In Notes on an Execution, Kukafka, a self-described consumer of true crime, turns a critical eye toward the impact of true crime media on victims and their families. The novel functions in part as a meta-analysis of the common pitfalls of crime and true crime narratives.

True crime is a genre of media that explores the details and impact of real crimes. In recent years, true crime has seen a surge of popularity in the form of podcasts, documentaries, and novels. True crime media specific to murder often goes into explicit detail about the personal lives of killers and the violence they inflict on their victims.

Critics of the genre have pointed out that consuming real crimes as entertainment can desensitize audiences to violence and exploit victims by turning their trauma into a spectacle. Another common critique is that true crime culture glorifies killers while sidelining the lives of victims. Serial killers like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer are practically household names, yet few people can name even one of their victims. If they have the luxury of being remembered at all, victims like the girls killed by Ansel are often thought of as “distilled constantly in…fear [and] pain” (308), with no attention given to who they were before their deaths.