviewing the investigators to provide a step-by-step account of how they solved the crime, and discuss the crime’s impact on the victims, their families, and the community. They also present the judicial process, providing a window into the case’s legal proceedings and outcomes.

As Phoebe notes, true crime both explores and shapes public perception of both crime and criminality, and its popularity as a genre has only grown since In Cold Blood’s publication. What was once a literary genre has evolved along with advances in technology and in cultural production: During the 1980s and 1990s, televised series in the genre such as Dateline joined paper books, and the introduction of podcasts into the media world catapulted the genre further into the mainstream. Serial’s breakout success in 2014 resulted in a flood of new true crime podcasts, and they continue to be among the most downloaded shows on various streaming platforms.

Since Phoebe’s PhD is in English, however, her dissertation focuses on literary true crime. Although she analyzes several major cases and the books that were written about them, In Cold Blood plays the largest role both in her project and in the novel itself. Capote is one of the most famous authors of the 20th century. A Southerner often noted for his contributions to Southern Gothic literature, he’s best known for Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958), The Grass Harp (1951), A Christmas Memory, (1956) and Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). In Cold Blood deviates from these other texts in that it’s a work of nonfiction rather than fiction. It provides an account of the brutal murder of the Clutter family in the sleepy town of Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959. These murders sent shock waves through Holcomb, a close-knit community in which few families locked their doors at night.

Capote learned of the crime even before the murderers were charged, and he traveled to Kansas to cover the story, accompanied by childhood friend Harper Lee, author of the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), an interrogation of racism in the American South. Capote conducted extensive interviews with the killers, the surviving relatives of the Clutter family, and community members, and his published account of the crime presents each of these perspectives. The Clutters—a prosperous farming family and pillars of their small agricultural community—were murdered by two men who met while they were incarcerated, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Hickock and Smith mistakenly believed that the Clutter home contained a large, cash-filled safe. The day after the killings, a friend discovered the bodies of Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon, and the county sheriff turned the case over to Special Agent Al Dewey of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Although Hickock and Smith fled to Mexico immediately after the crime, they ran out of money and were forced to return to the US. They were apprehended in Las Vegas and charged with four counts of murder. Although their attorney tried to use an “insanity defense,” arguing Hickock and Smith had a mental illness, the men were convicted and later executed for the crimes.

In Cold Blood was controversial when it was published and still regularly makes banned book lists around the country. Both those who thought Hickock and Smith had a mental health condition and those who found them mentally sound criticized the way the state assessed the two defendant’s mental health to determine if they were fit to stand trial. Capote himself, as Phoebe notes, was accused of bias. During his many hours of interviews, he found Smith especially fascinating, and many have pointed out that Smith’s portrayal in the book is markedly more sympathetic than Hickock’s. In addition, some have accused Capote of altering details about the crimes to make his narrative “work” better. Although he didn’t fabricate or omit any major details, small embellishments ultimately tainted the work’s reputation, though they didn’t diminish its popularity. Ultimately, the book became an American classic and paved the way for not only the burgeoning true crime genre but also the popularity of narrative nonfiction and longform works of investigative journalism.