HALLIE EPHRON: Ages ago, when I gave one of my first radio interviews, the interviewer asked me if I thought that all of the 
terrible things that were happening in the world were caused by mystery writers putting ideas into people's heads. I told her, IF ONLY the real world were as safe as the world we mystery writers put in our books. In our make-believe universe, villains are captured and justice is served.
terrible things that were happening in the world were caused by mystery writers putting ideas into people's heads. I told her, IF ONLY the real world were as safe as the world we mystery writers put in our books. In our make-believe universe, villains are captured and justice is served.
Today we're happy to welcome Eileen Rendahl who's picking up another part of the question, dissecting the intersection of true crime and crime fiction. Food for thought!
AND Eileen is giving away copies of her fabulous new book, COVER ME IN DARKNESS, to THREE lucky commenters...
EILEEN RENDAHL: At a dinner party the other
night, several of the women were talking about true crime books and shows. One
of the men asked why the women were all so interested in true crime. His tone
made it clear he didn’t think it was a good thing and that 
maybe there was a
little something wrong with us for being so interested.
maybe there was a
little something wrong with us for being so interested.
It’s something I’ve thought
about. Why would I want to read about or watch horrible things happening to
someone? What did that say about me that I wanted to have that stuff in my
head?
Women walk through the
world differently than men do. That became very clear to me when my
then-teenaged son complained that the key fob for our car only opened the drivers’
door when you clicked it once. A petty complaint, but he was sixteen and still
a bit teenagerific. He’s better now. At any rate, I explained I liked that
feature because I knew if someone was making me uncomfortable in a parking lot
or garage, I could get into my side of the car without giving the other person
access through the other doors. I got blank looks from all the men in my house.
That had never occurred to them. They were even more surprised when I told them
how often that was a factor for me.
I don’t know a single woman
who doesn’t have a story or stories about times they were followed or
threatened or attacked. True crime stories often make it very clear that a
woman’s best weapon is her brain. Understanding the situation and the person
who is attacking you can literally be the difference between life and death.
It’s not just that we want to know how someone got away from an attacker. We
want to understand the underlying motivations so we can maybe avoid being in
the situation at all, so we can recognize the signs that something isn’t quite
right, so we have some options.
Honestly -- and what I told the gentleman at
the dinner party -- it comes down to anxiety. True crime stories help me feel
less anxious because I feel better prepared to face the world.
I don’t write true crime. I
write novels. I’ve written romance, urban fantasy, cozy mystery, and thrillers.
My first book with a big publisher, Do Me, Do My Roots was a
fictionalized account of what happened after my husband died. Getting to take
my personal story apart and look at it from different angles helped me process
what I was feeling and was a major factor in helping me through the survivor’s
guilt I felt.
The idea for Cover Me in
Darkness came from something that happened in my childhood. A mother in my
hometown killed her child. I was about ten at the time and it had never
occurred to me that a mother would hurt a child. My whole experience with
motherhood was based on my family. I’m not saying my mother was perfect or that
her mother was either. I can tell you neither of them would have ever
intentionally hurt any of us, though.
That event was the beginning of my interest in true crime. I needed to understand what had happened so it could stop frightening me. Over the years, I twisted that story around in my head dozens of ways, trying to understand it from all the different perspectives involved.
That event was the beginning of my interest in true crime. I needed to understand what had happened so it could stop frightening me. Over the years, I twisted that story around in my head dozens of ways, trying to understand it from all the different perspectives involved.
Coming at it as a novel let
me process the very complicated feelings I had about what had happened and even
how it could have been avoided.
What about you? Does true
crime help you feel less anxious? Does fiction give you a place to process your
feelings?
Giveaway: Eileen is giving away 3
e-copies of “Cover Me In Darkness” for randomly chosen commenters.
About Cover Me in Darkness:
Tagline: Old Wounds Run Deep
Short blurb: Amanda escaped the cult that killed her brother, but troubling
events force her to dig into the secrets of her past.
Starred review:
"... a hard-to-put-down psychological thriller that also
offers a nuanced look at a damaged woman."
-Library Journal
Description:
Amanda Sinclair has to fight harder than most for everything she
has after fleeing the cult that left her brother dead at her mother's hand.
Amanda works a quiet job in quality control for a small cosmetics company,
trying to leave her past behind her―until she learns that her mother has
committed suicide in the mental ward where she's been locked away for the past
ten years.
