The Murderess Must Die by Marlie Parker Wasserman was a realistic historical fiction that was almost unbelievable. Almost. I can’t imagine growing up during this time period and I found the MFC an interesting topic. Having said that I began to lose interest when everyone was sharing their experiences. By the time the murder goes to trail I was just hanging on.
It heartbreaking to think that this was loosely based on a true crime.
Thanks IBPA via NetGalley.

The characters were well-developed, and I found myself invested in their lives. The plot was well thought out and had enough twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. I appreciated the attention to detail, and the author did a great job of creating a vivid world that was easy to picture in my mind.
The themes explored in the book were thought-provoking. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story with well-developed characters.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with this book and would definitely read it again. It was a great addition to my reading collection, and I can't wait to see what else this author has in store.

Unfortunately for me, this was a DNF. It was very slow going and I could not get into the book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

I really wanted to love this book because it was based on actual crime. I wanted to know if she if she deserved punishment or not. However, I really struggled because of the writing style. This made it hard to feel sympathy for the characters. Still, I recommend this for fans of true crime!

The premise of this book really intrigued me and I was looking forward to diving into a historical fiction based on a true crime. This type of book is right up my alley. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this book. For me, the writing style was off-putting and the pacing was uneven. I picked this book up time and time again, and just couldn't make myself finish it. I am clearly in the minority as several people really enjoyed the book. Perhaps it was just not the right book at the right time for me. If the subject matter intrigues you, I encourage you to check the book out for yourself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Level Best Books. All opinions are my own.

The Bottom Line: I am, overall, very consistent in what qualities will cause me to DNF a book or series. I have little patience with a tremendously slow-paced book; I understand the need to build a background and build up to a story, but slow pacing will kill a good story for me and cause me to DNF a title. I am also a very character-driven reader and if I can’t find something, literally anything to like in a set of characters, I’m going to DNF a title/series. Particularly irksome are characters that are flat and seemingly have no real personality. I have often stated that good characters can mask a mediocre plot, but bad characters can kill a potentially very good plot.

The Murderess Must Die – UGH! I wanted to love this book, but the writing style did me in. I have checked multiple times – including at the time of this writing - and this book isn’t available as an audio read which I suspect would have helped me get through this book. The synopsis reads as something I would normally love, but the writing just felt bothersome. I read for pleasure, and if I have to work my way through the writing, the pleasure is gone.

A woman with a difficult past who marries up and goes on trial for murder. Great story line, all the principal characters here give their accounts of Martha Place, first person narratives are always interesting because one sees the personality of the leading protagonist through many lenses. Based on true events, the author writes with style and conciseness and breathes life into the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend highly. My thank to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for a fascinating read.

A vivid account of the life of Martha Place. Martha Place is a fictional character based on the actual person. She was accused of murdering her step-daughter and attempted murder of her husband in the 1890's. The book tells the story of Martha and what lead her to this point. You find yourself with a sea of mixed emotions about Martha. She was found guilty and became the first woman to die in the electric chair. The author captures your imagination with her descriptions.

Thank you to Netgalley for an opportunity to read and review this book. This book is a fictional accounting of a true crime in the late 1800's involving the first woman in the United States to be executed by the electric chair. I do feel their were moments that dragged on but otherwise kept me engaging.

This book had a great premise. I love true crime and thought a novel based on a historical true crime would be fun to read. It was definitely well researched, but just missed the mark for me. Perhaps it was the writing style or the abundance of characters, but I never really felt vested in the story.

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for the #gifted copy of the book.

Perfect prose. The transition from one character to the next was so smooth. Characters of all degrees of importance are included and set the tone for the novel. We even get firsthand accounts from Martha Place herself. I had so many different feelings while reading this book. Not all books have the ability to truly make you FEEL something.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Although I liked the idea of this novel, I really couldn't get into it because of the style it was written in. In the first 10% of the book it jumped character several times, and each of the characters had a 'realistic' voice rather than a storyteller's voice, which meant it wasn't that engaging. There wasn't a sense of time or place or anything to flesh out the world, and each character's anecdotes felt a bit disconnected. The style put me off continuing reading any further.

I love a good Historical Fiction, thrilling read and this one was a book that kept my interest and kept me reading from start to finish.

Martha Place is a woman been accused of a murder but why did she do what she did or better still did she do it?
A book base on true events from a time long ago this books tell this story from the grave. making this a very interesting story and a way to look at this historical event in a different light.

This is a dark, discomfiting book which has been well researched and well written. It was a book of 260 pages which to me is a good length and isn't padded out with information and characters that are not really necessary.

A great historical, true crime type of book which I highly recommend.

