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Fatal: The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer
In an era that produced some of the most vicious female sociopaths in American history, Jane Toppan would become the most notorious of them all.
AN ANGEL OF MERCY
In 1891, Jane Toppan, a proper New England matron, embarked on a profession as a private-duty nurse. Selfless and good-natured, she beguiled Boston's most prominent families. They had no idea what they were welcoming into their homes....
A DEVIL IN DISGUISE
No one knew of Jane's past; of her mother's tragic death, of her brutal upbringing in an adoptive home, of her father's insanity, or of her own suicide attempts. No one could have guessed that during her tenure at a Massachusetts hospital the amiable "Jolly Jane" was morbidly obsessed with autopsies, or that she conducted her own after-hours experiments on patients, deriving sexual satisfaction in their slow, agonizing deaths from poison. Self-schooled in the art of murder, Jane Toppan was just beginning her career -- and she would indulge in her true calling victim by victim to become the most prolific domestic fiend of the nineteenth century.
AN ANGEL OF MERCY
In 1891, Jane Toppan, a proper New England matron, embarked on a profession as a private-duty nurse. Selfless and good-natured, she beguiled Boston's most prominent families. They had no idea what they were welcoming into their homes....
A DEVIL IN DISGUISE
No one knew of Jane's past; of her mother's tragic death, of her brutal upbringing in an adoptive home, of her father's insanity, or of her own suicide attempts. No one could have guessed that during her tenure at a Massachusetts hospital the amiable "Jolly Jane" was morbidly obsessed with autopsies, or that she conducted her own after-hours experiments on patients, deriving sexual satisfaction in their slow, agonizing deaths from poison. Self-schooled in the art of murder, Jane Toppan was just beginning her career -- and she would indulge in her true calling victim by victim to become the most prolific domestic fiend of the nineteenth century.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2003
56 people are currently reading
2335 people want to read
About the author
Harold Schechter
79 books1,395 followersAka Jon A. Harrald (joint pseudonym with Jonna Gormley Semeiks)
Harold Schechter is a true crime writer who specializes in serial killers. He attended the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he obtained a Ph.D. A resident of New York City, Schechter is professor of American literature and popular culture at Queens College of the City University of New York.
Among his nonfiction works are the historical true-crime classics Fatal, Fiend, Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved. He also authors a critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Edgar Allan Poe, which includes The Hum Bug and Nevermore and The Mask of Red Death.
Schechter is married to poet Kimiko Hahn. He has two daughters from a previous marriage: the writer Lauren Oliver and professor of philosophy Elizabeth Schechter.
Harold Schechter is a true crime writer who specializes in serial killers. He attended the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he obtained a Ph.D. A resident of New York City, Schechter is professor of American literature and popular culture at Queens College of the City University of New York.
Among his nonfiction works are the historical true-crime classics Fatal, Fiend, Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved. He also authors a critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Edgar Allan Poe, which includes The Hum Bug and Nevermore and The Mask of Red Death.
Schechter is married to poet Kimiko Hahn. He has two daughters from a previous marriage: the writer Lauren Oliver and professor of philosophy Elizabeth Schechter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
January 5, 2022
n 1891, Jane Toppan, a proper New England matron, embarked on a profession as a private-duty nurse. With no training or experience she self appoints herself as a caretaker. Selfless and good-natured, she beguiled Boston's most prominent families. "Jolly Jane" would be helpful, joyful to some. Others she would steal from and spread lies about. She was morbidly obsessed with autopsies, she conducted her own after-hours experiments on patients, deriving sexual satisfaction in their slow, agonizing deaths from poison. Beneath it all Jane Toppan was a serial killer.
May 21, 2017
Harold Schechter starts off his book discussing Aileen Wuornos who in 1989 killed 7 men, she claimed self-defense, prosecutors saw it differently. This led to Wuornos being given the distinction “America’s First Female Serial Killer”, which as Schechter goes on to show, is completely wrong.
The main subject of this book is Jane Toppan, before we get to her we are introduced to Lydia Struck who after her husband and 6 children died of “natural causes” aka arsenic poisoning, married a farmer in Stratford CT named Dennis Hurlburt, after he died of “cholera morbus” aka arsenic poisoning, she married Horatio N. Sherman who also died. This time the doctor recognized the symptoms of arsenic poisoning and became suspicious.
