Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion – A Darkly Humorous True Crime History of Female Con Artists

by Tori Telfer

A thoroughly entertaining and darkly humorous roundup of history’s notorious but often forgotten female con artists and their bold, outrageous scams—by the acclaimed author of Lady Killers.

From Elizabeth Holmes and Anna Delvey to Frank Abagnale and Charles Ponzi, audacious scams and charismatic scammers continue to intrigue us as a culture. As Tori Telfer reveals in Confident Women, the art of the con has a long and venerable tradition, and its female practitioners are some of the best—or worst.

In the 1700s in Paris, Jeanne de Saint-Rémy scammed the royal jewelers out of a necklace made from six hundred and forty-seven diamonds by pretending she was best friends with Queen Marie Antoinette.

In the mid-1800s, sisters Kate and Maggie Fox began pretending they could speak to spirits and accidentally started a religious movement that was soon crawling with female con artists. A gal calling herself Loreta Janeta Velasquez claimed to be a soldier and convinced people she worked for the Confederacy—or the Union, depending on who she was talking to. Meanwhile, Cassie Chadwick was forging paperwork and getting banks to loan her upwards of $40,000 by telling people she was Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter.

In the 1900s, a 40something woman named Margaret Lydia Burton embezzled money all over the country and stole upwards of forty prized show dogs, while a few decades later, a teenager named Roxie Ann Rice scammed the entire NFL. And since the death of the Romanovs, women claiming to be Anastasia have been selling their stories to magazines. What about today? Spoiler alert: these “artists” are still conning. 

Confident Women asks the provocative question: Where does chutzpah intersect with a uniquely female pathology—and how were these notorious women able to so spectacularly dupe and swindle their victims?

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Audiobook, Feminism, Crime, Biography

352 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2021

About the author

Tori Telfer is a freelance writer who is a) inconsolable at her lack of skateboarding skills, b) obsessed with talking about serial killers at dinner parties, and c) has been published in and around the world wide web on topics from Johnny Depp impersonators to vengeful cowboys in frontier America. Her first book, Lady Killers (Harper Perennial), will be released on October 10th.

Reviews

[Cindy Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple interesting stories here, but I think the book lacked a strong thesis to tie it all together. It’s not girlbossing, as the title or cover suggests, because it also covers awful women who have capitalized upon tragedy (the woman who lied about having a husband who died from 9/11, etc.) It doesn’t even focus on smart women, because some of the people here were just idiots who liked to lie. There’s some attempt at the end with talking about women relying on “confidence” to deceive others, but I don’t think that has much of a strong ground. The book would be more compelling if we dived into the psychology behind women con-artists as well as factors within society that created these women (historical, gender, class, race, etc).

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do we always hear about the “con men?" There have been some doozies who happen who were women! I recently watched a 20/20 about Elizabeth Holmes. My interest was piqued, and this book fulfilled that. I love that it’s a historic look back, so there are women in the 17, 18, and 1900s featured.

You will not believe what these confident women were able to accomplish, while also cringing and shaking your head! Also, I have to mention, this true crime book is edgy with dark humor, too. It’s just plain fun!

I received a gifted copy.

Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

[Lilli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've had access to cable news for the past half-century or so, you're probably familiar with the names and crimes of all kinds of famous con-men. You've heard of Jordan Belfort, Bernie Madoff, Charles Ponzi, and dozens of others over the years. But what about the con-women? What part do they play in history? Just how many fast ones have they pulled on victims on not only an individual scale, but on a national and even international scale? Those are the questions Tori Telfer sets out to answer in Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion.

Opening with the wild story of Jeanne De Saint-Rémy in 1700s France, and how her long list of cons actually was a catalyst of the French Revolution and execution of Marie Antoinette, Telfer goes on to cover the glitz, greed, and gall of about a dozen lady con artists over centuries and continents. These stories were totally mind-blowing and I somehow hadn't ever heard about almost all of them prior to reading this book! From famed 19th century swindler Cassie Chadwick's elaborate lies about her relation to Andrew Carnegie, to Wang Ti's complicated web of real estate and financial deceptions in the glamorous world of Chinese Olympic athletes, to Sante Kimes' weirdly murderous relationship with her son, there are a lot of really fun and at times extremely troubling true crime stories jam-packed into this compendium.

