Bloodthirsty women are a minority. However, that fact only encouraged Jennifer Wright (We Came First; Get Well Soon) to magnify their existence in She Kills Me, a thoroughly researched--at times shocking--examination of the most notorious female killers to ever walk the face of the earth. Spanning centuries and the particular histories of 40 women predators--from the working class to the elite--Wright serves up detailed, often gruesome and harrowing accounts of women murderers, offering possible reasons how and why they led lives espousing death.
People kill for various reasons--love, money, power, anger, revenge or for fun. Wright covers them all, cataloging the featured murderesses as Psychos, Poisoners, Bad Family Members, Black Widows, Scorned Women, Mercenaries, Killer Queens, Badass Warriors and Avenging Angels.
Notorious inbred sociopath Countess Elizabeth Báthory (16th century) grew up in a castle and was close with a sadomasochistic aunt and Satanist uncle. A demoralizing childhood led her later to abuse and torture her servants--pouring water on them in frigid winter and releasing them outside to freeze to death; forcing others to cook and eat their own flesh. She was also known to bathe in the blood of virgins because it worked wonders on her skin. Báthory is said to have murdered more than 650 people in her lifetime.
"Some people just like murdering, the way other people enjoy reading or playing tennis." Take orphaned, cheerful "Jolly Jane" Toppan, a 19th-century nurse whose pathological lying endeared her to sick patients and their families. If someone annoyed her, however, she secretly killed them off with overdoses of morphine until, after a suspected 100 deaths, she was caught and declared "morally insane."
Other murderesses rack up grisly accomplishments like Freddie Oversteegen, a Dutch freedom fighter. Beautiful, innocent-looking and pig-tailed, this teenager's family recruited her for the World War II resistance. With a pistol stashed in her bicycle basket, she rescued Jewish children and blew up train tracks, while she--along with her sister--killed Nazis in acts of "necessary evil." Griselda Blanco, a 21st-century Colombian immigrant became one of Miami's most influential and devious drug lords, and pioneered assassinations by motorcycle, where hitmen she hired struck targets that assured quick getaways.
Fans of macabre crime stories will be held rapt by Wright's conversationally styled catalog of chilling, diabolic horrors, enhanced with apropos illustrations by Eva Bee that depict each female slayer in the glory of her murderous fame. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines
Shelf Talker: This hair-raising collection catalogs 40 of the world's most notorious, devious and gruesome female killers.