Then we travel to Boston and meet Sarah Jane Robinson a skilled seamstress who had some nursing experience, a lot of her patients died, her landlord, her husband, 3 of her 8 children, well you know how medicine was at that time, she says with a roll of her eyes. She had amazing accurate premonitions, usually involving someone dying. She was arrested in August 1886 for the murder of her son and eventually convicted and sentenced to hang. These two accounts set the stage for Jane Toppan’s life story.
Jane Toppan was born Honora Kelley, how she came to be Jane Toppan is a factor in why she began to murder, the full number of her victims may never be known, her reasons are classic serial killer, killing gave her a high, a sexual thrill. All of this is covered in this book, “Harold Schechter is a true crime writer who specializes in serial killers.” Therefore he knows a lot about them and it shows. This is a fascinating story told wonderfully by Mr. Schechter. A friend, when recommending the book to me said: “My least favorite of all the books I’ve read of this author but still good!” I haven’t read any others by him, it looks like my reading experience is about to improve since I have more of his books on my list.
Everything is covered here, Jane Toppan’s childhood, as much as is known of it, including some speculation on how she was mistreated by her father, her treatment by her adoptive family resulting in much resentment on her part. Her efforts to become a nurse, how she manipulated people around her. The suspicious deaths at the hospitals where she worked, the private nursing deaths and the deaths that were her final undoing. A fantastic tale that proves the truth of the saying, “truth is stranger than fiction”. I highly recommend this book.
The main subject of this book is Jane Toppan, before we get to her we are introduced to Lydia Struck who after her husband and 6 children died of “natural causes” aka arsenic poisoning, married a farmer in Stratford CT named Dennis Hurlburt, after he died of “cholera morbus” aka arsenic poisoning, she married Horatio N. Sherman who also died. This time the doctor recognized the symptoms of arsenic poisoning and became suspicious.
Then we travel to Boston and meet Sarah Jane Robinson a skilled seamstress who had some nursing experience, a lot of her patients died, her landlord, her husband, 3 of her 8 children, well you know how medicine was at that time, she says with a roll of her eyes. She had amazing accurate premonitions, usually involving someone dying. She was arrested in August 1886 for the murder of her son and eventually convicted and sentenced to hang. These two accounts set the stage for Jane Toppan’s life story.
Jane Toppan was born Honora Kelley, how she came to be Jane Toppan is a factor in why she began to murder, the full number of her victims may never be known, her reasons are classic serial killer, killing gave her a high, a sexual thrill. All of this is covered in this book, “Harold Schechter is a true crime writer who specializes in serial killers.” Therefore he knows a lot about them and it shows. This is a fascinating story told wonderfully by Mr. Schechter. A friend, when recommending the book to me said: “My least favorite of all the books I’ve read of this author but still good!” I haven’t read any others by him, it looks like my reading experience is about to improve since I have more of his books on my list.
Everything is covered here, Jane Toppan’s childhood, as much as is known of it, including some speculation on how she was mistreated by her father, her treatment by her adoptive family resulting in much resentment on her part. Her efforts to become a nurse, how she manipulated people around her. The suspicious deaths at the hospitals where she worked, the private nursing deaths and the deaths that were her final undoing. A fantastic tale that proves the truth of the saying, “truth is stranger than fiction”. I highly recommend this book.
September 30, 2023
Fatal: The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer / B009NHBJJ2
I am a very big fan of Harold Schechter's historical true crime books. While the questionable covers and book subtitles seem sometimes a little over-the-top, the actual contents of the books are top-notch in my opinion. Schechter writes in a very engaging style that is accessible to the audience, and handles the facts of the case in a chronological order as an easy-to-follow narrative. He is careful to cite his sources as he goes and is very clear when we encounter gaps in the record where we don't know what happened. Any speculation on his part is marked plainly and we are walked through the logical steps. I appreciate that in a crime author, as too many authors are willing to blur fact and fiction.
This book covers the life and death of serial killer Jane Toppan, an "angel of death" serial killer who targeted her patients as a nurse, as well as occasional friends and family members. On the topic of female serial killers of the time period who used poison as their weapon of choice (who knew that was such a large category? Not me!) the book also devotes some time to the chronicles of Lydia Sherman and Sarah Jane Robinson, in order to set-up commonalities and compare and contrast their methods and motives. (And we get to read the newspapers' breathless comparisons to Lucretia Borgia, which was of course terribly unfair to her since she probably never poisoned anybody! #historical pet peeves, I guess.)
