Jeffrey Trachtenberg interviews Jeff Lindsay (Dexter in the Dark) in the WSJ about what makes his serial killer, Dexter — “the introspective serial killer with a ghoulish sense of humor” — and others’, so darned likable. Part of the appeal of Dexter, no doubt, is that the Miami crime scene investigator-by-day kills only (other) villains, or as Lindsay says, “he only kills people who really deserve it.” He adds that women may find Dexter’s naïveté and ‘child-like’ trust attractive, and that writing about him in the first-person makes him more sympathetic — sort of like Alfred Hitchcock’s film direction and camera angles that make the viewer feel complicit. (via Confessions)
If you like serial killers, check out these lists of books that feature them.