Serial killer romance: why we fall for the killers

Of all the things I could write in a dark romance essay, “here are some lovely books about murderers falling in love” is probably the strangest sentence I could open with. It is also one of the lanes people ask me about most. Serial killer romance has gone from a niche corner to a bestseller list, and I would rather explain that than pretend it is not happening.

What is serial killer romance?

Serial killer romance is a romance where the hero, the heroine, or both are killers. Not soldiers or mafia enforcers who kill as part of a job, though those overlap, but people who kill by choice, often repeatedly, often with a pattern. The love story grows around that fact rather than despite it.

There are a few common shapes:

• He kills, she finds out. The heroine discovers the man she is falling for is a murderer, and has to decide what that means.
• They both kill. Two killers meet, recognise each other, and fall for the one person who will never judge them. This is the shape that made the lane popular.
• He kills for her. A vigilante or avenger who hunts the people who hurt her. Here the trope shades into revenge.
• He is hunting her. The darkest version, where the killer’s fixation on the heroine is the threat. Closer to stalker romance.

On this shelf the lane is filed as serial killer, and the curated list is serial killer romance.

Why on earth do readers love it?

Total acceptance. In the “they both kill” books, each person is finally seen in full, including the worst part, and loved anyway. Strip away the murder and it is the most romantic idea in the genre. Everyone has something they hide. Most of us just hide something smaller.

Morally grey turned all the way up. Serial killer heroes are the far end of the morally grey hero slope. Many of these books give the killers a code: they only go after people who deserve it. That lets the reader enjoy the danger while still rooting for them.

Dark comedy. This one caught me off guard. Some of the best books in the lane are funny. Two people bickering over how to get rid of a body is a strange kind of meet-cute. It works anyway.

True crime culture. A lot of readers grew up on true crime podcasts. Serial killer romance takes that fascination and gives it a fictional, consequence-free outlet with a happy ending. True crime never gives you one of those.

The best serial killer romance books

Scores and warnings on each book’s page. From warm to cold:

Warm and funny: the killers in love

• Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. Two killers keep crossing paths and start a rivalry that turns into something else. Gory, very funny and surprisingly tender. If you only read one, read this.
• The rest of Brynne Weaver’s Ruinous Love books carry the same mood: Leather & Lark, Scythe & Sparrow. Tourist Season and Love and Other Killers are on the shelf too.
• Lights Out by Navessa Allen is not strictly a killer book, but its masked hero and dark comic tone sit right next to Weaver’s for most readers.

Middle: the thriller side

• The Risk by S. T. Abby. Here the heroine is the one with the body count, and the man drawn to her is meant to be catching killers. Written as a romantic thriller. The series goes on with Sidetracked.

Cold: the deep end

• Empathy by Ker Dukey. Captivity, a killer and very little light. Read the warnings first.
• Sick Fux by Tillie Cole. Two people bound by a shared past and a lot of blood. Notorious for a reason. Darkness at the top of the scale on this shelf.

For more, every book has a “books like” page, for example books like Butcher & Blackbird, matched on trope, spice and darkness.

Warnings to expect

The warnings in this lane are predictable. Know them before you start:

• Murder and gore. Often on the page and in detail. The gore and murder tags list every book that has them.
• Torture. Common when the killers are punishing “deserving” victims. See torture.
• Violence against the heroine in the darker books, especially the “he is hunting her” shape.
• Sexual assault in backstory, often the reason the killer kills. Check each book.
• Captivity and kidnapping in the colder books.

My guide to reading dark romance trigger warnings explains how warnings are grouped on this shelf and how to search by the one you need to avoid.

What makes a good one

I have read a lot of these now. The good ones have things in common.

The killing has rules. A code, a pattern, a reason. Not because it makes murder acceptable, but because rules give the story shape and give the romance something to push against. The moment the hero breaks his own rule for her is usually the moment the book has been building to.

The heroine is not just a witness. In the best books she is a killer too, or a detective, or someone with her own stake in the dark. When she only exists to be shocked, the book flattens.

The tone is consistent. A comic killer romance that suddenly turns grim, or a grim one that cracks jokes at the wrong moment, loses people fast. Weaver and Ker Dukey work because each knows exactly what kind of book they are writing.

The question I always get

“Is it not a bit worrying to romanticise serial killers?”

Fair question, and I get it a lot. My answer is the same as for the genre as a whole, which I made at length in is dark romance harmful?. Readers are not confused about whether murder is good. The appeal is the impossible: a monster who is completely safe for one person, a love that survives the worst possible truth. Fiction is the one place that can exist. Nobody finishes Butcher & Blackbird and treats it as a dating guide.

What I would say is that the books are better when they take the darkness seriously, even when they are funny about it. The best ones never pretend the victims are not people. They just choose where to point the camera.

Where to start

New? Start with Butcher & Blackbird. If you love it, finish the series. If you want darker, read the warnings for Empathy and decide. If you want the masked side of the killer lane, look at the masked killer romance list.

If the whole genre is new to you, what is dark romance and dark romance for beginners are better starting points than a book about a body in a freezer.

And mine

My own serial, Zade Masked, has a man in a mask who does violent things, but he is not a serial killer. He is a masked villain with a code and a very bad habit. If you like killers for the danger and the devotion, the mask gives you both, without the body count. The case for that is in the mask is the point.

Serial killer romance FAQ

What is serial killer romance?

A romance where the hero, the heroine or both are killers who kill by choice. The love story grows around that fact rather than despite it.

What is the best serial killer romance to start with?

Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. Two killers fall for each other, and it is as funny and tender as it is gory.

Is serial killer romance very dark?

It ranges. Brynne Weaver’s books are warm and comic. Empathy and Sick Fux sit at the top of the darkness scale. Check the warnings for gore and torture.