The usual trigger warnings apply for this book, being about serial killers after all, including sexual assault of victims and child death. There's also the added aspect here of patient-nurse abuse and targeting sick and elderly victims. I really appreciate Schechter as an author because he treats these delicate topics with care and respect, and affords the victims dignity; he isn't crass or irreverent or flippant like some crime authors are.
One of the things I enjoy about Schechter's books is the historical context. Toppan operated in a time when arsenic was available over-the-counter at general stores as rat poison, and when autopsies after death were the exception rather than the rule. A shocking number of her victims were chalked up to various illnesses--even ones that hadn't previously been diagnosed in the patients before--and it's a wonder whether or not she would have been caught if she hadn't gotten sloppy and started going after young healthy people in the prime of their lives. The details on how bodies were examined for poison in the early 1900s were especially interesting to me; her victims were autopsied *after* the bodies had been embalmed, which complicated the situation since the embalming process used arsenic.
If you're interested in historical true crime, or if you'd like to read more about female serial killers (which are of course considered a rarity... but this book convincingly argues that maybe they shouldn't be) then this is an excellent read that I highly recommend. Oh! There's also a really interesting dive into the assassination of President McKinley and how utterly terribly the medical personnel handled the situation, none of which I'd ever heard of before, so that was VERY interesting to learn from this rather unexpected source.
~ Ana Mardoll
I am a very big fan of Harold Schechter's historical true crime books. While the questionable covers and book subtitles seem sometimes a little over-the-top, the actual contents of the books are top-notch in my opinion. Schechter writes in a very engaging style that is accessible to the audience, and handles the facts of the case in a chronological order as an easy-to-follow narrative. He is careful to cite his sources as he goes and is very clear when we encounter gaps in the record where we don't know what happened. Any speculation on his part is marked plainly and we are walked through the logical steps. I appreciate that in a crime author, as too many authors are willing to blur fact and fiction.
This book covers the life and death of serial killer Jane Toppan, an "angel of death" serial killer who targeted her patients as a nurse, as well as occasional friends and family members. On the topic of female serial killers of the time period who used poison as their weapon of choice (who knew that was such a large category? Not me!) the book also devotes some time to the chronicles of Lydia Sherman and Sarah Jane Robinson, in order to set-up commonalities and compare and contrast their methods and motives. (And we get to read the newspapers' breathless comparisons to Lucretia Borgia, which was of course terribly unfair to her since she probably never poisoned anybody! #historical pet peeves, I guess.)
The usual trigger warnings apply for this book, being about serial killers after all, including sexual assault of victims and child death. There's also the added aspect here of patient-nurse abuse and targeting sick and elderly victims. I really appreciate Schechter as an author because he treats these delicate topics with care and respect, and affords the victims dignity; he isn't crass or irreverent or flippant like some crime authors are.
One of the things I enjoy about Schechter's books is the historical context. Toppan operated in a time when arsenic was available over-the-counter at general stores as rat poison, and when autopsies after death were the exception rather than the rule. A shocking number of her victims were chalked up to various illnesses--even ones that hadn't previously been diagnosed in the patients before--and it's a wonder whether or not she would have been caught if she hadn't gotten sloppy and started going after young healthy people in the prime of their lives. The details on how bodies were examined for poison in the early 1900s were especially interesting to me; her victims were autopsied *after* the bodies had been embalmed, which complicated the situation since the embalming process used arsenic.
If you're interested in historical true crime, or if you'd like to read more about female serial killers (which are of course considered a rarity... but this book convincingly argues that maybe they shouldn't be) then this is an excellent read that I highly recommend. Oh! There's also a really interesting dive into the assassination of President McKinley and how utterly terribly the medical personnel handled the situation, none of which I'd ever heard of before, so that was VERY interesting to learn from this rather unexpected source.
~ Ana Mardoll
November 7, 2009
My least favorite of all the books I've read of this author but still good!
July 15, 2024
It was a facial book. Bland for the most part. I feel like it would've been more colorful if it were about a male serial killer vs the dryness that is usually afforded to women of the same ilk. In either case, I learned some interesting facts.