But when Amanda receives her mother's personal belongings, she
finds a troubling connection to the upcoming parole hearing for cult leader
Patrick Collier. And then troubling things begin happening to Amanda herself.
Teaming up with her mother's psychologist, Amanda starts to peel away the
layers of secrets that she's built between herself and her own past, and what
she finds is a truth that's almost too big to believe.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YF98ZFW/
About the author:
Eileen Rendahl is
the national-bestselling and award-winning author of the Messenger series and
four Chick Lit novels. Her alter ego, Eileen Carr, writes romantic suspense.
Both Eileens were born in Dayton, Ohio. She moved when she was four and only remembers that she was born across the street from Baskin-Robbins. Eileen remembers anything that has to do with ice cream. Or chocolate. Or champagne.
She has had many jobs and lived in many cities and feels unbelievably lucky to be where she is now and to be doing what she's doing.
Links: www.eileenrendahl.com
Newsletter sign up
to receive a free short story “New Shoes” & a free preview of “Cover Me in
Darkness”:
Waving hi to Eileen, whom I met at Malice a few years ago! The new book sounds...dark, and fascinating. Fiction definitely gives me a place to process feelings, but I've stayed away from reading (or listening to, and definitely not writing) true crime, even though a couple of good friends write it. Loved your story about the key fob - and the menfolks' reaction. So very true.
ReplyDeleteAlso can't believe I'm the first commenter. Joan, are you all right? ;^)
DeleteI'm fine, Edith, thanks . . . we seem to be having internet issues here today . . . .
DeleteGlad you are fine!
DeleteHi, Edith! I'm waving back. True crime is definitely not for everyone and not all true crime is created equal. I've gotten pretty selective about what I read/watch/listen to.
DeleteCongratulations on your new book, Eileen . . . Scary sad about the mom killing the child.
ReplyDeleteTrue crime books can be scary [kind of like “How could someone do that?”], but, like fiction, provides a place to process feelings.
Absolutely. The how and why someone could or would do something is often the part I'm most interested in.
DeleteEileen, did writing this book help you come to terms with the actual incident? As a child you must have horrified! I can hardly wait to read this book.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I've had conversations with my husband about things he has never even had to consider: carry an emergency $20 or $50 hidden somewhere other than your wallet, don't carry your keys in your purse (in case your purse is stolen), don't park next to van (yes, because of you, Ted Bundy), when walking to your car carry your keys threaded between your fingers in case you need to defend yourself, etc.
I think it did help me come to terms with it. Reading about it as an adult helped me see some of the things that led up to it. Examining them as an adult let me think about it in a way that wasn't entirely fear-based. Thinking about them helped me reconcile it. It's not something I think anyone can ever understand, but I could see how it happened.
DeleteFiction feels safer - nonfiction I suppose ‘explains’ the inexplicable... I usually avoid true crime (get enough of that in the news.) But I recommend Unbelievable - true crime (fast forwarded over the tough parts) it’s on Netflix Eileen I think you’ve chosen the best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hallie! I heard a bit of a This American Life podcast that was about the same incident in Unbelievable. And it was really unbelievable. I'm saving the Netflix series for when it gets cold and I can't (or really won't) run outside. I think it will be good treadmill fodder.
DeleteEven in small town, rural areas: working in the backyard? Keep the front door locked and the garage door down. A woman on the other side of town recently observed two people trying to break into her home in mid-morning. What if they had gotten in and discovered the house wasn't empty? Life is scary, but true crime stories show that law enforcement is filled with good people who are diligent, tireless, and willing to pick up a cold case even decades later to try new avenues of obtaining justice for victims and their families.
ReplyDeleteEileen, it's hard enough to comprehend a parent killing a child--but when it's your mother and your sibling who dies? I'll be seeking out Amanda to follow her story.
OMG! That would be terrifying! I've heard statistics that say most break-ins do happen during the day when people are away at work. As someone who works at home, that's not particularly comforting. :-)
DeleteI've never been a fan of true crime, and fully anticipated that this opinion would make me an outlier in the Reds community, so I'm intrigued to see that others feel the same way. I'm also not a fan of crime fiction that takes me deeply into the mind of a killer. I have no desire to walk a mile in those shoes.
