What do you think?
Rate this book
Mudlark The Angel Makers The True Story of the Most Astonishing Murder Ring in History.
The Angel Makers The True Story of the Most Astonishing Murder Ring in History ABISBOOK Mudlark.
336 pages, Paperback
Published April 11, 2024
About the author
Patti McCracken
4 books17 followersI like talking with readers and book clubs. I'm excited to be part of a new venture called Skolay, which matches readers with authors:
skolay.com/writers/patti-mccracken
Born and raised in Virginia Beach, then moved to Clearwater, Fl. for high school. Youngest of six. Worked for newspapers and magazines before moving to Europe, where I lived for about two decades in an Austrian village on the Slovak border. I was a media trainer in the former Soviet bloc, the Balkans, the Caucasus, North Africa and SE Asia. Came back to the US in 2016. I live now on Martha's Vineyard.
skolay.com/writers/patti-mccracken
Born and raised in Virginia Beach, then moved to Clearwater, Fl. for high school. Youngest of six. Worked for newspapers and magazines before moving to Europe, where I lived for about two decades in an Austrian village on the Slovak border. I was a media trainer in the former Soviet bloc, the Balkans, the Caucasus, North Africa and SE Asia. Came back to the US in 2016. I live now on Martha's Vineyard.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 14, 2025
This just wasn't for me. On paper it sounds fabulous, a secret sorority of poisoners, taking action against abusive husbands, but ultimately going too far. Yet my whole time reading it, I felt like I was missing something crucial. It's marketed as non-fiction true crime but reads like historical fiction, with endless focus on individuals' inner thoughts and sensations: things which couldn't possibly be cited in a historical source. I love historical fiction, I just like to know I'm reading it. The author has clearly taken note that readers like to be immersed in the 5 senses, but this book will drown you in detail, while somehow doing nothing to actually compel you.
March 31, 2026
I admit I originally picked this book up purely because of it's title, but the blurb on the back intrigued me enough that I bought it.
I've not regretted it.
This book covers some really extraordinary events and is set in a time and place I knew little about. So it was quite interesting and informative in a lot of ways. The way events unfolded is shocking, especially when the lower courts had, rightly, locked someone up early on - only for the Supreme Court to overturn it and let her out!
So, yes, interesting and startling. Things are only made more so when there's a point where there is a clash between old midwife ways and more modern medical ones. You'd think given what so many of the midwives in the area are doing it would be a clear choice - and then the doctors prove they don't know what they're doing when it comes to childbirth.
My only regret is that the book is so obviously dumbed down for an American audience. Why else would the names of people be changed or the temperatures given in Fahrenheit? And, to make it worse, the author doesn't even tell you she's using Fahrenheit, she simply assumes people will know it - you know, that temperature measurement used by only 4% of the world's population and not Hungarians, the people about whom this story is about.
Would recommend with a caveat about the above so people know about the dumbing down ahead of reaching it.
I've not regretted it.
This book covers some really extraordinary events and is set in a time and place I knew little about. So it was quite interesting and informative in a lot of ways. The way events unfolded is shocking, especially when the lower courts had, rightly, locked someone up early on - only for the Supreme Court to overturn it and let her out!
So, yes, interesting and startling. Things are only made more so when there's a point where there is a clash between old midwife ways and more modern medical ones. You'd think given what so many of the midwives in the area are doing it would be a clear choice - and then the doctors prove they don't know what they're doing when it comes to childbirth.
My only regret is that the book is so obviously dumbed down for an American audience. Why else would the names of people be changed or the temperatures given in Fahrenheit? And, to make it worse, the author doesn't even tell you she's using Fahrenheit, she simply assumes people will know it - you know, that temperature measurement used by only 4% of the world's population and not Hungarians, the people about whom this story is about.
Would recommend with a caveat about the above so people know about the dumbing down ahead of reaching it.
May 25, 2025
I found this fascinating. Although it’s a fictional account it’s based on real life events in Hungary in the early 20th century.
Unlike Giulia Tofana, I didn’t warm to the main protagonist at all - she was painted as a pretty self-serving and unpleasant woman, doing what she did for personal gain rather than for benevolent purposes.
In fact most of the characters are painted as being rather odious and selfish.
However I thought it was well written and it made me want to find out more about the history of events.
Unlike Giulia Tofana, I didn’t warm to the main protagonist at all - she was painted as a pretty self-serving and unpleasant woman, doing what she did for personal gain rather than for benevolent purposes.
In fact most of the characters are painted as being rather odious and selfish.
However I thought it was well written and it made me want to find out more about the history of events.
May 17, 2026
Wow. This book was absolutely awful, repetitive. The longest 312 page book I have read. Would have D.N.F.ed if it wasn't for a book club. The subject is very interesting but the execution by the writer was awful. So much dust and waddling and mongrels. The actual murders were lost in detailed redundancy.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews