California's Deadly Women

This is a well written book from the measured introduction to the recording of the 46 cases where women have been charged with murder.
Each account is told without emotion and a resistance to stereotype but I don’t know if it was the reporting of the older crimes but the women were often described as attractive.
It is written against a background of modern statistics into the differences between male and female murders and shockingly perhaps due to the fewer cases a lack of early research into why women kill.
For this period nothing really changes for the gender mix of prosecutions for murder. However, this book makes a real effort to get behind the figures and provides great insight into the psychology of female crime and how it is perceived and presented in a male dominated courtroom. Indeed there is a time when female jurors were not involved, but this perhaps helped the accused who were seen as victims or not really understood in a man’s world. Women had few rights, were seen as a possession of their husband and survival for them and their children was dependent on a good marriage.
From known records women do commit few crimes than men, women for the most part kill intimate partners or children in the family or their care. They are often crimes of passion, offences committed in private, in self defence and motivated by fear. Methods of killing are generally softer means like poison but the availability of firearms shocked me in the early chapters as gun after gun was revealed within a petticoat or dress.
So still topping the list in female murders remains the killing of a partner; a modern defence is that of battered women’s syndrome. But in earlier days in an unbalanced society their was no escape from a husband’s abuse. A woman was deemed the man’s property and within the home his rule was law. It is interesting to note that before the advent of refuges and shelters for domestic abuse men and women killed about 50:50. Since a means of escape has been possible the man perpetrators of murder are 75% of these cases.
The women’s defence was self-defence kill or be killed so tied into a relationship murder was more likely and often accepted in the courts. Men tend to kill their partners in retaliation and often seek revenge after their victim has escaped meaning that female victims of DV are not always safe having fled the perpetrator.
The second most common reason form of murder by women is that of their children or those they care for. It remains so today but a better understanding is known around conditions like post-partum depression. In the past women killed due to such depression but also to save they children from poverty or a partner’s rage; to go to a better place.
Sadly female perpetrators often had socio-economic factors in their meagre lives seen in poor living conditions, financial hardships and various mental health disorders.
Each story is told in a different way so the accounts never appear boring or repetitive. The historical and geographic references make for a more interesting read. In addition the use of photographs again brings more depth to the stories of each case.
In the afterword it is sadly shown that statistically white women who appeared feminine and vulnerable had the best chance of acquittal through the ages. Where other ethnic groups or white women with harsher male features did much worse.
Happily the move to think women incapable of such acts as murder and the move to find not guilty was more measured with the advance of psychiatry made a not guilty plea due to insanity less easy to prevail.
A great read, well researched and a balance book.

"California's Deadly Women" by Michael Thomas Barry is a true crime book that gives us a historical look at 46 truly heinous murders committed by women in California between the years 1850 and 1950. These accounts appear to be very well researched. Many of these stories are no longer remembered but are so well documented that the reading is made very interesting and enjoyable. If you are into the True Crime genre give this book a try, it is well worth your time.

I am a big fan of Forensic Files and IDHD. When I saw California's Deadly Women by Michael Thomas Barry, I knew I wanted to read it. It has stories of women in California that killed between 1850 and 1950.. One hundred years of people killed by these women. Very well researched book with pictures to go with them. It seems that women were treated differently and not found guilty due to a lot of "women problems" . Although it is not as frequent as it once was, it seems that men are still the most jailed and executed. Is it because women are still seen as the weaker sex or because they are just seen as Mother's and nurturing individuals? Very interesting and I recommend it for all the true crime fans. I received this book for an honest review from Net Galley.