Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men

by Harold Schechter

“High-Priestess of Murder,”

“house of horrors”

“Didn’t you take a few novels, pick them up and put them in your pocket?” said Weir. “No, sir!” cried Maxson, clearly incensed at the suggestion that he might engage in an activity as effete as reading fiction. “I want you to understand here and now that I do not read novels, no kind of novels!” The sheer depth of his indignation produced scattered chuckles among the spectators.

“The mystery that hangs about the murderous operations of Mrs. Gunness is likely to never be fully dispelled . . . in conception and brutality of execution, the crimes of Mrs. Gunness are unparalleled. She is entitled to be known to future generations as the arch fiend of the twentieth century.”[8]