This book was a total blast to read! The narration made it even more fun, with lots of hints of sarcasm and the outlandishness that compliments these bold women's chaotic life stories. Tori Telfer did a great job of making what could have been a very heavy subject feel light and silly, and managed to maintain a respectability towards the victims that were swindled and occasionally completely offed by these selfish creatures. I think there may have been a bit of a missed opportunity here to dive a little bit deeper into the psychology of these women, the sociological implications of their crimes and how they were able to often get away with them, but overall I just had so much fun listening to this that I can't really complain about it.

Highly recommended to fans of true crime that are in need of some lighter fare—it doesn't always have to be tragic murder stories! We can read about these women that were often extremely brilliant but had a dark side that pushed them to act in unthinkable ways, and have fun while doing it!

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Audio 🎧 book. It was not meant to be taken too seriously, if you do think about it too much you know these were horrible women destroying other people’s lives.

The book spans from the late 1700’s and includes an elaborate hoax concerning Katherine the Great. The length of lies and tales was quite unbelievable, but it did happen. Think male admirers, jewels, knowing the elite, eating at fabulous places, and having clothes that befit the occasion. Then there are several fortune tellers 🔮 and that starts a thriving industry, how shameless they are, one even hiring one a private investigator to check the background of a client, so that when she meets her, well it seems shocking how much she can read this woman’s mind. There were contemporary stories, including Anna the Fake Heiress that I already read about and that one wasn’t as interesting. Another women is having a baby, but it’s fake, so she prides herself on sewing every larger stomach prosthesis.

This was an interesting take since usually we study Con Men and this time it’s the Charming Women who are up to no good. I would recommend this one in Audio, great to listen to a story or two while doing errands. I think what attracts me to these types of books is trying to get in the mind of the woman who does this and how does she actually fool people into believing some very elaborate tales?

Definitely, be a striver. Money is the most important factor of all. You may have come from a troubled and difficult background, but most important always believe in yourself and do not concern yourself if others question your story. Stick with it, you may need to explain some details, but do so. Keep trying. Use whatever works best for you, be it beauty, charm, pity, playing on other’s feelings, finding a true believer in whatever you are selling, just don’t ever fold and admit to deception. Make it some other person’s fault. Anyone, but yourself, is to blame. Even with all these skills, sometimes you will get found out. Always, no matter how high gas prices get, have your car filled for the getaway⛽️. Call it the Grand Road Trip and plan a new name and identity while rushing out of town. It used to be much easier before the internet, but look at how many are still successful.😂

Being a book lover 📚 like all of us here, will work well since at some point you are likely to do some jail time. Stay up to date on the latest books you love and just be a considerate prisoner and you will be back out and ready to roll in no time. 🤣

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confident Women was a good audiobook “read” and I really enjoyed the stories of these female swindlers throughout history. I was familiar with a couple of the con artists (there was a recent Netflix series on one of these women) but most of the con artists featured were new to me. It’s amazing to hear these various stories and unbelievable how far each of the cons got in their schemes! “Truth is stranger than Fiction” always has my attention and is the case here as well.

The only thing that really bugged me about the book was during the Roxie Ann Rice chapter.The author sets the scene by describing 1970’s America and how Black Americans were “breaking records right and left.” She then literally names ten different points to illustrate this, back to back, without naming a single one of the history makers by name. “A black baseball player broke Babe Ruth’s home run record, the first black woman posed on the cover of this major fashion publication, etc…” Each time she made one of those points I’d pause for a moment waiting… Well?! And that person was…???

That single part was just annoying to me personally because I like to learn new things and knew I’d Google it later, but other than that the book was good. Interesting, unbelievable true stories and wow, people really fell for them all!

(P.S. Hank Aaron is the person who broke that record. Still Googling the rest.)

Thanks for reading!

[K.J. Charles]

An interesting overview of con-women with a good variety of historical and present, and of place/origin (including a woman who claimed to be a PRC princeling and married a Chinese Olympian). Some of the stones are enjoyable, with gleeful grifters ripping off the rich. However, a lot more of the women featured are obviously quite damaged fantasists, and several are truly vile: from shamelessly cruel exploiters to the barrel-scrapings of humanity who pop up after tragedies to beg for money or attention, to monstrous sociopaths, rapists and murderers. And pretty much all of them managed to make the world a worse place for other people one way or another, bankrupting people who didn't do anything to deserve it, ruining lives, destroying trust, Which does make one wonder why we treat their crimes as somehow glamorous or aspirational, less serious or more fun than other kinds of theft and deception: a question this book raises but leaves unanswered.

