I give Victorian Murderesses 5/5 stars.

Victorian Murderesses was a well-written book about some of the most salacious crimes in the 1800s. The accounts were informative as well as entertaining, and I would happily read again if an audiobook version becomes available. It felt like my favorite true crime podcasters made a book just for me. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in true crime.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Victorian Murderesses by Debbie Blake. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Pen & Sword for providing an ARC to review.

Victorian Murderesses is a superior account of 19th century women murderers from America and Britain. Although this is a book in the true crime genre, it reads like a novel. The author has done a wonderful job of bringing the women and crimes to life, with tons of detail and color. The well-known story of Lizzie Borden is of course recounted, but with such great vividness that it feels modern. It is obvious that in this book the author has done thorough research with lots of primary resources. But this is also mixed with a flair for creativity that bring the cases to life. These details feel authentic and historically correct. All in all, I highly recommend this book.

As many horror enthusiasts are also lovers of the Victorian Age, this is a shocking overview of some famous female serial killers of the era. Each chapter is broken down into a different murderess, while the locations span American and the UK. If harm to children is something that bothers you, the first couple of chapters may be skipped. Most people are familiar with Lizzie Borden, and her story is featured in this book. The two stories I most enjoyed were that of Kate Webser and Jane Toppan (Jolly Jane). Kate's story reminds me of a more grotesque Talented Mr. Ripley, while Jolly Jane as the compassionate nurse flew under the radar, never suspected of causing between 30-100 deaths! Some of the finer details of each criminal's trial and case were a tad daunting, but for the most part, I wasn't bored and was interested the whole way through to find out whether the perp was sent to the gallows, or even served prison time. 10/10, and thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for for the ARC!

Victorian Murderesses is unpredictable creepy true crime book. This book contains seven cases of murder crimes committed by different class of women with different ways. I intrigued by the stories because I always curious about how investigation going on and how the police solve the cases in Victoria era without modern technology we have now.

This book come straight with data and infos about each case. All of that give us insight about background each murderesses, their motives, process investigation, trials and the punishment. The storytelling style is engaged and interesting to read. But if you want extra detail oriented or depth analysis for each cases you can't found in here. The author already attached some sources to doing additional read and research when reader want to dig deeper into the cases. This book is perfect gift for true crimes reader who want some information about famous murderesses from this era.

Thank you Netgalley and and Pen and Sword History for let me read my copy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own.

This title really intrigued me, and the topic is certainly a compelling one. However I was frustrated at the total lack of analysis, framing, and reflection on the part of the author. There wasn’t even an introduction- the book just jumped right in with a narration of facts about a murder. While the stories themselves are interesting, and the writing style is engaging enough, and the research is clearly well done, these stories are really just lists of things that happened to a series of people. The blurb led me to believe that there would be at least some consideration of things like the societal circumstances that conditioned public reaction to these murders, a common thread between them, or really any consideration of either the historical era and/or gender evoked in the title. There was none of that at all: this read more like a research summary than a work of analytic nonfiction

A great incite into seven murderous women and the reasons behind the killings. Using newspaper articles, eyewitness statements and court records, the author shows some of the thinking and hardships a very well written book.

I’m a lover of historical crime and this book delivered for me. The author Debbie Blake has obviously put in the time researching each of the murders she has written about. There is plenty of details to give you a back story into each crime.
I’m sure this book would be great for a book club. Each of these women - Were they evil or were they ill. In todays society would they have got off with their crimes.?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to see an ARC

Stories like this always have me hooked until
I have finished the book. I have a compulsion that I have to finish them ASAP. They are amazing and I can’t get enough. Victorian era is one of my favourites along with the Tudor era. Fascinating to read and lots of historical information which as an avid reader of these types of novels always interests me!

A historical look back on seven female killers during the Victorian Era. Extremely well researched and not long nor drawn out, this book has just the right information to tell a complete story. Six of the stories were new to me which I was thrilled with and one which was Lizzie Borden wasn't. That is one of the reasons I only gave it four stars as I am sure there are other stories unfamiliar that would have been better (to be honest I skimmed through Lizzie's story). I also wished there would have been pictures to accompany. However, this is still a very good back and not one to miss. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Looks at seven women who comitted murder in Britian and America during the Victorian age that goes against the Victorian Belief that women were the weaker sex.

