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.