Dark Places: My Secret Life with Killers

In a riveting new memoir, psychologist Katherine Ramsland reflects on her personal journey to becoming the country’s leading serial killer specialist as well as on the current cultural fascination with true crime.

Leading criminologist Katherine Ramsland has had the unique perspective of experiencing true crime culture over the course of three decades as both an observer and a participant. As a teenager, a series of murders of young women and the subsequent conviction of a college student sparked her horrified fascination with serial killers. Later in her work as a forensic psychologist, Ramsland collaborated with FBI profilers, homicide detectives, and psychologists as she focused on dissecting the minds of extreme offenders with the goal of improving treatment and prevention, as well as predicting budding killers.

Over the course of her career, Ramsland has had extended correspondence with and performed in-depth analysis of well-known killers, including the “Michigan Murderer” John Norman Collins, the “BTK Killer” Dennis Rader, and Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr., who served as an accomplice to “Candy Man Killer” Dean Corll. Yet two decades of study didn’t help her to spot the violent potential in her own student, Bryan Kohberger, who went on to murder four students at the University of Idaho.

Using insights from the killers themselves, Ramsland examines how some killers can pass as normal while harboring the darkest intent and how the celebrity aspect of true crime culture inspires and educates future killers. With stark vulnerability, she also reflects on the immense emotional toll this area of study has taken in her personal life especially in light of Kohberger’s arrest and the media scrutiny she faced. Dark Places: My Secret Life with Killers is a chilling critique of the current state of true crime media and its impact on the public understanding of criminal behavior.

Ramsland’s newest masterpiece memoir is a gripping reflection on a long, storied career deeply immersed in analyzing the minds of those who commit the most evil of all crimes. With determination and insight, she has helped illuminate the unsettling psychology behind why people kill and how their normalcy often enables them to evade capture. Her life work forges a path for others in a profession few dare to enter.”
—Karen Conti, Chicago attorney and author of Killing Time With John Wayne

Dark Places is a deeply personal account of a fascinating life spent sitting across from depravity incarnate. Ramsland’s memoir is gripping, searching, and raw—a must-read for true-crime fans.”
—Kate Winkler Dawson, author of The Sinners All Bow

Ramsland has done it again. Dark Places: My Secret Life with Killers offers a gripping and deeply unsettling ‘murder memoir’ that draws readers into the chilling world she has spent her career exploring. Rich with detailed accounts of real crimes, it is as informative as it is haunting. Once you begin, it’s nearly impossible to put down.”
—Ann W. Burgess, Professor, Connell School of Nursing, Boston College and author with Steven Constantine of Expert Witness

Both provocative and introspective, Dr. Ramsland’s memoir goes far beyond her extensive personal journey into true crime. She probes the surrounding culture, not only asking the hard questions but also answering them with clarity and insight. Reading this book feels like sitting down over a glass of wine with a trusted ally and unpacking a lifetime immersed in crime. Her storytelling feels intimate. It’s the best thing she’s ever done . . . and that says a lot.”
—Gregg Olsen, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell

Gripping, honest, gritty, with the punch of what an actual psychologist endures when her life is centered around the most brutal crimes. At its core, a book about murder. . . . Must-read for anyone interested in the real world of a murder writer. I’ve loved every book Katherine has written, but this is by far the best work of her career—she is, simply, one of the finest true crime writers working today.”
—M. William Phelps, New York Times bestselling author

Peruse any true crime reader’s or forensic specialist’s library and you’re sure to find well-thumbed classics by Katherine Ramsland. Across nearly four decades of writing and teaching, she has unflinchingly contemplated the darkest of violent behaviors and patched together the fuller histories of several notorious killers, with an eye toward knowledge and prevention. In this eminently readable memoir, she now turns her lens onto herself, sharing intimate glimpses into her background, inspirations and philosophical roots, as well as the complex emotions which have accompanied her journeys into the shadow side of the human psyche.”
—Dr. Gary Brucato, Boston College visiting scholar and co-author of The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime

This book is a road map, a guidepost, and a lighthouse all in one. Katherine Ramsland opens up her life and displays her life’s work for our benefit. She allows us to enter her home and classroom in a rare openness that gives us insight and guidance.”
—Sheryl McCollum, Emmy Award-winning founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute

Dark Places is the fascinating origin story of one of the most acclaimed forensic psychologists of our time. What reads as both a true crime documentary of serial killers and a raw autobiography of the woman who made it her life’s work to study them, Dr. Ramsland takes you to these Dark Places that shaped her and her field of work, crafting the public’s current-day obsession with killers. Through where the deep roots of her work began, to stunning admissions of her past and present, Dr. Ramsland’s work over the years solidifies her place as an admirable champion in the search for truth and answers about the deviant human psyche. What an honor to be brought into a world that few dare to enter and come away with a better understanding of the monsters walking among us and the woman who bravely seeks them out in the hopes of preventing future tragedies.”
—Kelly McLear, Executive Producer of Takedown with Chris Hansen and Producer at CrimeCon

Dr. Katherine Ramsland is a professor of forensic psychology, a published author, a trainer for law enforcement, an international speaker, and an expert on extreme criminal psychology. She has consulted for multiple media outlets, been an executive producer, and is a frequent guest on podcasts and crime-centered programs.