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A review by rovertoak
The Saga of the Bloody Benders: The Infamous Homicidal Family of Labette County, Kansas by Rick Geary
5.0
Geary’s Treasury of Victorian Murder series never falters, and continues to give readers interesting, well researched, and exquisitely drawn grapic novel experiences. Bloody Benders tells the story of the Bender family, a group of German immigrants who open a sundries business catering to travelers on the Osage Trail in Kansas circa 1870. When it appears that people begin to connect the disappearing travelers with the offbeat family, the Benders are nowhere to be found, their “store” abandoned, leaving plenty of grisly evidence behind for the law to discover.
The Bender family is interesting because not much is actually known of them aside from the anecdotes Geary structures the story around. The fun is in the speculation! The last part of the book explores the popular theories on, “whatever became of…?” There’s plenty of intrigue here — the beautiful daughter practicing the dark arts, a cro-magnon-father who speaks little and wields a big hammer, a mystery stain on a sheet (BRAINS?!) — so fans of the macabre and/or of true crime will devour this and look to the included Bloody Bender bibliography for more!
The Bender family is interesting because not much is actually known of them aside from the anecdotes Geary structures the story around. The fun is in the speculation! The last part of the book explores the popular theories on, “whatever became of…?” There’s plenty of intrigue here — the beautiful daughter practicing the dark arts, a cro-magnon-father who speaks little and wields a big hammer, a mystery stain on a sheet (BRAINS?!) — so fans of the macabre and/or of true crime will devour this and look to the included Bloody Bender bibliography for more!