After a stressful couple of months, I have finally finished another book. It’s been a long time coming, and this book was worth it. In this installment of Let’s Review, I am talking about a mini-thriller anthology about female serial killers throughout history. The book aims at bringing light to women who murder and the study of female anger and violence.

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Poison: forever the women’s weapon. It fits easily into the home. It’s subtle, secretive, tidy. Poison doesn’t leave blood on the floor or holes in the wall. Dropping a bit of colorless liquid into broth or wine is the simplest thing in the world. And who, historically, stays at home, boils the broth, and serves the wine? Women, of course.

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer, page 249

Synopsis:

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History tells the individual stories of forgotten female serial killers from different historical periods. Tori Telfer explores the cunning and ruthlessness of these ladies and de-stigmatizes what society believes is the motivation for all women who kill.

From a grandma in the American 1950s full of baked goods and sweet smiles to a blossoming French marquise in the mid-1700s, these women do not fit your famous literary tropes of passionate sexual desires and mysterious sorcery. They had their struggles and misfortunes, all leading them down a path of death and destruction.

Mythbusting

Telfer does a fantastic job of explaining the dichotomy of how society viewed female killers and who they were. Humans are complex, and no one is an exception. We tend to have many motivations to explain the things we do, and none of these reasons are extraordinary or fantastical. Many points resonated with me, and I like to reflect on which ones I felt were most important to know.

Are women too sensitive and nurturing to commit acts of violence?

‘How can…those who are so sensitive to the misfortunes of others…commit such a great crime?’ wrote one bemused commentator, shocked at the number of lady poisoners who were swelling in the city jails.

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer, page 250

The traditional gender roles paint women as calm, obedient, and submissive. Decisions were made for them, and any agency in their own life did not exist. In many societies, independent women were seen as undesirable and poor future wives and mothers. Being bold and direct are not gendered or race-based traits, and the only reason they seem that way is that society only lets one gender or race express it. Others were forced to suppress any thoughts and opinions that did not fit with what the community valued.

It all comes down to society’s view of women and how they should appear. In my opinion, that makes women who commit murder all the scarier. It would work in their favor, appearing friendly and non-threatening. On the other hand, Telfer offers a statistic at the conclusion of the novel:

…in the United States, the chances that you will be murdered by a female serial killer could be as low as one in ninety million.

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer, page 271

To summarize, Tori Telfer does a great job examining the motivations and rumors about female serial killers, and it was delightful to read. She maintained a whimsical theme throughout the book without straying from the gravity and seriousness of the murders. Remember, the act of murder has never been gendered.