January 18, 2019
Well-written and thoroughly researched. I enjoyed this a lot.
March 28, 2022
Brilliant book. Normally I don't care much about female poisoners, and I already knew the story of Jane Toppan, whom this book was about. However, as always, Schechter did a great job telling Toppan's story in an engaging, thought-provoking way, at times delving into what else was happening in the world to give us a sense of time and place.
He also delves into the differences between the pathology of male and female killers, which was interesting.
However, Fatal gets really bogged down in the chapters that discuss the trial, which is the reason for the missing star.
He also delves into the differences between the pathology of male and female killers, which was interesting.
However, Fatal gets really bogged down in the chapters that discuss the trial, which is the reason for the missing star.
October 28, 2008
It isn't always men who are savage enough to kill without rhyme or reason. There is always your Elizabeth Bathory, Lucrezia Borgia, Lydia Sherman, Sarah Jane Robinson, Aileen Wournos... and of course, Jolly Jane Toppan.
Schecter begins the book with Aileen Wournos, an underappreciated woman I think, who killed her seven victims because they allegedly tried to rape her/assault her while she was working as a prostitute. Next to Jane Toppan, however, Aileen Wournos is a tame kitty-cat.
Jane Toppan was brought into the world as Honora Kelley but was indentured to and adopted by the Toppan family, consisting of Mrs. Ann Toppan and her lovely daughter Elizabeth. As far as we know, they treated her well, but her role in the family was that of a slave.
Jane attended nursing school which was no small feat in that day and age. There was a rigorous training that we now might find unconstitutional. Despite all of the training and work, Jane found time to experiment on some of her patients and the morphia & atropine fun began.
Jolly Jane never graduated with any degree and instead of continuing with nursing she went into private home care. It was then that Jane really began having fun. The freedom of not being under anyone's watchful eye - the power of being the only care provider for your patient... well, let's just say she got a little excited. And when Jane get excited, many funerals are had. Still, it was years before Jane was ever suspected and brought to trial, leaving as many as one hundred alleged corpses in her path.
This book was wonderfully written. Schechter really researched the topic before embarking on the book. He referenced newspaper articles of the time as well as public records. My favorite part of this entire book is the intimacy of "watching" her kill her victims. There is a lot of information about just how she went about killing her patients and it was phrased beautifully.
So I guess there's a lesson to be learned.
Beware the next time you're handed medicine. "Drink it, it's good for you," may be the last words you hear.
(I'd give it an eight/ten)
Schecter begins the book with Aileen Wournos, an underappreciated woman I think, who killed her seven victims because they allegedly tried to rape her/assault her while she was working as a prostitute. Next to Jane Toppan, however, Aileen Wournos is a tame kitty-cat.
Jane Toppan was brought into the world as Honora Kelley but was indentured to and adopted by the Toppan family, consisting of Mrs. Ann Toppan and her lovely daughter Elizabeth. As far as we know, they treated her well, but her role in the family was that of a slave.
Jane attended nursing school which was no small feat in that day and age. There was a rigorous training that we now might find unconstitutional. Despite all of the training and work, Jane found time to experiment on some of her patients and the morphia & atropine fun began.
Jolly Jane never graduated with any degree and instead of continuing with nursing she went into private home care. It was then that Jane really began having fun. The freedom of not being under anyone's watchful eye - the power of being the only care provider for your patient... well, let's just say she got a little excited. And when Jane get excited, many funerals are had. Still, it was years before Jane was ever suspected and brought to trial, leaving as many as one hundred alleged corpses in her path.
This book was wonderfully written. Schechter really researched the topic before embarking on the book. He referenced newspaper articles of the time as well as public records. My favorite part of this entire book is the intimacy of "watching" her kill her victims. There is a lot of information about just how she went about killing her patients and it was phrased beautifully.
So I guess there's a lesson to be learned.
Beware the next time you're handed medicine. "Drink it, it's good for you," may be the last words you hear.
(I'd give it an eight/ten)
November 30, 2016
It's not so easy to get away with poisoning someone in 2016. Modern medicine can typically detect any poisons that can be obtained by the average human. Additionally, we're not so blinded by antiquated ideas of femininity that we'd fail to consider the possibility that a mother could poison her children or a nurse the patients in her charge. However, as Harold Schechter illustrates in Fatal, it was almost too easy for a woman in the late 19th century to get away with murdering those under her care.