[Lois · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is easy reading; light in tone & substance yet intensely engrossing.

This features a diverse cast of women criminals from the truly awful: murders & enslavers to the somewhat ridiculous scammers.

I quite enjoyed the light tone.
At the same time, much like in her previous book, The Lady Killers, this author just ignores the historical, gender biased, oppressive society that created these women.

None of them were rich folks who chose to be awful. In fact a few were born into criminal families simply continuing the family business. Yet class was ignored entirely beyond wondering how someone barely literate could pull off a con like this.

To evaluate the crimes, these women would have to be placed in their appropriate time and the restrictions of their race, gender & class accounted for or at least dealt with in realistic ways.

Instead these societal oppressions are just ignored, in fact the author speaks derisively of sexual assault allegations revealed by the women after being caught. I mean one of the women spoke about being molested by a father, step father or mother's boyfriend starting in her teen years. The author dismisses this derisively as if a con artist lies all of the time or about everything.

The Black Women from the 1800's & early 1900's pretending to be Spiritualists or Psychics would have been working in a career closed to them and that created themselves. What would they otherwise have done for work in those time periods? What would their earning ability be?

The Commodore Vanderbilt founder of the dynasty regularly stole from women, including his own daughter, who gave him money to invest AFTER he was the wealthiest man in the US. He lied, printed fake bonds, we have federal laws and departments to keep up with the shenanigans of him and his Gilded Age pals. Yet none of them are known as anything other than power capitalists.

These women were labeled criminal in the same era these men are labeled heros for much the same behaviors.
This is due to class and race which besides being labeled is missing in the analysis of the crimes and criminals.

None the less I enjoyed this and found a few women I'd never heard of before. Most of the crimes are light grifter type stuff a few have harrowing details but the author keeps a light tone throughout.
I am left with a furious desire to study the history of US Spiritualism & Spiritualists.

[Erin Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adored this!

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written with a sometimes tongue in cheek tone which you don't expect . But it works as the author lists some of the famous (or infamous) con women in history and what they did and how they did it.

Many of these swindlers were from poor backgrounds and little education but had sharp, cunning minds and a persuasive attitude. And, frankly, some of the victims were easily duped by some of the craziest scams that shouldn't have worked at all...........but they did, or at least for a while.

Some were caught, some disappeared from view, some were jailed, and some got away with it. It is a fun read but I wouldn't suggest anyone try some of these tricks!!

[Amanda Hupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, Harper Perennial for the opportunity to read this book!

I was really intrigued by Lady Killers, so I was over the moon when I received Confident Women by Tori Telfer! Broken up into 4 parts, Telfer breaks down the stories behind some of the biggest con-women in history. The Glitterati, The Seers, The Fabulists, and The Drifters all make history in one way or another. Some are deadly, some are just in it for the money.

My favorite story out of the Glitterati is Jeanne de Saint-Remy. She was born in 1756 into a difficult family. While her name went back generations, the fortune was long gone. She wanted money. She wanted power. The previous king of France had a beautiful, yet over-the-top necklace made for his mistress but died before he could pay for it. It seems like Jeanne and this necklace would be highly unlikely to cross paths. But with a rumor or two, the right connections, both Jeanne and the necklace contributed to the steady decline of Marie Antoinette’s reputation.

The Seers is an interesting section. This section described the multitude of women who claimed to be psychics, seers, or mediums. Two young women were just the beginning of the religion, Modern Spiritualists which in 4 years would grow to over 2,000 members.

The Fabulists had one story that always catches my interest no matter how many times I hear or read about it. The Anastasias. It is very well-known that the rumors of the missing Romanov daughter spurred the rise of MANY Anastasias–one being Anna Anderson.

The finally, The Drifters. These women had multitudes of identities!

While these stories are intriguing. I wasn’t really a fan of how these women were portrayed. They were portrayed as power-hungry, greedy women, rather than women who were born into specific circumstances and trying to work their way to a better life. Yes, these women have victims and these women did scam many people. But there are many people who scam, but because they are elite businessmen who don’t have to face any repercussions. So. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading about all of the female con women featured in this book. Divided into sections based on swindlers, grifters, and shapeshifters, this book abounded was filled with stories about women from various backgrounds throughout history.

