I was lucky enough to win an ARC of QUEEN OF ALL MAYHEM by Dane Huckelbridge in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and try to stay safe, sane and happy out there.

I really enjoyed the author's approach to separating fact from fiction throughout the book. So often this line was blurred so having notorious moments broken down to what is provable, probable, or out right false was a useful breakdown while allowing for some attention to be given to the outrageous stories that almost certainly were fabricated. Looking at just the provable truth of Belle's life is in and of itself a fascinating tale and she truly is a unique character. These sections were written in a more scholarly manner carefully sorting through the evidence and even arguing against some commonly held "facts" that were often self serving second hand tales from her contemporaries. It is really interesting to see what other outlaws had to say about her and added more flavor to her tale so even where these accounts are disputed it was still interesting to see. I also appreciated that the book does include some more narrative passages fleshing out the myth of Belle Starr as well. This was particularly well done in the last chapter dealing with the mystery of her death. There is no concrete evidence to this day but each theory was presented in a thought provoking way. All around the book was an interesting picture of a very complicated woman who really personified much of the mayhem of the Wild West.

My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advance copy of this book that is both a biography of a woman who lived life as she wanted it, and history of the times in which she lived, tumultuous, lawless, and filled with people who loved to print the legend than the truth.

The idea of woman on the frontier seems to be a popular one today. Mostly it seems to be a marketing scheme an idea to sell products on, or for traditional wives influeners to promote the simple life, while making money on clicks and hits. The idea seemed to be that woman watched the homestead, raised, home schooled and feed the children, of which there seemed to be many, and well as a husband who did all the work. Occasionally they would man the rifle to battle Indigenous people, or during the or even bushwackers trying to fix the vote for slavery. The bushwackers don't come up much. Nor the hard work of farming that women had to do. The onl work outside the home acceptable seemed to be schoolmarm, maybe, until marriage came. Those that tried something new, that stuck out were called witches, whoops different era, same idea. Society looked down at them, while the penny press made up stories about them. Especially if they were outlaws, and tough enough to lead. Belle Starr was one of those women, whose fame was spread after parts of her spread across the landscape by a shotgun. A woman who married bad men, was a bad one, and ruled her gang with an iron hand. Of course the truth is far different, but this is America where legends are taught in history class. Even when the truth is far more exciting. Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West by Dane Huckelbridge is a biography of a woman born with a genteel education, who became a legend shooting, looting and being true to herself, and the times in which she lived.

Belle Starr was born Myra Maybelle Shirley on a small farm close to the city of Carthage Missouri in 1848. Myra was called May by her family, and May's father had dreams and hopes bigger than being just a simple farmer. John Shirley was able to acquire a large block of land sell, it to various people and turn that real estate deal into a mini empire in Carthage. Soon he owned the finest hotel, a blacksmith and a few other businesses. May loved horses and riding, and never lost the taste for farm life, but had an education fit for a young woman of society, learning etiquette, and piano. The years leading up the Civil War were difficult in Missouri, with neighbors taking sides, and the May's family, leaned toward the Confederacy. Bud, May's brother, and her hero, became a bushwacker, a Confederate guerrilla and May might have aided in his work. Bud was killed by Union forces, and the loss combined with the destruction of business caused the family to move to Texas. May began a series of relationships with bad men, which lead to crime, something May, or Belle was quite good at, as well as shooting sidesaddle on a horse. From here the legends and truth really begin.

I have heard the name Belle Starr in a lot of books about the West, but knew very little about her, and her criminal activities. Most it seems that I read was legend, or made up by unscrupulous reporters trying to sell papers. This is not just well researched, but very well written, with a good overview of the situations, range wars, Civil Wars, peacekeeping and more. Huckelbridge doe a good job of printing the legend, and breaking it down, pointing out what might be true, what couldn't be true, and what the real story is. So much of Starr's life is known, but so much more is not, as criminals are good at not sharing, or not lasting long as criminals. I enjoyed this quite a bit, not just for Starr, but because of the history, and how it was presented.

Recommended for people who enjoy history books about the west, outlaws and more. Also for people who enjoy books about women, and how life really was, not the imagined life, men like to assign them. A very well written account about a fascinating women.

This book presents well-researched insights in a clear and engaging manner, making complex topics accessible to a broad audience. The author's expertise shines through, offering compelling analysis supported by real-world examples and data. Whether you're new to the subject or well-versed, this book provides valuable takeaways that encourage deeper thinking and practical application.

There is a huge problem with writing about the Wild West. Ultimately, you have to decide how you will handle the lies, exaggerations, and tall tales. One of the perfect examples of this problem is the subject of Dane Huckelbridge's Queen of All Mayhem. Belle Starr was a criminal. There is no question there. However, how much of a criminal was she? Parsing through the stories is a gargantuan task.

If there is one thing I can say about Huckelbridge's work, it is that his research is impeccable and he doesn't present anything as truth that he can't prove. Starr's life a lot more conjecture than fact and Huckelbridge is not afraid to admit what we don't know.

The problem is that the narrative gets drowned in multiple possibilities for nearly every aspect of Starr's life. She was truly one of a kind and Huckelbridge proves that well enough. However, as a reader, it is just too tough to read a book and feeling like the subject is still a mystery at the end. I am not sure a biography about Starr can be told in a satisfying way. Huckelbridge does his best, and I do enjoy his writing. However, Starr seems like the type of subject who probably can't be written about in a non-fiction narrative and needs to be written about entirely as historical fiction.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and William Morrow.)

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was allegedly about Belle Starr, a so-called outlaw queen of the Wild West. I don’t mind reading non-fiction or biographies, but I prefer they read more like a narrative and less like a history textbook like this book did. I also feel like only about 50% of this book was actually about Belle Starr. A lot of it was about people who knew her or about the time period itself. The repetition of phrases that basically said things were unclear or unknown made a lot of the book feel like conjecture. I gave this three stars because it’s obvious the author put a lot of effort into it, but the writing style just wasn’t for me. Those who are bigger history fans than I would probably get a lot more out of it.

This was a fascinating read. The story grabbed me and I was truly surprised by it. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I really enjoyed learning about Belle Starr as I really didn't know a lot about her. It had that American West element that I was hoping for and enjoyed how good the writing style was. Dane Huckelbridge has a strong writing style and was invested in everything that was going on. It was well written and had the research being done. I hope Dane Huckelbridge continues to write books like this as this was really enjoyable.