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A review by shhchar
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer
5.0
I was first drawn to crime literature after reading Lost Girls by Robert Kolker, an engrossing and ultimately frustrating (for its unsolved nature) look at a serial killer who killed early-Internet sex workers and left their bodies on the side of a Cape Cod beach. This doesn't have much to do with Tori Telfer's book, but this genre in and of itself forces its consumer to take a look at their own place in the narrative more than any other genre.
Why are we drawn to wound culture? I still don't really know, but Telfer sure does an amazing job at balancing this complicated question of humanity with tasteful wit and compelling storytelling. As a fan of Jezebel, I saw the tone of the outlet reflected in Telfer's unique writing style. I am not usually one for short stories -- I don't even read novellas from my favorite series -- but it was the ideal structure to give each woman their own story as well as an insight into the cultural setting and relevancy. Each story ended when it needed to (many women didn't have enough historical data to warrant more pages) but still had me wishing I could Google more about a murder that happened in the 1300s.
The biggest takeaways I had from this book weren't necessarily new ones. Women did often use poison, because who else had access to the kitchen? Beauty really did come in handy, especially in Chicago in the 1920s. But more just learning what I already knew, Telfer drove home themes of class inequality, oppression, abuse, and simply being misunderstood in a way that has never before been applied to female serial killers. Even though such themes have been applied to male serial killers many times over.
If you're into the true crime, this should be a compulsory read. Maybe we'll have reliable statistics on female serial killers one day, but then again, what an odd thing to wish.
Why are we drawn to wound culture? I still don't really know, but Telfer sure does an amazing job at balancing this complicated question of humanity with tasteful wit and compelling storytelling. As a fan of Jezebel, I saw the tone of the outlet reflected in Telfer's unique writing style. I am not usually one for short stories -- I don't even read novellas from my favorite series -- but it was the ideal structure to give each woman their own story as well as an insight into the cultural setting and relevancy. Each story ended when it needed to (many women didn't have enough historical data to warrant more pages) but still had me wishing I could Google more about a murder that happened in the 1300s.
The biggest takeaways I had from this book weren't necessarily new ones. Women did often use poison, because who else had access to the kitchen? Beauty really did come in handy, especially in Chicago in the 1920s. But more just learning what I already knew, Telfer drove home themes of class inequality, oppression, abuse, and simply being misunderstood in a way that has never before been applied to female serial killers. Even though such themes have been applied to male serial killers many times over.
If you're into the true crime, this should be a compulsory read. Maybe we'll have reliable statistics on female serial killers one day, but then again, what an odd thing to wish.