When I grabbed this off my shelf to read on the plane, I did not expect to find myself staying up to finish it the same day, but that's exactly what happened.

We meet Phoebe in the middle of a difficult period. Her mostly estranged father has just died, she has to clean out the house that never felt like her home, all while finishing the dissertation that she never thought she'd be able to write. While she's trying to handle all of this solo (despite the best efforts of her delightful younger brother), she fixates on her weirdly attractive next door neighbor who just happens to carry plastic sheeting into his garage in the wee hours of the morning while covered in some sort of dark liquid...

Sam is the perfect foil for someone like Phoebe. He doesn't share her fascination with serial killers or true crime, but he understands her in a way that makes her walls go up higher and stronger to keep him out. As we learn more about Phoebe's history with her parents, as well her struggle to have her scholarship acknowledged and respected, the walls she built up over time make sense.

I loved that Phoebe was allowed to be flawed, allowed to be kind of crappy to people, and that she wasn't perfect by the end. She stayed true to herself throughout the story, and having her happy ending felt earned, if slightly rushed. But this was a really fun story to experience, particularly if you share Phoebe's passion for true crime and pop culture references.