Savage Appetites

When I picked up this book I was so excited. A new and novel idea on how women get caught up in crime. The opening chapter hooked me in with her description of Crime Con. Oh my goodness, I had no idea into this sub culture in crime. And a small part, lets be honest a LARGE part of me wants to go to Crime Con.
The book is basically 4 chapters. Each chapter focuses on one female who was involved in crime.
I loved the chapter on the Nutshell lady. I was fascinated by what a white rich lady could accomplish with money and time.
The next chapter, I was confused as to why the lady was included and what it was leading up to. I am going to assume that the author included this chapter to show that some people will insert themselves into the lives of victims of crimes.
That was not my takeaway from the chapter since the lady in question took care of the kids, etc.
To me, it was an odd chapter.
Third chapter was about the wife a West Memphis Three prisoner. A great chapter.
Fourth Chapter was another befuddled confusion that came together at the end.

Overall the book was a great concept that the author still needed to refine. I also felt that the author needed to NOT keep inserting her feelings throughout the chapters.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a mildly entertaining book about some seriously fucked up people, author included, but to be real, if you picked up this book, you’ve obviously got a few chips short of a cookie yourself. A bizarrely enjoyable cluster of pages about a diverse group of broads who are obsessed with death. Either you want to read that or you don’t. You know who you are.

Frances Glessner Lee, Lisa Statman, Lorri Davis, Lindsay Souvannarath, what do these women have in common?
Frances also known as the "mother of forensics" came up with an ingenious way of helping to solve crimes. She made miniature "doll houses" with incredibly accurate detail
of the crime to help officers resolve the crime.
Lisa sided with the Tate family. In this way she was able to advocate for "blameless" victims.
Lorri Davis fell in love with a murderer and became involved with proving his innocence.
Lindsay hopes to be able to voice her superiority by committing mass
murder.
Each women was involved in something to do with crime. Whether helping to solve crime, being the criminal, marrying a criminal or advocating for the victims.
Interesting, intriguing.
Great read!

Perfect for readers fascinated by true crime each chapter a different true story. Each peculiarly weird tale.A woman obsessed with Sharon Tate’s family involving herself with them living in the guest house of the home where Sharon was murdered.This is a book where you will shake your head at these women’s behavior but won’t be able to stop turning the pages, #netgalley#scribner

I feel like i've been waiting so long for a book which talks about how people, particularly women can have a real, genuine interest in true crime, serial killers and murder without it being wrong or unnatural. I've always been fascinated by the psychology behind it and Rachel Monroe's book looks at that objectively and without thinking that women who do have an interest in this will go on to become crazed serial killer fans writing to killers in jail. Monroe picked fascinating women to look at and i especially enjoyed the section on Frances Glessner Lee. I recommend this book to all true crime fans.

Our society has become obsessed with true crime.  Podcasts, books, TV shows, websites, and TV channels devote hours to discussing crimes.  Statistically speaking, it's women who are fueling this obsession.  The overwhelming majority of true crime readers and true crime podcast listeners are female.  According to Monroe, forensic science is one of the fastest growing college majors and seven in ten of those students are female.

 Rachel Monroe has chosen four stories to discuss the history of forensics and the true-crime obsessed while also analyzing her own fascination with the genre and its effect on her life.

"The four women in this book were encouraged to lead small lives or to keep parts of themselves hidden; becoming entwined with a famous crime enlarged their worlds and allowed them to express thing they couldn't otherwise voice." *

Savage Appetites divides four stories into chapters, including:  The Detective, The Victim, The Defender, and The Killer.

The Detective tells readers the story of Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy heiress who used her time and money to create Nutshells---painstakingly detailed miniatures of crime scenes that were used as training tools for law enforcement.  Lee was an unlikely detective whose obsession with crime was tolerated because of her wealth.

The Victim follows the bizarre story of life for actress Sharon Tate's family after her death at the hands of the Manson Family.  Tate's younger sister Patti eventually became the family spokesperson after her mother's death with the support of Alisa Statman.  
In 1990, Statman moved into the Beverly Hills guesthouse on the property where Sharon Tate and her friends were murdered.  Statman claims she only became interested in the history of Sharon Tate after she moved in and helped writer Bill Nelson with some research.  Either way, she eventually became close with Patti and continued to raise Patti's children and speak for the family after her death.

