Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial Killer

by Michael D. Kelleher, C. Kelleher

While the short, lethal careers of serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and Andrew Cunanan terrorize the public and provide morbid inspiration for the entertainment industry, few people realize that it is the female serial killer, seldom heard of, who deserves most to be feared. Murder Most Rare provides startling information about the female serial murderer, who is shown to be far more deadly and determined, difficult to apprehend, and complexly motivated than her male counterpart. While serial murder by women is relatively rare, a surprising number of female serial killers are identified by the authors, nearly 100 in this century, with half of them having committed their crimes in America. By examining these women's backgrounds, motives and methods of killing, the book sheds new light on dozens of overlooked cases of murder and uncovers callous crimes and passions gone awry.

After a thought-provoking exploration of the cultural biases that have caused us historically to dismiss and ignore the criminal potential of women, Murder Most Rare divides female serial murders for the first time into seven Black Widow, Angel of Death, Sexual Predator, Revenge, Profit or Crime, Team Killer and Question of Sanity. These seven types vary widely in motivation, choice of victims, weapons and methods. The authors reveal patterns that occur within the types, but stress that the complicated nature of these women's crimes makes personality profiling almost impossible―a fact that causes the jobs of homicide investigators to be difficult, indeed, sometimes impossible. This is a uniquely personal look into a dark, shocking world.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Mystery

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 1998

Reviews

[Nelda Fairley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. It summerizes the lives and crimes of female serial killers such as: Nanny Hazel Doss (The giggling Grandma), Margie Velma Barfield, Blanche Taylor Moore, Genene Jones, Aileen Carol Wuornos, Marybeth Tinning, among others.

[Brackman1066 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book introduces a taxonomy of female serial killers which is interesting and useful for beginning to think about the phenomenon.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find serial killers fascinating, and women serial killers particularly fascinating. This book is only okay. I found it a little inconsistent with the amount of information. Some of the women had 5 pages written about them and their crimes, while others had 2 paragraphs. I realize that some killers, particularly the ones working at the beginning of the 20th century, would have less information, but I was left wanting more with quite a few. The book ended rather abruptly as well. No conclusion or final thoughts, just the last chapter, appendices, bibliography and index. Seemed a little odd to me. Finally, the one thing I cannot absolutely not get past are the grammatical errors. Didn't anyone proofread this before publishing? Mine is a first printing, but that type of thing drives me nuts.

All in all, there is a lot of information, which is really what I was looking for. 2 Stars.

[Sienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars


The data is a little out of date with the publishing being before the 2000s like I believe the number of children specifically targeted be serial killers would be higher in today’s society and there would be more names in general as this book is a little out of date. However still fascinating and engaging. The unknown cases in the last chapter were interesting. Had some formatting flaws but overall very strong.

This book was good but I sadly landed in a reading slump for a month and it was hard to pick back up. But us a subject matter I always go back too.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I got past the first chapter this book became pretty interesting. The first chapter felt like something I wrote for my college psychology class. I wish some of the cases went a little bit more in depth. I felt like everything was just a little bit too surface. One of the cases was from close to my hometown so that was pretty cool

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a little outdated in it's language and facts (it is an older book), I did enjoy the typology and case studies. Lots of details and enjoyable storytelling.

[Shoshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only was this super informative, but it was also so fun to read.

[Felicidad Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye opening and informative read.
Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial Killer offers a fascinating look into a topic that is rarely mentioned: Female Serial Killers. Michael D. Kelleher breaks down the history and psychological profiles of these women, categorizing different types and shedding light on their motives, methods, patterns and victim selection. Unlike their male counterparts, female serial killers tend to be more covert and calculated, often targeting those close to them. I found the sections on historical cases and the unique patterns of female serial killers to be revealing and alarming, how they blind sided their victims. If you are fan of true crime with a psychological and sociological lens, this book is worth checking out.

[L.R. Lam]

Research for Brainfreeze Book.