I had heard of some of the women, such as Tania Head, the fake 9/11 victim and Kate and Maggie Fox, the girls who started America's spiritualist movement but other women featured in the book were new to me. The snapshots of these women were fascinating to me and I preferred these shorter stories featuring them rather than novel length biographies.

This book was really enjoyable. If you're a fan of psychology and possible personality disorders, this may interest you.

[Diana N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

These confident women used their confidence to con others. With all the glitz and glamor, who wouldn't take them at their word.

What I liked about this book is that it looked at con women from all different places and time periods. It is broken into sections with women who had similar cons.

It was interesting to hear about the detail these women paid attention to to get away with their con whether it be fortune telling, impersonating a princess, or bank fraud. An impressive amount of research went into this to bring these women to life!

[Martini_tnt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Przeczytałam z zaciekawieniem.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up for the way they were grouped. They were put into categories by nomenclature which cores the personalities and methods of their lives. Most were psychologically quite accurate too. The author is a clear and direct writer too. Very appreciated.

I knew of some of these women before reading this book. Several of them are included in other classic con people histories or identity crime notorious listings. Under all of these names too. (Like Robert Blake's Bonnie who I have read about in more than 3 or 4 listings.) For the great majority of them, it is not at all unusual to find that even over a short lifetime- more than 5 or 6 identities or names have been used successfully by them. Often in different locations.

What became revealed here that I did NOT know was how many of them actually in the last couple of centuries have Chicago connection. Surprise, surprise. But on the other hand, I was not surprised by the almost constant repetition for nearly every one of these 18 or 20 most highlighted to/in all myriad of details researched; how those recognizable habits existed and were honed continually- almost from birth. It seems to me that these lying /make believe, invented history perceptions as truth, disguises and stealing with cons skills are almost born in place, not made. Not entirely, of course, but still it is immensely there from the get-go. As children, young they just bloom bigger and bigger with methods or obsessions that existed from first breath. Styles, or acting and charm skills may change with age or condition but they never leave center stage. Not at all.

This was much easier to do for decades and into middle age or past before about 1920, IMHO. ID's or licenses or state documentation for any degree of locale sustainability since then being much more difficult to circumvent. But not at all impossible. Some mighty con skills are operating as I type.

[SuperWendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Telfer points out in this book, "we" are fascinated by con artists - and when it's a female con artist? Well, all the more. This was a quick breezy listen on audio and features profiles of several con artists grouped by type (like the fake mediums, fake Anastasia Romanovs, and the women faking being survivors of horrific, tragic events "The Tragediennes.") Recommended for those who like True Crime but don't want a bunch of gore.

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of stories about women con artists, but nothing I found particularly riveting. I think I wanted to be more impressed by the cleverness of these women, but it seemed like a lot of them weren't particularly smart or resourceful; they were simply liars.

It started out OK, with "The Glitterati", the women who swindled their way into high society and scammed the rich. That was interesting. "The Seers" was less interesting to me. "The Fabulists" was a little more interesting with the fake Anastasias and the despicableness of people who profited off of tragedies. But then the book ended with "The Drifters", which featured a couple of women that were just....gross. One woman spent a ton of stolen money on cocker spaniels, and then when she finally had to flee she loaded up her car with dogs and ended up killing several of them during her flight. There was another part where one woman was in a fight with her husband, so she started peeing on the floor in contempt, and then later slipped in it. The rest of her tale wasn't impressive or particularly devious, she was just slimy, immoral, and definitely bonker balls (I'm sorry, "bonker balls" isn't in the DSM-5 yet? Ok). We're talking murdering little old ladies and having a creepy relationship with her adult son.

So a book that started out medium-interesting ended on a loathsome note. I think I would have preferred a book that focused primarily on women who pulled off heists and clever (if illegal) plots, rather than delving into the dregs of humanity. The book was touted as a funny book, but it just left me with a distasteful feeling more than amusement.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to focus on women’s stories specifically for Women’s History month and this surprisingly took me the entire month to read despite how short it is. The first story on Jeanne de Saint-Rémy was my favorite, which I think made it hard to concentrate on the rest of the book because her section is completely bonkers from start to finish; I kept thinking about how she literally jumped out a window at the end.

