What were some of the cultural influences behind Notes on an Execution ? Did you want to counter the many serial killer narratives we see in true crime and crime fiction? I grew up watching network crime television- Criminal Minds, CSI Miami, and Law & Order SVU are still some of my favorites. Kukafka told us about the haunting themes and dark questions that shaped the novel. Told in the second person and read in alternating sections by performers Mozhan Marnò and Jim Meskim, the novel’s structure succeeds in fleshing out the true toll of the murders while capturing the humanity of those at its center. Though it opens on death row in a Texas prison, where serial killer Ansel Packer awaits his fate, the story quickly unfolds to dwell on the inner lives of others in the crime's orbit, from the killer’s mother to the determined police investigator intent on justice for the victims. Novelist Danya Kukafka, whose first book Girl in Snow explored the intricate effects of a girl’s mysterious death on her community, is digging even deeper with her newest thriller, Notes on an Execution. Over the past few years, more crime writers are pushing back on this tradition. This is the story of the women left behind.īlending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes On An Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our cultural obsession with crime stories, and asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the minds of violent men.In crime stories, both real and fictional, the perpetrators of violence receive outsize attention, while victims are more regularly relegated to the background, playing a supporting role in what's often treated as the killer’s story. And Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, is devoted to bringing bad men to justice but struggling to see her own life clearly. Hazel, twin sister to his wife, is forced to watch helplessly as the relationship threatens to devour them all. Lavender, Ansel’s mother, is a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation. Ansel doesn’t want to die he wants to be celebrated, understood.Īs the clock ticks down, three women uncover the history of a tragedy and the long shadow it casts. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits the same fate he forced on those girls, years ago. Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours.
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