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A review by captwinghead
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer
2.0
While this book detailed some crimes I'd never heard of before, it wasn't all that compelling to read. In all the true crime books I've read, this book was incredibly dry, overlong and a little cringe-y at times. The embellishments sounded as though the author was trying to be a showman and add some drama to the bleak material which made sense when discussing the way newspapers of the time sensationalized crime, but not so much when it was simply detailing sentencing or trials.
The women all fell into 2 categories - brutally violent or poisoners. That's it. I thought the author went with women that influenced the way the public views female killers today. The murderous grandmothers, heartless black widows and brutal noblewomen. However, I only recognized 5 of the crimes (Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotten, Bathory, the Bloody Benders and the women in Hungary). This book doesn't detail the most famous female killers that influenced other sensationalized archetypes of female killers: Aileen Wuornos, Judy Buenoano, Dorothea Puente, or really anyone that was around post 1950? It was very odd.
Perhaps their intent was to talk about women that aren't as well known. Except, these famous cases influenced the way female killers are viewed today. Even more so than some of the women that were noted here.
This book ultimately felt really, really repetitive because of the reoccurring methods, motives and the author continuously driving home the point that the women's appearances determined their media coverage and if they couldn't make the crime exciting and erotic, the press would criticize the women for being homely and evil. Truly, I thought this book went around in circles repeatedly.
So, while I think this would've made for an interesting essay, as a book, it was overlong and kind of boring. Not a recommend from me.
The women all fell into 2 categories - brutally violent or poisoners. That's it. I thought the author went with women that influenced the way the public views female killers today. The murderous grandmothers, heartless black widows and brutal noblewomen. However, I only recognized 5 of the crimes (Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotten, Bathory, the Bloody Benders and the women in Hungary). This book doesn't detail the most famous female killers that influenced other sensationalized archetypes of female killers: Aileen Wuornos, Judy Buenoano, Dorothea Puente, or really anyone that was around post 1950? It was very odd.
Perhaps their intent was to talk about women that aren't as well known. Except, these famous cases influenced the way female killers are viewed today. Even more so than some of the women that were noted here.
This book ultimately felt really, really repetitive because of the reoccurring methods, motives and the author continuously driving home the point that the women's appearances determined their media coverage and if they couldn't make the crime exciting and erotic, the press would criticize the women for being homely and evil. Truly, I thought this book went around in circles repeatedly.
So, while I think this would've made for an interesting essay, as a book, it was overlong and kind of boring. Not a recommend from me.