There are a lot of other gems in here, and many are more recent than you would think. While the section on mediums was probably my least favorite, I do think it had some of the best quotes such as “the spirit insisted that Mary Ann was supposed to marry the local priest’s hot nephew.”

Definitely a must read for anyone who loves to read wild stories.

See more of my reviews: Instagram

[Kirsty Mcdougall · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t not enjoy this book despite the star rating. I just felt that there was a missed opportunity to explore why these women should fascinate us. For many, they were responding and surviving in a patriarchal society and that wasn’t really explored.

A good read but a bit flawed. The title didn’t work for me either. Can only con women be confident? Is the bar of confidence for women really that high?!

[Michelle Skelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Confident Women" offers a fascinating historical look at female con artists, from jewel thieves to fake heiresses, but ultimately feels more like a collection of snapshots than a deep dive.

I appreciated learning new details about these cases, but the book often glosses over the psychology and motivations behind these women’s actions.

Some were shaped by hardship, but greed seemed to be the more common thread.

The title suggests a story of brilliant masterminds, but many were simply compulsive liars or ruthless opportunists, some exploiting tragedy, others committing truly vile acts.

The book struggles to find a unifying thesis; it’s not about clever swindlers nor an analysis of how gender shapes deception.

I love the historical perspective and Telfer’s engaging, entertaining writing, but I wanted more depth.

Many of these women weren’t particularly intelligent or resourceful, they just lied, and often without much sophistication.

Though the book appears “fun,” many of its subjects were damaged fantasists, conning for attention or cruelty rather than ingenuity.

More detail might have slowed the pace, but as is, it feels like a surface-level overview. Still, for true crime and history fans who enjoy fast-paced storytelling, it’s an engaging, if somewhat unfocused, read.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really interesting read! Engaging writing, with a broad overview of different types of con-women across history and the world. I appreciated that the author does touch upon the strange fascinating humans have with con artists, and how troubling it is that we're so easily able to dismiss away their crimes that often have far more devastating effects than we want to see.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Tori Telfer's first book "Lady Killers" and this one was just as amazing! Telfer covers a variety of cases involving women from the 1700s to just a few years ago. There’s a chapter on the real story of Anastasia (including those who pretended to be her), a woman who faked being a 9/11 survivor, and an entire section on women pretending to be fortune tellers/mediums. I was shocked by how common the female con-artist is and the author does a brilliant job of weaving each story seamlessly into the next. I highly recommend this true crime book if you have an interest in notorious female cons! Thank you so much to Harper Perennial for my gifted copy!

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was highly entertaining. Somehow I didn’t know much about the other Anastasia impersonator, only the infamous one in Berlin (whose story got so much weirder at the end than what you usually hear!) In that one she also gave some intriguing context, about the tough state most of the world was in and how much people wanted to believe in a happy, fairytale ending to what actually turned out to be a brutal and awful story.

I also liked the one where the lady peed on the floor during a fight as a “preemptive strike”. This author really has a way of writing some of the especially hilarious descriptive details. Elsewhere the humor was a bit repetitive, but this thing just keeps moving so you’re never really bugged for long.

The psychics were another favorite, she even made the Fox sisters story, which I’ve read a million other places by now, interesting again. The whole extent of the con around novelist Jude Deveraux is completely heartbreaking though. That’s the downside to these con artist stories, much as I *love* them - the victims of some of these grifts and scams were often broken people by the time the con artist got to them, and the state they’re left in is devastating. But it’s better to know these things, really - so many people are still losing money to these unscrupulous fraud monsters. Walk through Manhattan or Queens, there are still psychic storefronts everywhere.

So yes, so very amusing if light on the social and historical context and also sometimes sad.

[chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 / 5 stars

I can't say I will remember a lot of details about these women - to be honest, I already had trouble remembering who was who while reading the acknowledgments - but I also can't say I didn't enjoy this book, even though enjoyment might me de wrong word in some cases discussed.

