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Hell's Princess
The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
Book - 2018
"A deeply researched and morbidly fascinating chronicle of one of America's most notorious female killers." -- The New York Times Book Review
An Amazon Charts bestseller.
In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. She was the rarest of female psychopaths, a woman who engaged in wholesale slaughter, partly out of greed but mostly for the sheer joy of it. Between 1902 and 1908, she lured a succession of unsuspecting victims to her Indiana "murder farm." Some were hired hands. Others were well-to-do bachelors. All of them vanished without a trace. When their bodies were dug up, they hadn't merely been poisoned, like victims of other female killers. They'd been butchered.
Hell's Princess is a riveting account of one of the most sensational killing sprees in the annals of American crime: the shocking series of murders committed by the woman who came to be known as Lady Bluebeard. The only definitive book on this notorious case and the first to reveal previously unknown information about its subject, Harold Schechter's gripping, suspenseful narrative has all the elements of a classic mystery--and all the gruesome twists of a nightmare.
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Publisher:
New York : Little A, [2018]
Edition:
First edition.
Copyright Date:
©2018
ISBN:
9781477808955
1477808957
1477808957
Branch Call Number:
364.1523 GUNNESS SCHECHTE
Characteristics:
xvi, 316 pages ; 24 cm
Alternative Title:
Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
Opinion
From Library Staff
Hell’s Princess is a riveting account of one of the most sensational killing sprees in the annals of American crime: the shocking series of murders committed by the woman who came to be known as Lady Bluebeard.
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Add a CommentThis was one diabolical evil lady.
Harold Schechter's newest book about 19th century serial murderer Belle Gunness uses storytelling and detailed research to tell the tale of a woman who, in a time when women were barely allowed to cross the street by themselves, managed to lure up to 14 men across the country and to their deaths. Part horror, part mystery and part court room drama "Hell's Princess" is a must read for true crime or history buffs.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It's laid out as a story in a way, that makes it a bit more interesting of a read. Would recommend!
The author uses documentation to piece together the story of Belle Gunness very well. It is written in story form and can capture you interest as to what she will do next. Very easy to believe how and why she was able to do and get away with it. It is not your gory story in trying to gross you out or shock you at her deeds...just factual as if you are the detective and trying to make sense out of all of it.
Maybe this just isn't my genre, but I found myself mired in detail that I didn't really need. Often I found myself flipping ahead to get to the point. The fact that her first husband conveniently died on the one day that his old insurance and new insurance policies overlapped, is given equal weight as the name and actions of someone sent to find a doctor.
Like other reviewers, I found the author's bias toward women, in particular, unpalatable. He makes reference to Belle and Ray going to town looking like "Jack Sprat and his wife" and says that based on her appearance, it's obvious that the draw must have been her good land, even after using quotes that shows she definitely had a physical draw on many of the men she seduced.
If you like really detailed yet biased biographies, you may find this appealing.
It must have taken some strength not to title this, "Hell's Belle."