This is a competent non-fiction book, which will give the interested reader some insight into the backgrounds, motives, crimes, trials and their consequences, of multiple murderesses during the Victorian Era.
In those days when newspapers had become more widespread, and more people in society were able to read than hitherto, accounts of serious, often bloody crimes were popular fare, eagerly devoured not just by the working classes but, more privately perhaps, by representatives from the “respectable” middle class, both male and female. The titillation of reading about heinous crimes and their victims and perpetrators has persisted into the 21st century, which is why this book will have general appeal, and not remain purely the preserve of the Social Historian of the Victorian age, though it is of interest to such readers, too.
As might be expected, women of all classes, not just the lower class, committed murder in numerous different ways from poisoning, considered then to be a typical method, since, particularly at that time, women tended to have greater access to poisonous compounds such as arsenic, commonly used to kill bedbugs and other unwanted pests, as well as to whiten the skin, through strangulation, suffocation-both methods commonly seen in cases of infanticide, which were so common due to the prohibitions on extra-marital conception and the lack of effective contraception, to stabbing, the use of heavy flatirons to crush the skull and, in rare cases, even shooting.
My criticism of the book is that it tends to give details of the facts of various cases, without going into much depth about the characters involved. For this reason, it is difficult to fully engage with the book, which at times reads more like a chronology of names and sketchy information, rather than something which truly grips the attention and interest of the reader and evokes sympathy and empathy with perpetrator, victim(s), or both.
By the end, I felt that I had been so bombarded that all of the cases merged into one, and I came away without being able to differentiate between the plethora of individuals and situations which were described in the book. As I said at the outset, it is competent and will hold some interest, both for Connoisseurs of Crimes and Social Historians, but both groups will need to seek out alternative sources if they want to investigate individual cases and Victorian attitudes to crime and criminality more deeply.
Goodreads Rating: 3 Stars

First, let me say thank you so much for granting me this wish and allowing me the opportunity to read this book. Second, I would like to apologize for the delay in me giving feedback about this book. The reason for the delay is because I IMMEDIATELY re-read this book because that is how much I enjoyed it. Out of the 14 arcs that I have been approved for and read, Victorian Murderesses is, by far, the most enjoyable experience I have had so far. It was luxury reading this book.

I *might* be slightly biased as this book was right up my alley. My mother's side of the family come from Massachusetts, we are (distantly) related to Lizzie Borden and she has always fascinated me, I have a love for all things witchy, victorian, horror and hauntings, and yet despite me spending hours upon hours googling about this type of stuff in my free time, I STILL LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THIS BOOK THAT I NEVER EVER KNEW!!! I am awe-struck about how many of these women and all of their disturbing and dark histories that I had never heard of until reading this book.

This book is absolutely FANTASTIC, deeply-sourced, thoroughly entertaining, bleak, tragic, devastating, shocking, enthralling, and I can absolutely say this is a PERFECT book. It made me audibly gasp, made me feel sick to my stomach at some points, enraged at other times, screaming HELL YEAH at others. This book is am emotional-roller coaster and this book has proven that reality really is stranger (and far more interesting) than fiction.

The cover art, the title, EVERYTHING about this book is stellar. I cannot WAIT to buy the hard copy version of this book when it comes out at the end of October (my birthday month)!. My ONLY complaint is that I wish this was longer!! I didn't want to stop reading, I wanted more and I cannot overstate how enjoyable this book was. I had never heard of Debbie Blake before but she will be an auto=buy from me now. This is absolutely in my top 5 books of all time, In any genre. I already want to do a 3rd re-read and won't stop talking about it with my friends and family. I am driving them crazy. Hahahaha.

Thank you SO MUCH for granting me this wish! I am still SHOCKED at how much I enjoyed this book and how much time and effort must have been put into putting this book together. Victorian Murderesses is without a doubt 5 stars. Perfection. An absolute must-read.

