Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales

by Mitzi Szereto

From historical accounts to modern cases, explore the captivating psychology behind these killer women, unraveling their motives and unveiling the dark complexities of human behavior. The fair sex. We’ve often heard this clichéd expression being used to refer to women. Although it has become increasingly outdated, the mindset still exists that women are the gentle and nurturing sex. When it comes to murder, that notion gets turned on its head. And this isn’t a recent phenomenon; we can find plenty of female killers going back in history. In fact, some of the world’s most notorious serial killers have been women. These female killers give their male counterparts a run for their money, and deserve to be counted among the most famous serial killers.  Unearth the disturbing histories of notorious women. From the chilling accounts of infamous black widow murders to the spine-tingling narratives of women who shocked the world with their sinister deeds, this anthology delves deep into the minds of these deadly women. Spanning eras and continents, these tales of true crime offer a chilling exploration of the darkest corners of human nature. If you liked books such as Lady Killers , The Big Book of Serial Killers , or The Best New True Crime Stories , you’ll love Women Who Murder .

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 12, 2024

About the author

OFFICIAL ACCOUNT
Mitzi Szereto (mitziszereto.com) is an American-British author, anthology editor, and short story writer whose books encompass multiple genres, most recently in true crime, including her latest release Women Who Murder: An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales as well as her popular series The Best New True Crime Stories. Her work has been translated into several languages. A contribution in her anthology Getting Even: Revenge Stories received the Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Dagger “Highly Commended.” She has the added distinction of being the editor of the first anthology of erotic fiction to include a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Mitzi has appeared internationally on radio and television and at major literature festivals, and has taught creative writing around the world, including universities in the UK. In addition to having produced and presented the London-based web TV channel Mitzi TV, she portrays herself in the pseudo-documentary British film, Lint: The Movie. Follow her on social media @mitziszereto.

Reviews

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joanna Dennehy leads off this collection, and she is amongst the small percentage of female serial killers. She stabbed three men to death and wounded two others on her killing spree. A whole life order will keep Joanna in a British prison for the rest of her life.
Ruth Snyder and her lover killed her husband and her fame has endured with a photo of her execution which made the front page of the New York Daily News in 1928.
Karissa Boudreau was a normal girl of twelve when she vanished in Nova Scotia. Her panicked mother notified the police and this particular story has a truly horrific ending.
And now for something completely different; a female, Iranian serial killer. Mahin Qadiri was in need of money in order to pay for medical bills. Inspired by Agatha Christie, the desperate housewife killed a few older women and stole their jewelry. Justice in Iran is swift and it did not end well for Mahin.
A chapter on Susan Smith is told by a lawyer who attended the trial of the woman who drowned her children and initially blamed a Black man. A tragic case.
Pietro Napolitano beat his wife Angelina on a regular basis and attempted to force her into prostitution. She refused and he stabbed her several times. The Canadian laws of 1911 were strange and he was excused, and after further abuse, wifey beheaded her husband with an axe. The case caused worldwide outrage and it is a good one.
Keli Lane first became pregnant at seventeen and proved to be quite fertile, with two abortions and three live births, all with different fathers. One of the children, Teegan, vanished without a trace. Despite never being found, Keli was convicted of murder and the case remains a mystery in Australia.
An Indian soap opera is next with Jollyamma Joseph being the star. Joseph poisoned six people with cyanide with the usual motives of greed and sex. Due to Covid, the case was delayed and was still pending at the time of the publication of this book.
Irma Grese was called the "Angel of Death." She was fond of sadistic behavior at three Nazi death camps and was hanged in 1945. An appropriate sendoff.
Elizabeth Ann “Ma” Duncan was a bit too close to her twenty-nine-year old son Frank. When he married a woman named Olga, mom became livid and arranged for her death. I knew of the case from "A Lovely Girl" by Deborah Holt Larkin. Highly recommended.
Mona Fandey finishes the collection. She was a "bomoh" in Malaysia who claimed voodoo-like powers. She and two cohorts hoodwinked a man out of some cash and then murdered him. The aspiring singer gained fame twenty years after her death with the release of an album.
A fine collection of female murderers for my fellow true crime readers.

[Kristen Barenthaler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devious women are one of my favorite sub-genres of true crime. And this collection contains numerous international examples that I had never heard of before.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick impressions: Very often in crime, folks tend to dismiss women or don't think the "gentler sex" is not capable of deeds like extreme violence and murder. The editor shows in 14 tales that when it comes to crime females are not the "gentler sex."

(A detailed review of this book will be on my blog soon.)

[Heather Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had a good collection of international crimes committed by women. I have not heard any of these. This was a good book. It's surprising to find that there are crimes committed by women.

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

*audiobook*

An International Collection of Deadly True Crime Tales is the absolute correct description of this book. Ranging from a hundred years ago till present and from a few kills, to serial, to mass murder, the author covers a wide spectrum of killer women. They also vary geographically and in age. It was interesting to see “the gentler” sex get vicious and to explore their motives.
My one issue was that sometimes opinions were presented as facts and parts of the stories were fictionalized in a way that took me out of the flow (i.e. dialogue that the author couldn’t possibly verify).

[Gala · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Aquí hubo casos muy duros y solo conocía uno de ellos.
Siempre es sorprendente oír los motivos por los que otros matan. Constantemente me causa curiosidad cómo y cuándo es que la gente pienda "Fácil,voy a matarle".
También es perturbador leer a las mujeres que pudieron simplemente matar víctima tras víctima.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of stories that span through the ages. Women have long been considered to "fragile" to murder. However, there are many women who were very prolific killers, and some of them are mostly forgotten.

Interesting read overall.

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, the author tells the stories of Women murderers around the world and what led them to kill. I did appreciate the backstories behind the women as they grew up, but I must say that I didn't agree with the author on a few cases. There are other ways out of a situation than to kill.

[Cheyne Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the collated articles from different authors. Certain passages seem stilted in punctuation. However, each story was gripping and contained pertinent information for the length of passage they were given

[All Things Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of True crime stories about women who have murdered. If you like True crime shows or podcasts, this would be a great book to read!

[Sarah Ehrlich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very informative and covered many hard cases.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...