A key focus of this article is to reflect on the conundrum that while writers of crime are at present evenly matched in gender, there is evidence of a worldwide dominance of female, especially middle class and middle aged, readers of this genre. Women, especially of baby boomer age, make up the bulk of buyers (bowker.com). This should be surprising considering the often graphic nature of the content of crime books and the article asks whether there might be an ethical or beneficial aspect to the popularity of the genre, for both the readers and writers. By Eve I refer to the first Biblical reported crime, where the woman is victim and blamed as author. Now that sin and death are synonymous with the crime story, how evil is Eve the writer? And is Eve the reader made more evil by reading about crime?