THANK YOU SO MUCH again to Pen & Sword for granting me my wish (my first wish!) and giving me the opportunity to read such an amazing book.. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!!! You have an absolute gem here.

I appreciated how in-depth the author got with all of the cases covered in the book. The two cases that I was most familiar with were Lizzie Borden and Jane Toppan. The rest of the cases were new to me and pretty interesting for the most part although the section on the Kansas family seemed more focused on the family as a whole and the daughter was highlighted at the end. I would recommend this for anyone interested in true crime. The historical true crime cases have always interested me a bit more so I was satisfied with the cases covered in this one.

Victorian Murderesses by Debbie Blake

Thank you Netgallery and Pen & Sword books for an ARC e-book for an unbiased review.

True Crime programs, podcasts and books are a staple in our household. My husband especially loves nothing more than watching various programs about True Crime. So this was something that immediately peaked my interest.

I admit, it was rather unsettling as I read the opening story of Sarah Drake. It scarily mirrored some of my own family history, where it was discovered my Great Great Grandmother was tried for infanticide of a bastard child and subsequently caught and jailed for 6 months. Her path whilst not as criminal as Sarah Darke's, was something that struck me as I read the account of her crimes in this book. There were eerily similar events.
So much so, I actually wondered if my Great Great Grandmother's name might appear later in the book (spoiler, she didn't, phew).
I was instantly eager to read the rest.

There was no doubt that these stories were researched well and individual enough to not seem boring. Some names might be recognised (most notable, Lizzie Borden) but most weren't ones I could think of as being commonly used in books of a similar nature, and that was refreshing to see. I also appreciated that it was a mix of women from Britain and America, which helped in my opinion.

Overall this is a book that does exactly what it proclaims. And in a way that is clear, concise and yet doesn't cut corners or ignore pertinent details.

If you're in the market for a book of this kind, then this is one you should consider. We'd certainly happily have it on our bookshelves.
It is a fairly quick read too, with no slogging through minutiae detail.

5/5 stars 🌟

A really good book. Will recommend this book. It dove into the lives of the women, their crimes, and then their sentences.

I chose to read this book because I did enjoy reading lady killers, while this one is also good, I didn’t feel the same for the stories or maybe the same way with the way the stories where told, I felt like in some of the stories instead of telling the story straightforward, we were told the story in a loop kind of way, maybe that could been fixed if when introducing the story, we (the reader) were told how the woman did kill her victims and how many did she had in total, then when telling the story we would know what to expect, kind of a mini synopsis of what we will read…

Hmm knowing about true crime is something that leaves many people (me included) interested in knowing, because how can people do such terrifying acts? What made them do that, what was their turning point, and we read about such people, and it is terrifying really, the worst of the world are people, so this is the kind of book that you can’t take lightly, it will make you sad, and pity the victims… well at least made me… Each chapter is about a different woman, some are from the UK and others from the US, if you like to read about true crime then I recommend this book to you.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

Thank you for the opportunity to read Victorian Murseresses by Debbie Blake. What a fascinating insight into some of the most notorious female murderers of the Victoriana times

Very very interesting book about murderesses in the Victorian age. The only one I knew about was Lizzie Borden. The others were new names to me. I really enjoyed reading about how these seemingly normal women were able to disguise themselves and commit murder. Especially Jane Toppan. Wowza! #netgalley #victorianmurderesses

This book covers a lot of interesting cases for true crime fans but, for me, what was most interesting was learning how the women were treated by society and by the law. On one hand, women had fewer rights than men but, on the other, it was beyond belief that women (especially mothers) were capable of such crimes so they were deemed to be insane. The book also highlights how few options women had in terms of how they could support themselves financially, and how exposed they were if their husbands left them. The author does a great job of breaking down the cases and how they were investigated, making each chapter a complete and satisfying read.

I received an ARC of, Victorian Murderesses, by Debbie Blake. Woman have not changed much over the decades, this book could be called, Snapped, the Victorian Ages. There are some pretty ghastly murder cases in this book. a good read over all.