The focus of Schechter's book is Jane Toppan, a nurse who murdered as many as 31 of her patients using a combination of morphia and atropia. By her own admission, Jane committed these murders for the sexual thrill she got when she would climb into bed with her patients and feel the life slip away from them. Schechter prefaces his story by telling the stories of other female poisoners who murdered those around them with arsenic, which was a commonly used household product at the time. This illustrates how truly inept modern medicine was at the time. In multiple instances, entire families are wiped out and no one suspects it is anything more than terrible misfortune.
Jane Toppan and her contemporary female poisoners were not like male serial killers who killed random strangers. The late 19th century female poisoner made victims of their husbands, children and dear friends who trusted the person attending their bedside. Fatal is a great addition to the true crime genre that offers a less than picturesque view of the U.S. in the later half of the 1800s.
The focus of Schechter's book is Jane Toppan, a nurse who murdered as many as 31 of her patients using a combination of morphia and atropia. By her own admission, Jane committed these murders for the sexual thrill she got when she would climb into bed with her patients and feel the life slip away from them. Schechter prefaces his story by telling the stories of other female poisoners who murdered those around them with arsenic, which was a commonly used household product at the time. This illustrates how truly inept modern medicine was at the time. In multiple instances, entire families are wiped out and no one suspects it is anything more than terrible misfortune.
Jane Toppan and her contemporary female poisoners were not like male serial killers who killed random strangers. The late 19th century female poisoner made victims of their husbands, children and dear friends who trusted the person attending their bedside. Fatal is a great addition to the true crime genre that offers a less than picturesque view of the U.S. in the later half of the 1800s.
June 30, 2021
Schechter as always delivers. His writing style is breezy, informative and easy to follow, especially when it involves painting a timeline for the reader. Jane Toppan's case have interested me for years and as far as I am aware, this is the most notable modern book on this woman. Reading the account of her life and crimes in full, and not from Victorian era newspapers, was exactly what I wanted and what I got. My only complaint is that at the very start of the book, Schechter started from women who also used poison to murder but otherwise have barely if any connection to the Toppan case. However, I learned a lot and finally know the full story of Jane Toppan. A recommended read for anyone interested in true crime and serial killers.
October 19, 2014
Interesting book. Very thoroughly researched. Maybe too thoroughly. The background stories on the previous killers and the side trips into McKinley's assassination may have been interesting tidbits, but they kind of slowed the story down.
September 3, 2014
Well written, well researched and entertaining.
An easy, enjoyable read although I thought it was a bit long.
February 18, 2023
The vast majority of serial killers are men but with this book, Harold Schecter gives us a few examples of women with killer instincts. Lydia Sherman leads the parade by dispatching three husbands and several children by feeding them arsenic from the 1860s to 1870s. She plied her trade in NY City and rural Connecticut where she was eventually convicted and imprisoned.
History repeated itself once again a few years later as Sarah Jane Robinson also used arsenic to dispatch several family members. Juries were not eager to hang women and Sarah, like Lydia, was given a sentence of life in prison.
The star of the book is Jane Toppan, born to Irish immigrants as Honora Kelley. Mom died young and her father Frank abandoned her to the Boston Female Asylum. She was doled out to Ann Toppan as an indentured servant where she was beaten and berated as a "Paddy" for her Irish-Catholic heritage.
Jane attended nursing school and while working at two of the well known Massachusetts hospitals, perfected her use of morphine and atropine to hasten an unknown number of patient's deaths.
She later worked as a private nurse with equally deadly results. The Davis family died in quick order and finally enough suspicions were raised to result in the bodies being exhumed for toxicological testing.
At the same time, President McKinley was shot and the primitive medical care of 1901 most likely prevented his recovery. His death was caused by gangrene.Our legal system was also quite different and the assassin of the President was fried in the chair less than two months after the shooting.
Jane was arrested and the newspapers had a field day with "Jolly Jane." Rumors were stated as fact even in the days before social media. The new "Lucretia Borgia" was a star.
Three "alienists" diagnosed the rotund reprobate insane and the judge, jury and prosecutor agreed with them and after a twenty minute deliberation by a jury of her peers, the now obese poisoner was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Taunton Insane Hospital for life.
