Just as Deadly by Marissa Harrison takes a look at the mostly unexplored psychology of the female serial killer. Most chapters are started with the story of a female serial killer, of which I was only familiar with a few, before going into the deeper topic of that section.

While most questions about this demographic are as of yet unanswered, it was certainly interesting to see what the author and her team have mapped out in comparison to male serial killers. I'd recommend this to people interested in true-crime.

Just as Deadly takes a comprehensive look at female serial killers and how they compare to their male counterparts. An informative read that was clearly researched.

I teach high school, and true crime is all the rage. My students watch every miniseries that streams on serial killers and unsolved murders, but I doubt any of them can mention most of the women Marissa Harrison describes in this book. I felt like the usual serial killer books go through the same arc. Screwed up childhood, bad parental relationship. Denied sex somewhere along the line. Not with these women. Her book is comprehensive in looking at all aspects of female killers, and does a really great job comparing their work to that of men. A case could be made that while not as gruesome as their male counterparts, some of these women's stories are much more disturbing.
I'm glad this book has been written, as it always is said that these acts are committed by men. Maybe our propensity for bloody killings has made us overlook or ignore those committed by women.

A couple of notes first: This book is 50% the book and 50% the sources. This is annoying only because I would have liked to keep reading way more information on this topic. It's actually kind of fitting though considering the whole reason this book exists is because there is basically zero information on this topic as it is. That being said the 50% sources makes for an extremely well researched book that will hopefully lead to more studies ASAP.
Marissa A. Harrison gives us a wholly original book on the psychology of female serial killers. They make up such a small percentage, but why? Are the less deadly or are they smarter and thus not getting caught? Does it have to do with general unwillingness of people to think women are incapable of heinousness? Personally, I think it's a combo of all of these things. They don't kill in the same way, they take longer to be caught (if they ever are) because of this, plus people often don't think women capable of these acts.
The amount of research in this book is incredible and so interesting to read about. MAH addresses multiple things that could be the reason for the hows and whys of female serial killers. I am hoping this will lead to some new profiling as well since the only one we have is for male serial killers...who kill in drastically different ways and for different reasons.
True crime fans, serial killer buffs, thriller/horror fans - read this one.
The only thing I would say I didn't like is that MAH mentions her published study multiple times. I would LOVE it if the actual study was included at the end to read through. There are links to all sources, but it would be nice to be able to read that one in the same book.

For the publisher to know: at about the 38% mark "Table 1" is not showing in the right format - possible missing the picture/table.
11.1 is missing a graph or picture as well.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Just as Deadly.

As a fan of mysteries featuring fictional murderers and serial killers, the female serial killer has always fascinated me, mainly because they are rarely discussed, studied, and acknowledged.

The author's extensive research draws intriguing parallels and differences between male and female serial killers, taking into account personal, social, economic, and traumatic contexts.

I enjoyed how the author wove real life stories of female serial killers and dissected their personal histories, explaining why they committed their heinous crimes.

Not surprisingly, there are glaring differences between male and female serial killers, and more studies need to be done on female serial killers so we can catch them before they do more harm.

This was a great read, though not for the faint of heart. Thank you for the opportunity to read it early!

Impactful, Insightful..
An in-depth, insightful and extremely well researched account of the psychology behind female serial killers. It is certainly fair to say that murder is news and the most infamous serial killers, renowned by media and certainly the most talked about, are male. Yet, there are female serial killers who have committed the most shocking and disturbing of crimes. Drawing on scientific profiling, psychological perspectives and the most brutal case studies this account takes a look behind the heinous crimes of those women and at the women themselves. Impactful and fascinating.

Just as Deadly was an extremely interesting look at female serial killers. The book is well-researched, but given the topic, NOT for the faint of heart!

Just As Deadly is a very informative book on why female serial killers ( FSKs) are not heard about in the news more often compared to male serial killers (MSKs). You will learn by reading this book the similarities both types of serial killers have in common and what they don't. Law Enforcement is definitely in the wrong if they think women are not capable of being serial killers.
I will admit reading about some of the murders these FSKs committed was shocking and a little horrific in my opinion. There were quite a few times while reading this book I actually had to put it away because the FSK committed what I feel is truly terrible. How can anyone male or female kill babies, especially a three-day-old one? Well, I should say how can anyone kill people in the ways that they do?
I really enjoy reading true crime books even though some of the things they do are heinous and terrible. Just As Deadly is a very well-written book, that caused me to put it down several times, cry for all the innocent people lost, etc. I am very glad I got to read this book as the information inside shocked even me and I have read quite a few books in my lifetime.

Just as Deadly is a fascinating look at female serial killers. The book is extremely informative and well-researched. If you enjoy true crime, this is a great place to start. Highly recommended!

This book was not what I thought it would be. By chapter 2 I knew I would not enjoy the rest of the book.

If you think only men can be serial killers or mass shooters then you need to read this book. It seems for every male stereotype murderer there’s a female in Lou of the deadly Canadian pig farmer we have the farm owning black widow Belle Gunness Think we don’t have a mess murderer meet Amy Gilligan and the list goes on and on from Dana gray to the twisted Tammy Kennis they have some truly ruthless women in this book. Dr. Marissa a Harrison has done a wonderful job with each case study in the book and she even uses her talent and experience to try and answer the question why do we like serial killers? This is a lot more than just your average True Crime story with impeccable insight and great riding instead of just answering who and how she also answers why I truly enjoyed this book and wish I would have had three more just like it. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Cambridge University Press for this informative book. I love to read about true crime and cases. This was the perfect book to grab on a weekend. If you are a nonfictional. true crime researcher or just someone that loves to hear about true cases that might not be as popular. Informative read!

4 stars

This is a very in depth and educational book and is very dissimilar from most books on this subject . This book reads more like a dissertation or scientific article than an actual book, however it does have many interesting insights into female serial killers.
Very interesting but very factual.
This book is quite disturbing.