ReplyDeleteI have had numerous conversations with men in my life about the whole difference in perspective with which women are raised. My husband and I have often noted that when he was a teenager, his dad always told him to be sure he had enough money on him, in case of emergencies. Mine taught me not to carry too much cash, because it was an invitation for someone to mug me. But I think the comedian Elayne Boosler addressed it best in an old standup routine of hers. She told of how her boyfriend suggested they go walking down by the pier and she replied, "Are you crazy? I'm wearing a VAGINA here!" She went on to add more explanation (probably because she had learned that some male audience members didn't understand), but I thought that single line said so much.
That's a GREAT line. I nearly spit coffee out onto my keyboard. But she's right. It's become so ingrained in most women that we almost don't think about it. It's reflex or instinct.
DeleteHi Eileen! Some true crime is interesting, from my point of view 'how could I prevent this from happening to me.' Many, many years ago I was following a news story in the paper - a young woman, several states away so this wasn't local, had disappeared. Eventually it was pieced together what had happened and Ann Rule wrote a book about it and then that book became a movie. I was almost obsessed with the case and I don't know why. The fact that it was not local maybe made it 'safe' for me.
ReplyDeleteThe evening news seems to be full of true crime and usually we don't get the full story, which is what I want. So I wind up making things up in my head to fill in the gaps.
Yes! The full story thing! I want to drill down into stuff. Years ago, there was something in the newspaper about a young woman being arrested after stabbing her partner in the neck with a fork. I'm still thinking about it. What made her snap? Why the fork? What was the conversation that was going on at that moment that made stabbing him in the neck with a fork seem like a good idea or maybe the only idea? True crime digs down into more of that and fiction digs down even more. Just because what we're writing isn't what actually happened doesn't make the emotions and motivations unreal.
DeleteWelcome to the Reds, Eileen. I read very little true crime but your reasoning for why women are drawn to those books as well as crime fiction totally resonates with me. I work out a lot of life trauma in my mysteries too!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not alone on that one. Someone at a conference took a bit of a swipe at me years ago when I said writing was therapy for me. She said I should journal instead.
DeleteI have the opposite reaction, actually. True crime gives me anxiety - because I have to get close to what's going on. I've read some fabulous true crime books, but only in spurts and then I have to choose something lighter. The Girl likes to watch those Dateline shows about missing people and murder. Not me. As Hallie said, in my fiction the bad guys get what's coming to them and justice prevails (Hallie, I was asked the same question at a library event - do I worry about giving people ideas.)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the book, Eileen!
Thanks, Liz. It does occasionally get too close. I could only Michelle McNamara's book about the Golden State Killer during the day. It was too scary at night even though he'd already been caught when I read it. I live about a mile from two places he hit and if you look at the description of the type of houses he liked to break into, you might as well be reading a description of my house.
DeleteEileen, what an interesting perspective on True Crime. I usually do not follow it, nor read about those things in the paper. Although sometimes, like Judi, I become obsessed with a particular story and can't let it go.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am all about the precautions you take with your keys and your thoughts about garages and how many beeps to open the car doors, and locking the front when you are out back. In my first karate class back in 1973, the instructors concentrated on moves that women should have for getting away from an attacker (one involved car keys). I still remember them vividly. I also remember being warned to, if necessary, make it so he doesn't get up. WOW. And yes, I do have a story of a man trying to get teen-aged me to go with him. So, women definitely see all of this differently from men.
I'm glad teenaged you stayed safe. Those years are so vulnerable and I think predators take advantage of that. Sometimes when I'm reading/watching/listening to true crime there will be a situation that is way too familiar and I realize I may well have been very lucky to walk away.
DeleteHi Eileen and welcome.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought about true crime is that many of the circumstances would be unbelievable in a work of fiction. I can just hear some editor laughing and tossing the manuscript into the circular file. Or wherever you dispose of a e file.
I read all sorts of crime fiction as well as other stuff, some of it non-fiction. The true crime book I've read recently was BAD BLOOD by John Carreyou. I'm telling you, you can't make this stuff up!
Why do I read crime fiction? Because some of our best writers today are turning it out. And because all fiction contains mystery, at least to some degree. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, may be one of the best mysteries of all times!
Ann, have you read "The Last Stone," by Mark Bowden? Whoa! Crazy stuff that no editor would believe in fiction.
DeleteIs Bad Blood the one about Theranos? I haven't read it yet, but what I've heard sounds so crazy. That woman must be incredibly charismatic. Nothing I've heard explains what she was able to do.