Her first two years at the nut house were uneventful but the atmosphere soon turned Honora Kelley (her letters reverted to her birth name) paranoid, with delusions of her caretakers attempting to poison her. The paranoia turned out to be a wonderful crash diet, as Jolly Jane lost eighty pounds and the press danced on her supposed near death situation. The media were wrong as the killer outlasted many of them, succumbing to pneumonia and myocarditis at eighty-one.
Fatal is a comprehensive and riveting true crime read and Schecter does his homework.
History repeated itself once again a few years later as Sarah Jane Robinson also used arsenic to dispatch several family members. Juries were not eager to hang women and Sarah, like Lydia, was given a sentence of life in prison.
The star of the book is Jane Toppan, born to Irish immigrants as Honora Kelley. Mom died young and her father Frank abandoned her to the Boston Female Asylum. She was doled out to Ann Toppan as an indentured servant where she was beaten and berated as a "Paddy" for her Irish-Catholic heritage.
Jane attended nursing school and while working at two of the well known Massachusetts hospitals, perfected her use of morphine and atropine to hasten an unknown number of patient's deaths.
She later worked as a private nurse with equally deadly results. The Davis family died in quick order and finally enough suspicions were raised to result in the bodies being exhumed for toxicological testing.
At the same time, President McKinley was shot and the primitive medical care of 1901 most likely prevented his recovery. His death was caused by gangrene.Our legal system was also quite different and the assassin of the President was fried in the chair less than two months after the shooting.
Jane was arrested and the newspapers had a field day with "Jolly Jane." Rumors were stated as fact even in the days before social media. The new "Lucretia Borgia" was a star.
Three "alienists" diagnosed the rotund reprobate insane and the judge, jury and prosecutor agreed with them and after a twenty minute deliberation by a jury of her peers, the now obese poisoner was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Taunton Insane Hospital for life.
Her first two years at the nut house were uneventful but the atmosphere soon turned Honora Kelley (her letters reverted to her birth name) paranoid, with delusions of her caretakers attempting to poison her. The paranoia turned out to be a wonderful crash diet, as Jolly Jane lost eighty pounds and the press danced on her supposed near death situation. The media were wrong as the killer outlasted many of them, succumbing to pneumonia and myocarditis at eighty-one.
Fatal is a comprehensive and riveting true crime read and Schecter does his homework.
June 25, 2018
This is a well written true crime novel about Jane Toppan that was about a 3.5 star read for me. At first I was annoyed with it because it took over fifty pages to get to Jane. The beginning was spent on another serial poisoner with only connection, beyond the type of crime was one of the doctors knew both poisoners via their victims (which you don’t know until much later so this seemed like so much needless filler.) There’s another odd bit of filler toward the end with the world’s fair that I basically skimmed.
Jane is interesting because not only is she a sociopath gaining sadistic sexual gratification from the poisonings, she’s intelligent. Jane did have a rough start in life (something many -but not all like the book claimed - sociopaths share). Jane was very jealous of her foster sister who landed a good husband (pastor) but Jane had no luck in the love department (which she later blames for her murderous habits).
Jane trained as a nurse and like most narcissistic sociopaths was adept at charming people and blaming others for mistakes. In spite of never getting her license (and killing dozens while training) Jane became a private nurse, killing patients, family and friends as she please. What makes her interesting and different from the usual arsenic poisoners is her choice of murder weapon.
She used two contrasting drugs of atropine and morphine to mask their pupillary affects and other symptoms. It worked wonders in confusing the doctors. What really amazed me was who finally figured it out (hint, it wasn’t a doctor). It dragged a bit with all the court details (for me the less said about the court proceedings the better). I’d recommend this one.
And a minor spoiler here: I wonder if what happened in the asylum was Jane being influenced by the other patients, the way we see a decline in cognition in competent patients if they’re put among those with dementia.
Jane is interesting because not only is she a sociopath gaining sadistic sexual gratification from the poisonings, she’s intelligent. Jane did have a rough start in life (something many -but not all like the book claimed - sociopaths share). Jane was very jealous of her foster sister who landed a good husband (pastor) but Jane had no luck in the love department (which she later blames for her murderous habits).
Jane trained as a nurse and like most narcissistic sociopaths was adept at charming people and blaming others for mistakes. In spite of never getting her license (and killing dozens while training) Jane became a private nurse, killing patients, family and friends as she please. What makes her interesting and different from the usual arsenic poisoners is her choice of murder weapon.