I'm mostly glad I picked it up during a time when I was struggeling with reading, because Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion was so easy to get through. It kind of reads like a series of short(ish) podcast episodes. In the four categories Tori Telfer chose to cover there are stories of at least three con women, sometimes even more when they are bundled together due to their similair schemes, each story averaging at around 16 pages, so it's very easy to read a couple of chapters and then put the book down.
The narrative tone is very casual, at times attempting to be humorous even, which worked better in some cases than others. For example, the nonchalant hints at alleged trauma in these women's lives or in some instances the back and forth between conversational anecdotes and gruesome details felt very inappropriate to me. Overall it's a pretty superficial look at these women without going too deep into societal or gender biases they faced in the historical times they lived. Contrary to some reviews I read that wasn't a problem for me though, because I didn't expect it to go there.. I mean, how would that be possible given the length of this book and the amount of women covered in it?

Like I said in the beginning, I picked this book up at the right time, I also didn't go into it thinking I would get in-depth psychological analysis of these con women and (besides the issues i mentioned above) that's why this was perfectly fine for me.

content notes:

◦ explicit: emotional abuse, murder, toxic relationship
◦ moderate: car accident, child death, confinement, gun violence, human trafficking, physical abuse, rape, slavery, suicide, violence
◦ minor: alcoholism, animal death, cancer, child abuse, domestic abuse, mental illness, torture

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was sooooo good. More please🤗

[Maya Gandhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of fun, interesting, highly readable. given the premise (and as a reader for feminist book club), I would’ve appreciated more discussion of why women, specifically, are able and/or forced to con — there was some mention in the Spiritualists chapter, but I’d be interested in the author’s thoughts more broadly (especially given the role of marriage in so many of the stories)

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non Fiction>True Crime
Audiobook
Telfer has a point... there's a special kind of fascination we have with criminals in the confidence game. Murderers, rapists, theives- these are evil people. Con artists? Fascinating! They almost deserve the spoils of their trade for putting on a good show.
This is a wonderful collection of women con artists. My favorite would be the fortune telling sisters.
I like that the segments are distinct so that helps readers break it up between other tasks in life or other reads. This does read a bit like a history text but the topic is interesting enough to keep most people's attention.

[Never Without a Book]

People a very complicated beings, the lengths some will go to get what they want is mind blowing. Tori Telfer did an amazing job finding these unknown stories. I specifically was interested in reading more about Elizabeth Holmes, if you haven’t read Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, I HIGHLY recommend it.

If you are a true crime fan like me then you are in for a treat with this book, get ready for some WILD stories.

Thank you, Harper Collins for the gifted book.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confident Women focuses on a different infamous con woman in each chapter. It shows us a spectrum of ladies with different methods of playing the system to their advantage. This was meant to be a light-hearted non-fiction read, breezing in and out of these women's lives to pick up the juicy details of their crimes.

Unfortunately, entertainment was outweighed for me by the lack of thought and depth. The book offers a diverse group of women but includes no discussion about how different backgrounds, especially race, played into the victim, media, and police reactions to their crimes. When race comes up, it's surface level at best. The author discusses the Civil War and the goals of the confederacy without using the word slavery once. I also don't love the phrase "post-civil rights era" like that's a thing that came and went, happily resolved. She admits not everything was easy for a Black con woman in the 1970s, but the conversation around race is peppy with no consideration for how it interacts with the justice system even though this is literally a true crime book. Furthermore, an insurance scammer in the UK was widely vilified for her lack of remorse once caught. Yet racism and xenophobia toward a brown woman post-9/11 are not even mentioned. There's also a cross-dressing con woman but no conversation around her identity as either a queer person or as someone who may have been perceived that way. She wrote in her memoir that women fell for her in costume, but it's portrayed as salacious and attention-seeking rather than looking any deeper. And it kills me that this was a golden, missed opportunity to bring gender and sexuality more fully into the scope of the book rather than just saying "this is a book about women. It's even in the title." and calling it a day.

Another issue is that I love a snarky aside, but it can veer from cute when aimed at serious issues of marginalization. The author is routinely flippant about the women's backstories where I would have preferred a more considered and humanizing approach. For example, calling a person "drug-addled" is not a good look. Some women left their own words behind to fuel the author's speculations about motive, but others did not. In those cases, the explanations of why they conned others fell flat for me, as the author defaulted to greed and ambition as the causes. It felt like she was searching for details to indicate avarice and a sort of general unhingedness from each of the women's backstories so that they would all fit her vision for the book. Furthermore, she takes an individualizing approach rather than a social one. There's no attempt to ask big questions like: What context made conning seem the best option for these women? What else was available to them and what were they up against? Sure, it could just be about a love of the finer things in life, but that seems simplistic for the extraordinary lengths they went to. This all plays into the author's thesis for the whole project, but is grifting ~really~ a sign of universal human greed? Or is it a sign of capitalist decay, a social value at its extreme?