The Defender explores the relationship between Lorri Davis and death row inmate Damien Echols, one of the "West Memphis Three" accused of murdering three eight-year-old boys in Arkansas.  Lorri and Damien became acquainted through letters after Lorri watched a documentary about the murders and believed Damien to be innocent.  She quickly became fixated on the case and began a romantic relationship with him. Lorri left a successful life in NYC to move closer to Damien.  The couple married and Lorri devoted all of her time to the case.
The West Memphis Three gained the support of several celebrities who funded further investigation that could lead to new evidence that would allow for a new trial and all three men were eventually released from prison.  

The Killer details the progression of an online chat between Lindsay Souvannarath and her friend James who both shared an obsession with Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.  The pair eventually begin planning to open fire at a mall in Nova Scotia but an anonymous tip prevents them from carrying out their plan.  Many people believe their discussion was mostly bravado and the young couple would never have actually opened fire but there was certainly intent since Lindsay boarded the plane to Nova Scotia to meet James.

I found all four of these stories to be fascinating and enjoyed the discussion and structure of the book.  All four women are vastly different and that's why the stories work so well together.

"The more time I spent with their stories, the more I realized that there wasn't a simple, universal answer to why women were fascinated by true crime---because "woman" is not a simple, universal catergory. Obsession was a recurring theme in their lives, but that obsession wasn't monolithic. It stemmed from different motivations, had different objects and different implications." *

Savage Appetites is four true crime stories that explore obsession and motivation in relation to women who gravitate to the subject.
I recommend it for readers who enjoy true crime and sociology.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession is scheduled for release on August 20, 2019.

*Quotes included are from D-ARC are subject to change upon final publication.

Rachel Monroe’s book delves into the issue of women and their obsession with true crime. As if that’s always a bad thing. This is basically divided into four sections relating four different cases the author examines as separate cases to consider as studies. I was already familiar with the one of the heiress in the 1940’s who came up with and then crafted a dozen miniaturized crime scenes called nutshells that were used for teaching what later became known as forensics. The second chapter is on a woman who years later, moved into the house where Sharon Tate and others were murdered. She has a thing for the murders and the Tate family in particular and spends her time trying to get to know everything there is to know about both. I remember reading the book she wrote after she eventually managed to get close to remaining family members after mother Doris Tate passed away. The third chapter is about a New York woman who becomes enmeshed with one of the West Memphis Three after seeing a video on it. After falling for one of them by mail, she devotes her life to trying to get him released from death row. And finally, the fourth chapter is about a young female who becomes infatuated with the Columbine school killers after reading all about their exploits online, and begins planning a shooting of her own.

This isn’t a typical true crime book, there is some discussion of the large number of women who are hooked on true crime vs. the small number of men. Then these four different kinds of examples and what they might mean. But it’s still all very interesting if you like the subject. I certainly had no complaints with it and was interested very much. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Rachel Monroe, and the publisher.

I've always found crime cases to be interesting, but I've also deplored the tendency to view murders as "cool" at the expense of erasing victims' pain. The concept of this book is something I've wondered often myself: why are women in particular attracted to true crime stories? Monroe doesn't have a specific answer to that because a succinct one doesn't exist, but she divides fans into those who identify with four major groups (and I'm not looking directly at the book, so pardon me using my own words): the investigator, the victim, the advocate, and the perpetrator. Monroe does a good job weaving together specific tales of women, background about crime, and her own personal experiences as a crime fan analyzing her own feelings.

During the research and writung if Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe discovered that women are most interested in true crime articles, books, movies, and television shows. Due to this interest, several television channels are devoted to true crime 24/7.

The first segment of Savage Appetites is "The Detective". In the 1940's, Florence Glessner Lee developed an interest in the science of clues left at crime scenes. As police work was nit considered suitable for a lady, she created a series of intricately designed miniatures called "The Nutshells". Each Nutshell is a separate crime scene, and includes all the clues needed to solve the crime depicted.

The second segment is "The Victim". In the aftermath of the Manson Family Murders, in March, 1990, Alisa Stanton moved into the guesthouse at the murder scene. After meeting others interested in the murders, Alisa became entertwined with Sharon Tate's family for the next twenty years.

The third segment is "The Defender". In the 1990's, Lorri Davis, a landscale architect in Brooklyn, fell in love with her prison penpal, Damien Echols. Echols was a convicted killer and the supposed ringleader of the West Memphis Three. Through letters, the two fell in love and married. Davis then devoted tbe rest of her life to getting Echols freed from death row.