She used two contrasting drugs of atropine and morphine to mask their pupillary affects and other symptoms. It worked wonders in confusing the doctors. What really amazed me was who finally figured it out (hint, it wasn’t a doctor). It dragged a bit with all the court details (for me the less said about the court proceedings the better). I’d recommend this one.
And a minor spoiler here: I wonder if what happened in the asylum was Jane being influenced by the other patients, the way we see a decline in cognition in competent patients if they’re put among those with dementia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2022
Jane Toppan was born in 1854 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her birth name was Honora Kelley, the daughter of Irish parents. (Her mother died from TB and her father was an alcoholic.) She was placed into an orphanage after the death of her mother, and her name was changed once she was placed with a family. She went to Cambridge Hospital when she was around thirty to study to be a nurse. By all accounts, her patients really enjoyed her and gave her the nickname Jolly Jane. It is also reported that she would falsify records or give medications to patients she liked to make them appear more ill to keep them around longer. She also used them as experiments, learning the effects of various drugs on the human body. She is suspected to be the perpetrator of around 100 murders, though she confessed to 31, and only 12 of those were proven. She used various methods of poison as her medium. She admitted that part of the reason she killed was for a sexual thrill, and admitted to touching her victims in sexual ways after they had died/as they were dying. She was a real character....
Harold Schechter is one of my favorite true crime writers, as I have stated on other book reviews for this author. I ordered this book because I knew I would like it, and I was right. I do not often read or listen to things about female serial killers, so this was of particular interest to me. I probably should have not read it while in the hospital surrounded by nurses, but, lucky for me, none of mine were murderous or crazy. I am always happy to strongly recommend any book by this author, so if you are interested in true crime, give this one a chance and check out his other books!
Harold Schechter is one of my favorite true crime writers, as I have stated on other book reviews for this author. I ordered this book because I knew I would like it, and I was right. I do not often read or listen to things about female serial killers, so this was of particular interest to me. I probably should have not read it while in the hospital surrounded by nurses, but, lucky for me, none of mine were murderous or crazy. I am always happy to strongly recommend any book by this author, so if you are interested in true crime, give this one a chance and check out his other books!
August 10, 2025
Psychopathic i.e. sex murders and serial killers are not a 20th century thing. Even before Jack the Ripper, Krafft-Ebing cites a 15th c monster executed in 1440 and a history long before medieval times. Fatal is about the Domestic angel of death Jane Toppan aka Jolly Jane, 1954-1938. Between 1895 and 1901, she alternated saving her patients and experimenting on them and then watching them die. Convicted of 12, confessed to 31, suspected of over 100 during her capacity as a nurse both in hospitals and in private homes. In between Jane's story, the author explains the beginnings of actual nurses' training in the late 1880s, the use of medicines we currently consider poisonous (mercury, arsenic, strychnine, opium, morphia), the development of an orphanage for young ladies (fostered out as indentured servants until age 18), the 1901 Buffalo Pan American Exposition including the assassination of President McKinley (how he could have been saved) the swift action taken against McKinley's assassin with little publicity). A most informative read.
August 21, 2018
Schecter's true crime books tend to be guilty pleasures that wallow in the icky details of the historical crimes but Fatal is just boring. Their clearly wasn't enough information available on Toppan to warrant an entire book so the narrative is constantly wandering off on tangents in order to up the page count. The first section of the book isn't even about Jane, it's about the female poisoners before her.
Schecter also really likes to harp on women's looks-- especially their weight-- but when you see the photos of the "obese" or "ugly" females in question there's very little difference between them and the "slim" or "pretty" ones.
Schecter also really likes to harp on women's looks-- especially their weight-- but when you see the photos of the "obese" or "ugly" females in question there's very little difference between them and the "slim" or "pretty" ones.