I love a good true crime novel and a confessional novel, so I was really looking forward to reading this. Mattie tells her story of what she claims are alleged crimes she is accused of. Right away I see that Mattie is an unreliable narrator - something I also love. The sections of Mattie telling her story are mixed with sections of other characters giving their viewpoint of the events and of Mattie herself. The many characters did not each have a unique voice. The deep dive into the details of the crime made it feel like I was reading newspaper articles and court records, and I wished there was more fiction mixed with the facts to give the novel more dimension. But the novel did provide a good view into Mattie's mind. It was a good read and an interesting portrait of a murderess.

Historical true crime set in New York? Perfect!!! It's even a story I already knew a bit about and I was so looking forward to seeing a new take on it. Unfortunately, it just didn't "do it" for me. There are times that jumping between narrators and points of view work beautifully. Sadly, for me, this wasn't one of those times. There were too many and it happened far too frequently and I felt like my head was spinning trying to keep track of who was telling the story when. It distracted from the actual telling.

The premise appealed to me. The story is one that I had never thought about or read anything on. I believe I would have gotten more out of the research and historical facts the author used if this had been written in a different format. Each person, and there are a lot, has a heading tells their part, then another header, etc. It's too much and short of putting the relationship or title in parentheses around the header, a flow chart could be used. The saddest part of this format is that it took away from the story. Having either the physical book or audiobook may make this more enjoyable.

At 260 pages, this should have been a one day read for me. However, frustration with the format and spots of rambling drew this out over a week. The ending was disappointing; it went on and on, unnecessarily.

For historical purposes I would recommend listening to the audiobook if there are multiple narrators. I felt for Martha and feel she was wrongly executed.

The Murderess Must Die
Marlie Parker Wasserman

Description:
"On a winter day in 1898, hundreds of spectators gather at a Brooklyn courthouse, scrambling for a view of the woman they label a murderess. Martha Place has been charged with throwing acid in her stepdaughter’s face, hitting her with an axe, suffocating her with a pillow, then trying to kill her husband with the same axe. The crowd will not know for another year that the alleged murderess becomes the first woman in the world to be executed in the electric chair. None of her eight lawyers can save her from a guilty verdict and the governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, refuses to grant her clemency.

Was Martha Place a wicked stepmother, an abused wife, or an insane killer? Was her stepdaughter a tragic victim? Why would a well-dressed woman, living with an upstanding husband, in a respectable neighborhood, turn violent? Since the crime made the headlines, we have heard only from those who abused and condemned Martha Place. Speaking from the grave she tells her own story, in her own words. Her memory of the crime is incomplete, but one of her lawyers fills in the gaps."

Review:
In 1899, Martha Place was the first woman in the world to die in the electric chair. Was she guilty beyond a shadow of doubt? Could a lesser punishment have sufficed?

This is a well-written, fictional account of a true crime. The author did a great job with her research. But, I found too many characters and too many points of view. Also, extraneous details that didn't add much to the narrative. Recommend.

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Thanks to NetGalley and High Level Books publishing for this eARC. I was looking forward to this on terms of the storyline. A novel about the first woman electrocuted in NY, Martha Place is not a likable character. Yes, she had a miserable upbringing and life was, and still is not kind to poor women but I struggled with this in terms of writing style. Written in the first person and with alternating POV sections from the myriad of people in her life, it rambled at times and I never really got a clear emotional picture of Martha. As a result, I really started to detest her when I think I was supposed to pity her. She did not get a fair trial, and like today she was largely tried and convicted by the media. This was an interesting tale that needed telling.

In 1898, hundreds were eager to see the woman many of them called the murderess. Martha Place was charged with throwing acid in her stepdaughter's face before hitting her with an ax and suffocating her to death. Is she a cold-blooded killer? A woman pushed too far? Were her actions justified? Was there more to the story?

I hadn't heard of this case before I began reading this book, so it was all new to me. I kept pausing to check what I was learning, but it seems there is not much information about Martha Place. I was left with mixed feelings while I was reading. I didn't much care for how the story was told, which was written as though each person were giving a statement to someone. From Martha Place, her family and those who had brief contact with her, it made for a disjointed telling. I'm not sure why the author told it like this. There were many times I was thrown by a new character, and I was especially confused by statements from people who had died long before the murder trial.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this fictional telling. Perhaps an alternate explanation, such as Martha Place wasn't as guilty as everyone believed, or maybe an attempt to put her in a sympathetic light. If either of these were the case, I was not the intended reader. I was left with little sympathy for anyone involved, and thought there was blame to go around for them all. It managed to show just how little justice can be found in the juridical system.

Readers with an interest in fictional tellings of a historical murder may be interested in this one.

Guilty or not? This is the story of the first woman to be electrocuted for the murder of her step daughter. Told from various points of view. It started out a bit dry and took a bit to get into as there are a lot of voices but once you get it it takes off. Very interesting and how unfair was justice then. A recommended read. Thanks to Netgalley, author and publishers for a e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.