Hell's Princess

[Fishface]

Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by good old Harold Schechter is being released on April Fool's Day, 2018.

[Hari]

I can love me some Harold Schechter... Will be looking for that one.
First heard about Belle Gunness on an episode of the "Criminal" podcast, I believe, and I also believe I've read at least two of Schechter's books.

[Fishface]

VERY interesting case, too -- bordering on unique. I hope.

[K.A.]

I just got this one for free on Amazon Prime, but my Kindle is dead, so I can't read it yet. Charging...charging...

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

K.A. wrote: "I just got this one for free on Amazon Prime, but my Kindle is dead, so I can't read it yet. Charging...charging..."

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

or

[K.A.]

It's charged! I'll start it as soon as I finish From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death which has to go back to the library soon.

[Koren]

I also snagged this one as a free Amazon download. I'm not usually a fan of historical crime but I did like this one. At the end I still wasn't sure whodunit. One thing that amazed me was how she hid and/or buried all those bodies by herself. She was a big lady but she must have been very strong.

[Fishface]

Or did she have a big, brawny farmhand of an accomplice?

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "Or did she have a big, brawny farmhand of an accomplice?"

I didn't come to a conclusion about that. She must have. But not sure that it was the guy that was convicted. What do you think, Fish?

[Fishface]

I have never read more than a thumbnail sketch of that case, but I seem to remember that her farmhand was one of the guys buried on the grounds -- fairly recently as her murders went. I thought maybe he was her accomplice, threatened to go to the police or something, and wound up dead like the others...so Belle only did that last killing solo. Just a theory backed by absolutely nothing.

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "I have never read more than a thumbnail sketch of that case, but I seem to remember that her farmhand was one of the guys buried on the grounds -- fairly recently as her murders went. I thought may..."

Several of the men that answered her advertisement were murdered on the farm. What transpired will never be known because there were no witnesses.

[K.A.]

I would say from the book that it seems to me that she did all the killings herself, although the very last one might have been witnessed by Lamphere, who then blackmailed her. When she realized the jig was up, she killed her kids and committed suicide. Lamphere almost certainly didn't kill her and her kids.

The book was pretty good, but like other reviews have mentioned, it was a bit heavy on the insulting descriptions of people, descriptions that were not well born out by the few photos (many other photos were referenced bu not included). I would have loved to read a few in-depth psychological profiles of Belle, but none were provided. The author could have consulted with modern experts for a bit more insight. The overview of historical facts was detailed, the coverage of the trial a bit too detailed for my taste, and of course, there's no satisfying wrap-up. Bummer.

[Fishface]

Forensics being what they were in those days, I'm not at all sure she killed her kids. Think of Harry Powers. Some unlucky slob may have brought his children to meet her.

[K.A.]

All three children were adopted, that's true, but from known locations, and they were all found huddled together (Belle and the kids), and the youngest child's skull had a hole in it which at least one person thought was the cause of death. If Belle didn't kill the kids & herself, then she met someone more evil than herself who did the deed for unknown reasons and then set fire to the house (and it's unlikely that person was Lamphere, in my opinion).