Review: 'Serial Killer Support Group' by Saratoga Schaefer

Even serial killers need a place to be themselves, it turns out. What a shame (ironic), that this is what leads Cyra straight to them in the hunt for her sister's killers. What a double shame (joyfully), that Cyra might find her own kind of release in the hunt. Serial Killer Support Group is a riot of a thriller that had me cackling happily at Schaefer's willingness to go as far as they did. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 18/03/2025
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

After her sister is murdered, a woman infiltrates a support group for serial killers in this biting queer feminist debut thriller, perfect for fans of The Final Girl Support Group and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

When Cyra Griffin’s younger sister is murdered by a serial killer, Cyra knows better than to expect justice from the hands of the police department. With the investigation already dying its own slow death, Cyra follows the blood trail and finds her own way forward. 

Using insider information (don’t ask), Cyra infiltrates a support group for serial killers by pretending to be one herself in the hopes of finding the person who ended her sister’s life. Proving herself to them comes at a cost, but it’s one Cyra is willing to pay in the name of revenge.

But the dangerous men in the group aren’t the only obstacle in Cyra’s path for vengeance, and the further Cyra descends into the deadly world of serial killers, the harder it becomes to hold on to her own humanity. 

This dark, witty debut novel is a cunning homage to women’s wrongs that will have you wondering exactly how many monsters walk unseen among us.

I have a deep fondness for female characters that disconnect fully from society's expectations of womanhood and femininity. In Serial Killer Support Group (SKSG), Schaefer gives us that in the figure of Cyra. To what extent Cyra is neurodivergent, somewhere on the sociopath-spectrum, or simply over it is left up to the reader, which is I think necessary for a book like this. Schaefer slowly builds up Cyra's past, which gives a more complex picture of why she is the way she is, but it doesn't deny a certain natural aspect to her coldness as well. I have read a few books which seem, desperately, to want to have a female character that is hard and cold and willing to go beyond what is generally deemed acceptable. Few books, however, are willing to go there entirely and try to set up some kind of redemption, some sort of saving grace, so that the female character remains at least a little likeable. Or, worse, it is set up as some kind of girl-bossing feminist win. SKSG, in my eyes at least, does not do this. While Cyra starts her journey for arguably good reasons, wanting to find her sister's killer, it quickly becomes clear that there are other things at play and that Cyra is not entirely honest with herself. It reminded me, in some ways, of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, which, Cool Girl Monologue aside, also just lets Amy be an absolute maniac and does not try to sugarcoat her.

Cyra's sister, Mira, was murdered two months ago and the police is quite simply not doing enough. All they will tell Cyra is that, potentially, she was the victim of a serial killer. After a tip from a friend, Cyra manages to infiltrate a support group for serial killers currently active in the New York area. Not that this group is meant to support them in stopping. Rather, this little club is intended as a place where these people can be themselves. Taking on a killer persona, Cyra battles between the relief she feels at not having to fake emotions and the determination to find and deal with whoever hurt her sister. SSKG is almost entirely focused upon Cyra herself, told in third person, but is occasionally interspersed with little chapters giving some insight into the killers she comes to meet. These chapters were interesting and gave a little background to these figures, but the real gold is in Cyra's journey. As I said above, I love a female character that completely drops the facade of good behaviour and good choices. Because of that, I loved how unlikeable she is at times and the utter delusions and denial she carries around with her. There is no saving Cyra from herself and I really liked that Schaefer did not feel the need to even try to do so.

This is Saratoga Schaefer's debut novel and it makes me utterly excited for what they will write next. I have gone into enough detail, I think, about how much I appreciate Schaefer's approach to Cyra, so I will let that rest for now. I also really liked how Schaefer wrote her more gruesome scenes, be they Cyra's first real exposure to the support group and its slow, gut-clenching tension, or the high-speed murder scenes we get to witness. Another element which was fun for me but might not work for all readers is that, everyone in this book is, in one way or another, deeply unlikeable, and that is not just true for the serial killers. Cyra herself is a delightfully complicated protagonist that you find yourself rooting for and fearing all at once. There is a moment early on where she crosses a boundary and I knew, from that page on, that Schaefer would go there with her character and I was trilled. Cyra's sister and her sister's friends are also people you can't help but side-eye, while the serial killers are all gross in their own ways. Also, turns out not even the serial killing industry is free of sexism. While it is absolutely necessary for the plot, it is its own kind of comment that the support group cannot seem to cope with the presence of a single female. Watching Schaefer set up her dominoes and then knock them all over was an absolute delight and I can't wait to read more by them, because I, too, support women's wrongs!

I give this novel...

4 Universes!

I had a great time with Serial Killer Support Group! I love reading about unlikeable and complicated women and I love a thriller that saves a few hooks but ends up delivering exactly the kind of suspense you're hoping for!