Jaimie's Reviews > Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History

Unlike the infamous Bundy or Gacy or Dahmer, chances are good you've never heard of Tillie Klimek or Daryl Nikolayevna Saltykova or Nannie Doss. They each have many, many murders to their credit. And they are all female. Does it then follow that they were less vicious? Less monstrous? Less cruel? Does it mean they should be forgotten, buried as odd footnotes to tales belonging primarily to their male counterparts?

In 1998 a criminal profiler for the FBI is famously quoted saying "There are no female serial killers." In Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History Tori Telfer sets out to prove that this is not only untrue, it's patently ridiculous.

This is a quick and easy dive into the fascinating topic of history's female serial killers and for someone not obsessed with true crime and well-read on the topic, I imagine it will be quite enjoyable. However, I was constantly aware of how little time we were spending on each woman and how few proven facts (with cited sources) are included. It reads like gossip and here say. This is not helped by the most recent of the women having been convicted in the 1950s. Others lived as far back as the 12th century. Not shockingly, there’s not a lot of actual evidence to back up what is primarily, at this point, folklore or legend.

If you have any serious interest in true crime- the psychology of serial killers, the methodology of evidence-based investigation, etc. - this is probably not what you’re looking for. But If you go into Lady Killers looking for the gruesome stories of mostly unknown murderesses told in a quippy, sarcastic voice, this is sure to please.

3 stars