Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History

[Miranda]

It's a new month, which means a new true crime book to discuss! Our October selection is Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer.

This book is available in digital audiobook and e-book through Hoopla, and also in library print copy.

Look through the Table of Contents to see the 14 women who are featured in this book. Have you ever heard of any of them?

[Jennifer]

Read the first three chapters and it’s good so far. These women are crazy. Looking forward to reading about the others.

[Miranda]

I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, Jennifer! The book is indeed chock full of wild stories. For a book about serial killers, it's a pretty fun ride!

[Miranda]

I had heard some things about the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory, but what I'd heard and read were the exaggerated versions which the author points out during that chapter. Seems like she was the one in the book that did the most murdering, so it's not a surprise that the public still remembers her, but it's funny that torturing and killing hundreds of people isn't a sexy enough story so she's remembered for bathing in and drinking blood instead.

[Jennifer]

So is it strange that most of the early female serial killers were all from Europe and England. Was it because of the society they were living in? Or did it have more to do with the fact that North America wasn’t as populated back then.

[Miranda]

I hadn't thought about that, Jennifer! You're right that only 4 out of the 14 killers in the book lived in America, even though the author herself is American. I'd probably attribute that to the historical focus, like you said--both population and access to information were probably lacking compared to Europe in the early days of the country. But according to what I read on the internet, the U.S. has had the most confirmed serial killers of any country.

[Hannah]

I hadn't heard of a single woman profiled in the book! I was so shocked by so many of these stories. The blood countess, SHOOK ME. The grandma from the 1950's? WILD RIDE.

I also enjoyed her commentary at the end about how she wanted to cover some women of color, but found that available information was a bit limited.

Great selection, Miranda!!

[Miranda]

Thanks Hannah!

I think my favorite was the grandma from the 50s, Nannie Doss. It would be so cool to find video footage of her being interviewed, but I've been unable to find any footage so far. If you do a Google Image search for her, you can find a whole lot of photos, and she does always seem to be laughing and having a grand time. What a character!