Redhanded: An Exploration of Criminals, Cannibals, Cults, and What Makes a Killer Tick

Based off their award-winning podcast RedHanded, co-hosts Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala explore dozens of true crime cases and talk with criminologists, forensic experts, psychologists, and more to find out what makes a serial killer, what sets a criminal apart from the rest of us, and the age-old question: is a killer born or made?

After meeting at a house party in London, where they discovered a mutual obsession for all things true crime, Suruthi Bala and Hannah Maguire drunkenly promised to one day start their own murder podcast. Six weeks later they ordered their first microphones and the rest is history. From the hosts of the hit podcast RedHanded, a Listeners' Choice British Podcast Awards Winner three years in a row, and dubbed by Anna Paquin as her “all- time favorite true crime podcast," Bala and Maguire have amassed a cult following of “spooky bitches.”

What is it about killers, cults, and cannibals that capture our imaginations even as they terrify and disturb us? Do we find these stories endlessly and equally compelling because they hold up a mirror to society’s failings and to the horrors that we humans are capable of? RedHanded rejects the outdated narrative of killers as monsters and that a victim “was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Instead, it dissects the stories of killers in a way that challenges perceptions and asks the hard questions about society, gender, poverty, culture, and even our politics.

With their trademark humor, in-depth research on real-life cases, and unflinching analysis of what makes a murderer, Bala and Maguire take you through what drives the most extreme of human behavior to find out once and for all what makes a killer tick.

"A cult hit balancing true crime, progressive politics, and a lot of charm." ―Vox

"Laugh-out-loud yet wildly informative." ―Refinery29​