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Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History
Lady Killers Deadly Women Throughout History Author:Tori Telfer, Dame Darcy (Illustrator) When you think of serial killers throughout history, the names that come to mind are ones like Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy. But what about Tillie Klimek, Moulay Hassan, Kate Bender? — The narrative we’re comfortable with is the one where women are the victims of violent crime, not the perpetrators. In fact, serial killer... more »s are thought to be so universally, overwhelmingly male that in 1998, FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood infamously declared in a homicide conference, “There are no female serial killers.”
Lady Killers, based on the popular online series that appeared on Jezebel and The Hairpin, disputes that claim and offers fourteen gruesome examples as evidence. Though largely forgotten by history, female serial killers such as Erzsébet Báthory, Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotton, and Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova rival their male counterparts in cunning, cruelty, and appetite for destruction.
Each chapter explores the crimes and history of a different subject, and then proceeds to unpack her legacy and her portrayal in the media, as well as the stereotypes and sexist clichés that inevitably surround her. The first book to examine female serial killers through a feminist lens with a witty and dryly humorous tone, Lady Killers dismisses easy explanations (she was hormonal, she did it for love, a man made her do it) and tired tropes (she was a femme fatale, a black widow, a witch), delving into the complex reality of female aggression and predation. Featuring 14 illustrations from Dame Darcy, Lady Killers is a bloodcurdling, insightful, and irresistible journey into the heart of darkness.
The elusive population --
The blood countess : ErzseÌbet BaÌthory --
The giggling grandma : Nannie Doss --
The worst woman on earth : Lizzie Halliday --
Devil in the shape of a saint : Elizabeth Ridgeway --
Vipers : Raya and Sakina --
The wretched woman : Mary Ann Cotton --
The tormentor : Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova --
Iceberg Anna : Anna Marie Hahn --
The nightingale : Oum-El-Hassen --
High priestess of the Bluebeard clique : Tillie Klimek --
Sorceress of Kilkenny : Alice Kyteler --
Beautiful throat cutter : Kate Bender --
The angel makers of NagyreÌv --
Queen of poisoners : Marie-Madeleine, the Marquise de Brinvilliers« less