DeleteI haven't read The Last Stone, but it sounds fascinating, too. I love tales of unraveling.
Yes, it’s about Theranos. Not to be missed. Off the have a look at The Last Stone. Thanks Gigi.
DeleteYour new book sounds delicious, Eileen! I definitely think fiction is a way to work through experiences we need to unpack, whether we are readers or writers. My current work-in-progress tackles some of the things I experienced as a widow, but allows me to keep it at a safe distance, working through my main character rather than writing a memoir.
ReplyDeleteI think I started reading true crime with Ann Rule's "The Stranger Beside Me," about Ted Bundy. I started closing my windows at night when I realized Bundy's victims all looked a lot like me. Since then I've appreciated the way well-written true crime doesn't just cash in on a sensational murder but actually picks apart motive, background material, and the hows and whys of the police procedure. It's also fascinating to me how researchers can put together pieces that solve unsolved--and sometimes previously unknown--cases. Has anyone else read Bill and Rachel McCarthy James' book "The Man From the Train"? They put remarkable work into tracking a serial killer from the 1890s.
Gigi, maybe the best example of that is THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. Such a good book, and I loved the way it centered the crimes of the serial killer in the culture and society of the time.
DeleteHi, Gigi and Julia,
DeleteI've read both those books! "The Man on the Train" was particularly fascinating for the way it used data analysis. I'm not a numbers person and I found it fascinating that they could figure all that out that way.
"The Devil in the White City" was great, too. I used to live in Chicago and knew some of the places that were talked about in the book. The way Larson tied together of the Worlds Fair with what H.H. Holmes was getting away with was brilliant.
Hallie, that is interesting because my father once told me a story about an author who regretted writing about a plane being hijacked and the story gave people ideas about hijacking planes. I do not know if that is true. LOL.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Jungle Reds, Eileen! And congratulations on your new book!
Although I love mysteries, I am not a fan of true crime. I know of a few women from bookstagram posts on Instagram that they love true crime novels. Not me. I like to escape through fictional novels. True crime novels are not my cup of tea. If anything, I may read an article in People magazine about a true crime story but that is it!
Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand had a character who said that justice is served in mystery novels, which is why mystery novels are so popular. Unsolved crimes are solved in mystery novels. I like cozy novels without the graphic violence. I gravitate towards English mysteries because of the rarity of guns, if at all.
When I was a teenager, my grandfather died and I started reading the Nancy Drew mystery novels that he gave me for my birthday. I received a year's subscription to a Nancy Drew book club where I received a book each month. And after watching a tv show with a character reading At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie, I started reading Agatha Christie novels.
Diana
Diana, I'm a bit the same about true crime, although I have enjoyed true legal case books for a long time. I - well, enjoy isn't quite the right word - will read newspaper accounts of crimes, but I don't want to get into deeper issues of how it was pulled off, etc., because I far prefer using the little I know to spin off story ideas of what might have been.
DeleteI absolutely agree with justice being served in mystery novels. It's all about putting the world back to rights, or as right as it can get after something terrible happening.
DeleteJulia, when I was in law school, I enjoyed reading stories in my torts law class. Still, not a fan of true crime books. I think perhaps it is different when I read about a crime in law school?
DeleteDiana
Eileen,
DeleteThanks!
Diana
Shalom Reds and fans. I think I would find your current book interesting, Eileen. I had a brush with a cult when I was young. It left an indelible impression on me, even many decades later. I don’t remember reading much True Crime. When I was young, I did read Truman Capote’s IN COLD BLOOD. I don’t know what drew me to it. In the age of televised criminal trials, I have watched several with rapt attention over the years. However, I believe all of those have involved the subject of race. I watched the OJ Simpson trial from gavel to gavel. Recently, I watched most of the trial of the murderer of Botham Jean in Dallas. Now there is a new case of a police man shooting and killing a young woman in her home.
ReplyDeleteOn a weightier note, I will do most anything for ice cream. Growing up, in the summer, a Good Humor knock-off truck would be parked all day just down the street. A strawberry shortcake ice cream pop could be had for considerably less than a dollar. When I was a little older, I would caddy at a local country club in the summer. I could make between $6 and $12 a day. Always on the walk home, I would stop at a Carvel and get a malted milk shake. You can’t find malteds much anymore. As a teen, I use to visit with friends, the local Baskin Robbins. One of their many flavors was butterscotch. I would always get a large butterscotch milkshake. In recent months, I have sharply limited myself getting ice cream. We have a local DQ, but I try and visit them only once or twice. (I am diabetic and I weigh too much.)