The author's approach of treating each person as an agent beyond social pressures, divorced from historical context leads her to create a sort of con woman archetype that gets stamped onto each story. You've met one, you've met them all. All that's left is to oooooh and aaaaaaah at the horrors of their specific crimes. Because the con women are presented as these fresh off the assembly line opportunists, indistinguishable in terms of motive and character, I was frustrated that more empathy is offered to the victims, even if it's a banker, an insurance company, or a rich man that could be convinced Shirley Temple is an ambassador to Ghana. And I think many of the victims do deserve empathy, especially when they were targeted in their grief or emotionally manipulated to the point of destruction. But none of the con women receive the same consideration. Rather, they are cast in stereotypical, gendered ways. The shrew hoarding her stolen money. The crazy bitch spinning out of control. The desperate social climber seeking external markers of womanly success (children, nice clothes and house, a doting husband, etc.). The whore trading up for a better man to support her. And the fact that there's nothing said about why those stereotypes are so easy to throw around, instead just applying them with the ease of cut and paste... what a disappointment. Pick up a different book for your true crime fix. Women deserve better.

[Johanna Lehto · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 stars

To be honest, I found the first chapter about Comtesse de la Motte aka. Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy and "The Affair of the Diamond Necklace the mlst interesting. As a matter of fact, it's the only chapter I would revisit because it was well written and captivating.

Not to say that it was the only good chapter or interesting woman in the book. Three other story that stuck with me for various reasons was: Bonny Lee Bakley,
Loreta Janeta Velázquez and Sante Kimes.

Bonny Lee because her story felt almost like a fever dream. Her endless dream of being famous and meeting and even marry a famous person was crazy. And not to mention her death was...almost theathrical in a strange way.

Loreta stuck because of her unhinged way of trying to make herself to someone she wasn't. And how clearly she was a pathalogical liar, but people still believe quitr a lot was fascinating and scary. And the fact that she changed her story about her life so much that in the end we can't even track who her parents where is honestly kind if creepy. And that's why she stuck with me and will be for a long time.

And last, Sante Kimes, her behaviour really made my skin crawl...She was the con artis im the story that made my stomach turn because she took a step too far. Not to say that the scams the other con artist in the book made wasn't horrible and ruined peoples life (will never forget those poor women that was lured to London and raped and had the women watch her husband do it)...But to slave some poor girls and murder and denying everything is just down right scary. And her relationship with her son Kenneth was unhinged. In the end, I don't know if I should feel sorry for him or not considering how much involved he was in the crimes.

As a whole, the book had its good and weak points. The chapters that focused on one or two people was more interesting because we got a bigger picture and details. Some chapters like the one talking about 9/11 and scamming people when a disaster strikes was emotional and raw. However, I think it could have been devided into more chapters instead and given more details to specific people and their acts.

In the end, it was a solid read/listen. I'm glad I picked up the book and I learned a lot. But still, made me uneasy and hope people are awear of what they get themselves into. Because content vice, I don't think it is for everyone.

[Kaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The basest social desires; status, power, wealth, money, admiration, control.

The exploits and escapes of these remarkable women read like a paperback novel. What I love most about this book is that it examines con women from a wide range of places and time periods organized into four categories; The Glitterati, The Seers, The Fabulists, and The Drifters. I wasn't familiar with any of the women featured in the book, so I learned quite a lot with each entry (although I didn’t retain much). The narrative tone is very casual, at times even humorous, without going too deep into societal or gender biases these women faced in the historical times they lived. It almost felt like reading a podcast and my only regret is not getting this on audio. I think this would make for a perfect beach read but I’d also like to warn you that these women did some dark shit.

“The women in this book have pushed people to the brink of suicide. They’ve drained the bank accounts of the vulnerable. One of them was a sexual abuser; another was involved in so many murders that you can find her listed on Wikipedia as a serial killer. They’ve dragged their children into dangerous situations, abandoned their children, and turned their children into con artists, too. Between them, they’ve caused oceans of tears, taken millions of dollars, and earned centuries of jail time.”