The fourth segment is "The Killer". In 2015, Lindsay Souvannarath became deeply immersed in the internet fandom of the Columbine killers. There, she met James, who seemed to be her kindred spirit. Together, they planned their own mass shooting. Authorities intervened before they could carry out their plans.

Using these four cases, Rachel Monroe traces the growth of forensic science, the evolving role of victims, the popularity of true crime television, the emergence of online detectives, and the repercussions of the Columbine school shooting.

Savage Appetites is meticulously researched and well written. I would highly recommend this title to any true crime fan.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital copy of this title to review from Net Galley..

#SavageAppetites#NetGalley

What draws so many into the gory, fearful world of true crime? Rachel Monroe dissects one region within this popular phenomenon; namely, the women who become obsessed with true crime. Divided into 4 sections about 4 real life women, she discusses four archetypes women tend to fall into when obsessed with true crime, and their lives to perhaps explain why they fell so deeply.
Monroe writes engagingly well, and the book feels more like an intimate chat versus a nonfictional look at true crime of years past. An interesting perspective on #ssdgm

I have been a fan of true crime books for as long as I can remember, and this book did not disappoint. The author has done a great job of laying out all of the details and keeping the stories flowing without bogging you down with unnecessary details. I really enjoyed this book.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

I'm a huge fan of true crime stories in general, so I had a feeling I'd enjoy this book too.

just read it.

Interesting non-fiction book, told in four parts. In keeping with the trendy true crime genre, this book looks at the perspective of four very different women; one who recreated crime scenes with astounding detail in doll house miniature to teach forensic crime scene investigation, one who obsessively attaches herself to the Tate family in the wake of the Manson family murders, one who became pen-pals, eventually married and helped gain the release of one of the West Memphis Three, and a young woman that planned a crime as an homage to the Columbine school shooters. Overall interesting, but I struggled connecting with the narrative voice and the subjects of the book, felt more like a series of long magazine articles than a cohesive story.
***I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.***

Shocking and informative, Savage Appetites was a very interesting read. I enjoyed reading the stories of all four of the women, but I most liked learning about Frances Glessner Lee and her crime scene models. Monroe does a good job at linking these stories with major happenings of the era, but at times it detracted from the story (I personally think that she spent too much time on the Satanic Panic of the 1970s than what was necessary). Savage Appetites is also a quick read at fewer than 300 pages, which often isn't the case with true crime books. Fans of true crime will be excited to see this book.

I was lucky enough to see Frances Glessner Lee's dollhouses at a recent Smithsonian exhibit so I was excited to read more about her here. I also enjoyed the Sharon Tate part. This isn't so much a work of true crime as it is a work about true crime which I really enjoyed. I liked the scholarly approach to what has become such a popular interest and felt like I learned a lot.

A fascinating look into why the current true crime trend appeals to a predominately female audience, as evidenced by four cases where women played a big role as mentor/victim/killer. Interspersed with the author's insight into her own fascination with crime stories, this novel had me glued to each page. On top of a more psychological focus, this novel also explores and explains the role that certain crimes played in creating laws, and in changing public perceptions in media.

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

In this true crime novel Rachel Monroe researches the appeal of true crime by putting focus on four archetypes: detective, victim, attorney, and killer. She attaches each of these archetypes to four true stories about women who were driven by obsession. Monroe follows the history of American crime using forensic science, victims roles, satanic cults, online detectives, and school shootings.

I am a lover of all things true crime so when I was given the opportunity, through NetGalley, to read and review this upcoming true crime novel. The synopsis was great and really got me excited to read this book. This book is extremely interesting as it goes very in depth while talking about the four women and the archetypes that they correlate with. They were women that I had not heard much about but their stories are so interesting that I was instantly hooked while reading. I wanted to know more about them and I feel like Monroe did an excellent job at providing not only information about the women but also what happened to each one at the end of each chapter.

On Goodreads I rated this book a 3/5 because although I really enjoyed reading this book and learning information about the different women I feel like there wasn't a good tie to the archetypes that Monroe was focusing on. She did an excellent job at explaining the archetypes and how each woman identified with them but I felt like there was a lack of explaining how these archetypes tie into the true crime obsessed. It felt more like this book was about the 4 women and their crimes rather than about how these women are linked to why there is a rise in true crime obsession. However, this is definitely a book that I will be recommending when it gets released on August 20, 2019 because, like I have said over and over again, the cases are just so interesting!

True crime fiends please keep a lookout for this book; you will really enjoy it.