I think I read all sorts of novels (and non-fiction to be sure) because when I read the stories of all sorts of interesting characters, I learn, each time, more about who I am. Also whom, I might like to be.
Oh, David, you have my sympathy ( and empathy!) Giving up ice cream is the worst.
DeleteAnd IN COLD BLOOD has long been a crossover between true crime and literary nonfiction. It was assigned reading in one of Youngest's high school classes - scared the Tootsie Roll out of her.
Malteds! I hadn't thought about those for a long time. My dad loved them. You're right. You don't see them much anymore. Although maybe they're an east coast thing still.
DeleteWhat you said about learning more about yourself through reading really resonates with me. I think we're all always trying to get to what it means to be a human.
Welcome, Eileen! I'm not really a true crime fan. The books I have read have been about historical murders (Jack the Ripper) or crimes in high society. I'm thinking Joan Hill Robinson in Houston, Sunny von Bulow, the O.J. Simpson case, etc. What they have in common is there was no real solution. So it is still a mystery. No answers, no justice. Frustrating! I think crime novels can be very interesting and hopefully will answer all the questions.
ReplyDeleteYeah. The ones without an answer can be pretty frustrating. I think the Serial podcast was one of the most frustrating ones I can think of recently. By the end, I wasn't sure what I thought.
DeleteWhat a fascinating post. I have been interested in true crime, starting with Ann Rule, and always enjoyed mysteries but never thought about it this way. I think you may be right.
ReplyDeleteWhile I love being right, I think this one is about it being right for me. Other people probably feel differently. I'm glad I gave you something to think about, though!
DeleteSo much information to think about in today’s post. My husband watches a lot of true crime documentaries. I find them depressing and disturbing. I do love fictional mysteries because I know the bad guy or gal will be held accountable by the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteYou don't always get the satisfaction of justice being served in true crime. It can be unsettling. There's a podcast now called The Murder Squad which is true crime plus an effort to solve some cold cases. They present a case and then ask for specific information. The idea is that somebody somewhere knows something. They might not know they do, but they do.
DeleteI love this post, Eileen! I do think women are drawn to crime because we walk through life differently. We expect and anticipate it and stories about it give us the resolution that real life frequently lacks. Really looking forward to reading Cover Me in Darkness.
ReplyDeleteSo in your opinion, every woman is a target who lives in fear, every man is a cruel predator? I'm appalled. I'm a man who has lived a peaceful life, has never raised a hand to a woman (or anyone) and I don't know any women - my wife, her friends or others - who have been victims.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, I don't much care for true crime books. As someone else said, there's enough of that in the newspapers.
Rick, it's not that every woman is a victim or every man a predator, but I would bet your wife takes precautions in certain situations. It's personal awareness more than fear, if that makes sense, and most women live with that reality.
DeleteOf course not, Rick. No one's pointing any fingers at you or claiming that all men are evil somehow. I do think most women are cautious in situations that most men never think twice about.
DeleteEileen, I so agree that women view the world around them differently than men. On a recent trip to St. Louis, I was walking down a street at night with a friend, and a man was walking behind us, gaining rather quickly on us. One part of me thought that he was just in a hurry and was trying to get around the slower foot traffic, but the cautious side of me thought that I needed to be aware of his movements and where I was. He was just trying to get down the street quickly, but I make no apologies for being on high alert. So, in reading all the crime and mystery I do, I feel that my awareness of what could and sometimes does happen is raised to a level, not of paranoia, but of proper alert. Of course, not every woman will be attacked and not every man is an attacker, but being vigilant doesn't mean you have to be scared.
ReplyDeleteCover Me in Darkness sounds like a great read, and the cover is perfect.
Don't you love that cover? When the designer (Teresa Spreckelmeyer if you're curious) sent it to me I did a little dance in my chair.
DeleteI actually think being vigilant makes me less afraid. It makes me feel a bit more in control.
I've not read a true crime book though there are some fiction books out there that seem too real to be fiction. I'm not sure if I want to, I tend to stay away from those true crime investigation shows, as others have said, the news is bad enough. 17 years ago I lived in this apartment complex and felt comfortable so when I had to move a couple years ago, I choose to come back here. The place still feels safe but the level of safe is different.
ReplyDelete