Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters

Female Serial Killers provides an excellent ground point for research on female serial killers as it lists more than 100 actual female serial killers and provides case studies for approximately one-fourth of those listed. Vronsky has thoroughly researched the topic and his knowledge on the subject is very apparent in his writing.Vronsky starts out with a brief overview of female serial killers including the many misconceptions about the topic. From the very first page, Vronsky includes actual statistics and facts backed by research and includes footnotes relative to those studies. He looks at the number of female serial killers over time. He then provides some evidence and a definitive explanation about female violence and aggression. Interestingly, Vronsky includes some discussion here of feminism related to (or in stark opposition to) female serial killers.Vronsky presents a thorough evaluation of the history of female serial killers. He focuses a lot on a few interesting historical themes including feminism, religious history and industrialization. The book is written in a very clear manner, although often with a sarcastic tone and occasionally a borderline unprofessionalism.For example, while discussing Aileen Wuornos sexual preference he wrote, "She was not the pretty and feminine L Word lipstick-lesbian, but a hard-edged dyke type, oozing a beefy, drunken-stoned, sloppy kind of muscular knucklehead violence we typically associate with males."In another example, the anti-feminist tone of this book peaked, “Everywoman’s Most Forbidden Fantasy”: Feminist Martians to Aileen’s Defense. The case of Aileen Wuornos and her “self-defense from rape” claim attracted a radical fringe of feminists like flies to a turd and there was no bigger fly than Phyllis Chesler.However, this casual, non-scientific language and style of writing, when sometimes needing to be excused or overlooked, does help the overall flow of this book. A straight historical narrative might bore the typical reader, especially one reading for leisure such as the true-crime enthusiast.Female Serial Killers makes an excellent contribution to the historical overview of female serial killers. If someone is interested in serial killers in general, or true crime, this is an excellent book. From a historical perspective, the use of historic facts was essential and well done. Overall, one of the best things about this book is its introduction to and overview of the female serial killer. Vronsky does an excellent job of giving examples and citing real-life examples of female serial killers over time in various locations from early Rome to the twentieth century United States.The biggest contribution that this book makes to a historical account of female serial killers is the number of myths dispelled throughout the book. One may not be familiar with the intricate details of female serial killers but likely they have made some common assumptions; female serial killers used poison, female serial killers killed only their husbands and never other females or even that female serial killers are extremely rare.Female Serial Killers is a well done book, however there are a few notable weaknesses. Although this book is well researched and displays exceptional knowledge of female serial killers, it is very heavily weighted toward information about the Aileen Wuornos case. It is almost as though this book was written on the heels of the popular movie, Monster, starring a leading actress who played Wuornos in the movie, with some intention on riding on the coattails of its popularity.

After reading Serial Killer: The Method and Madness of Monsters, I was anxiously waiting to delve into his view of female serial killers. I was very disappointed by what I read. My review of the first book reflected my appreciation for the knowledge it contained but I was slightly critical of the authors tendency to be opinionated. This book took that to another level. The cases studies and information served my purpose for the purchase, however the author was so opinionated it left me questioning the rest of his work. Unlike The Method and Madness of Monsters, the author chose to draw his own conclusions and speculate as to why someone behaved in a manner in which they did. It is quite obvious to the reader he has a biased preconceived opinion that rears it's head throughout the book. Mr. Vronsky also went so far as to make up his own words and terminology also leaving me to question the validity of some of his information and conclusions. In short, if you are just a fan of the genre this book is a good read. If you are looking for specific case studies to support an ideology or thesis, I would highly recommend additional resources.

MOST OF THE TIME, this writer is talented, engaging and intellectually stimulating. The criminal cases he's chosen to highlight range from the well known cases you're more than likely familiar with (e.g., Wuornos, Hindley, Manson girls, and Homokla) to lesser known and historical cases from other centuries. His research and insights lend a freshness to the media saturated sensationalism of some high profile reports that succeed in supporting his subjective thesis--namely that women serial killers are just as cruel, dangerous, and pathological as their male contemporaries.Unfortunately, however, there are multiple times throughout the book where an anti-feminist flavor tends to become so pungent that it becomes simply off-putting. No where is this more evident than in his "turd" dismissing name-calling tyrades against feminist radical Phyllis Chesler and in the lesser case of dissing feminist writer Ann Jones. It's at these junctures where Vronsky's neatly tied personal premises unravel into a juvenile vitirol of name calling and outright condemnation more militant than those he's criticizing!!! It's here where the real disappointment in an otherwise good read begins to lose its intellectual punch. For this, the overall read is marred by such an overwhelming stench of the stale, stupid, and broad bias that leaves most readers thinking what a wank.

I currently have 37 books on serial killers on the shelf and this one ranks up there in the top 10%. Why? It’s just that good. Excellent historical foundation on women who kill serially with interesting female examples along the way. Your not going to get a lot fluff with this author. He stays on course delivering the facts in a easy to read format. The female case studies are worth the price of the book alone in my view. Pay no attention to the one star diatribes - doltish at best. A solid addition to my collection.

Lots of interesting info in here - and many killers I'd never heard of - but buried among a lot of really weird vitriol aimed at feminism. I felt really uncomfortable at times reading the book because of it - and the way "feminism" itself was labelled a monolithic entity was bizarre and not exactly sound scholarly practice, given how many different schools of thought exist in feminism. Also, when generalizing about how "feminists" defended killers like Aileen Wuornos, Vronsky would literally quote one person, obviously an outlier, over and over again. The lack of evidence to support his claims about feminism and how out-of-blue and frankly mean-spirited many of them were really soured me on the book as a whole.

Bought this for a friends Birthday..she loves this kind of subject so was very pleased with this book.

This book was well written and interesting. Peter Vronsky looks at female serial killers from early history to the present. He provides fascinating details on their life histories, trials and speculates on what made them choose their paths. Killers from Karla Homolka to Charles Manson's "Family" to the Nazi Beast of Belsen - you can sit back and enjoy a terrifying read!

I found this book very intresting. it was highly detailed and very imformative. be careful to read trigger warnnigns before reading book. may not be suitable for younger audiences because of graphic scenes.

Ladies kill too, and can be serial murderesses, although quite different from their males counterparts. They are usually "quiet" murderers, using poison mostly, and killing relatives, people they know.Macabre dismenbering and rituals are not within their range.When they kill and rape, which surprisingly happens, they always have a male partner.The exception is Eileen Wuornos, she used a gun,killed unknown men, but she did this for mercenary reasons.A very interesting encyclopedia of the most famous female multiple killers, from the Manson women to Karla Homolka (the most repulsive in my opinion ) it makes captivating reading

I found this book well written and very informative.It goes beyond what you'd expect and it includes a littlebit of the history behind it.I loved it!