December 31, 2020
Describes the serial murderer Jane Toppan and her crimes. Schechter also compares her to male serial killers, specifically "lust-killers", and their typical modus operandi. "In general, there is a promiscuous, impersonal quality to male serial murder, reflecting the stereotypical pattern of male sexuality. [...] By contrast, female serial killers prefer a certain level of intimacy with their victims. Their behavior is a grotesque travesty of the normal responses of women. Inflicting harm on anonymous strangers doesn't excite them; they achieve their deepest satisfaction in the context of personal relationships. They take pleasure in killing people they are closest to." (page 92)
May 23, 2021
True crime rarely gets to be "fun", but this book gets away with it for four reasons:
1) The crimes are over a century old (and as we all know, comedy = tragedy + time)
2) Morphia is a relatively "nice" way to kill people (especially compared to arsenic, which sounds like the absolute worst way to go)
3) Jane Topper was such a goofy nutter
4) Schechter's light, entertaining writing style
So yes, I was entertained by this story of a remorseless murderess who claimed over 30 victims. I've already read a couple others by Schechter, might seek out a few more.
1) The crimes are over a century old (and as we all know, comedy = tragedy + time)
2) Morphia is a relatively "nice" way to kill people (especially compared to arsenic, which sounds like the absolute worst way to go)
3) Jane Topper was such a goofy nutter
4) Schechter's light, entertaining writing style
So yes, I was entertained by this story of a remorseless murderess who claimed over 30 victims. I've already read a couple others by Schechter, might seek out a few more.
January 29, 2018
This is my favorite of Schecter's books (so far) and I've read a lot of them. His thesis is that women who kill do so for different reasons than men, and he makes a compelling case and this particular woman is fascinating. And horrifying. And just wait for the last chapter when you find out how she died.
January 2, 2019
I really enjoy this type of historical true crime. Covers medicine, politics, current affairs, jurisprudence, all appropriate to the times. Deeply disturbing story from the glory days of the poisoning era.
November 12, 2020
Very gripping read
I don’t do reviews because all the stipulations. Needs title, needs x amount of characters blah blah so the fact I’m even here going through this red tape and using up my precious time to say this is a great read means it is ! Yay
I don’t do reviews because all the stipulations. Needs title, needs x amount of characters blah blah so the fact I’m even here going through this red tape and using up my precious time to say this is a great read means it is ! Yay
October 26, 2018
The book was ok. A lot of the same info was repeated multiple time throughout the book.
April 7, 2019
Kind of laborious at time but overall a well written book. Very disturbing.
August 31, 2019
He's a very accurate true crime author
June 16, 2024
Really in depth and good story telling.
January 2, 2025
it’s good but i can tell it’s written by a man
April 16, 2025
O impacto gráfico e a densidade do livro se misturam tão bem.
March 15, 2020
I enjoyed the narrative style and the story itself was fascinating. I do wish there had been footnotes and references so I could do further research. At times it went off on tangents that did give historical context but could be a little long. Overall it was a fast read and well worth it for the research aspect.
December 25, 2015
So...this book was different. It tells the story about Jane Toppan, a female serial killer in the 1890's. However, before we get to her, we are introduced to two other serial killers - Lydia something or other and Sarah Jane Robinson. Why? Who knows? Maybe Harold needed some filler. Every once in a while he also meanders off topic to discuss other murderers around the same time period. Thus ensuring the reader that the 1890's was just a pretty dangerous time to live.
Anyway, the story is about Jane Toppan, who goes from orphan to indentured servant to murderer. Quite the life I must say. She's fun, she's lively, she has the nickname "Jolly Jane", and she poisons people for the fun of it. They estimate her number of victims to be in the 30's, but they can't be sure. She used a concoction of morphine and aphoria to drug her victims, they fall into a coma, and eventually dies.
Jane makes the decision to kill an entire family...which she does. But that finally tips off someone that there's something wrong with that nurse who keeps killing her patients.
I was just not really interested in the book. There wasn't a great character study, probably because not much was known about her, and what they did have was written in that lovely 1890's prolific style that gets pretty boring. So, kind of sub-par.
Anyway, the story is about Jane Toppan, who goes from orphan to indentured servant to murderer. Quite the life I must say. She's fun, she's lively, she has the nickname "Jolly Jane", and she poisons people for the fun of it. They estimate her number of victims to be in the 30's, but they can't be sure. She used a concoction of morphine and aphoria to drug her victims, they fall into a coma, and eventually dies.
Jane makes the decision to kill an entire family...which she does. But that finally tips off someone that there's something wrong with that nurse who keeps killing her patients.
I was just not really interested in the book. There wasn't a great character study, probably because not much was known about her, and what they did have was written in that lovely 1890's prolific style that gets pretty boring. So, kind of sub-par.
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