It's strange when you think about it. There are hundreds and hundreds of murders in books and television. [For example, the cable TV network Oxygen produces nothing but true crime.] It would be hard for narrative fiction to survive without them. And yet there are almost none in real life, unless you live in the wrong area. Why is it we have such a need for murder mystery? And what is it that attracts us? Is it the crime or the solution? Do we have some primal need of bloodshed because our own lives are so safe, so comfortable?
Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders, 2004
Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders, 2004
Perhaps those of us with UNcomfortable lives have a subconscious need to be able to muse that hey, at least we're better off than THAT poor soul, or don't have it as bad as SHE does...........
ReplyDeleteI recommend a fascinating new book by Rachel Monroe called "Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession." The author explores why the vast majority of true crime fans are women. I'll be posting some excerpts from this book.
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