Fatal: The Poisonous Life of a Female Serial Killer

I love to read true-crime books My library is extensive. But I don't like to waste my hard earned $$ on long-winded ones. I prefer the meater brands. Harold Schechters' books can be purchased with confidence that you'll get more than your moneys' worth. Schechter researches and gives unbiased information.. Just what I'm looking for. His name alone sells the book.

I'm a psychologist by training. Schechter is the first person I know of to explain a female serial killer's experience during the act of murder. I wanted to gag! Then I spoke to a few female associates, who confirmed what Schechter revealed. OMG! I had no idea women have the capacity to be so....reptilian. 'Reptilian' may be flattering, now that I think about it. The book features other female serial killers besides Jane Toppan. Theyre bad enough, but Jane is the arch-snake. The subject is fascinating, the writing is excellent, and it's a wake-up call about the fair sex. Be afraid. be very afraid!

English professor Harold Schechter has replaced Ann Rule in my heart as the Lord of True Crime Writing, but don't go to him expecting a lurid account of the crime du jour. He's going to give you an account of the crimes of yesterday. Fatal focuses on the criminal career of Jane Toppan, who began killing circa 1890. Schechter, also the writer of an extremely engaging series of murder mysteries starring Edgar Allen Poe, provides extensive detail in his thoroughly researched works. I don't read Ann Rule anymore; the true crime genre rather lost my interest years ago. But I like Schechter's histories almost as much as I like his fictions. I don't know that I'd personally consider Fatal his finest book, but it was still very well done and of interest on many levels--not only for the criminal psychology of its subject, but also for the culture that bred her, sheltered her and finally condemned her. Check it out. And then, if you haven't already, give Deranged and Depraved a try...and move on to Nevermore, first in his Poe mysteries.

Harold Shaechter is my favorite true crime writer because he chooses such interesting subject matter (Jane Toppan, Ed Gein, Albert Fish, Jesse Pomeroy) and really emerses his readers in the time and place of the murders. As a Bostonian, I especially appreciates it when he takes on some of out home grown deviants (Toppan and Pomeroy.) He captures the truth of the case, the whole truth, before they were infamous, during their ajudication and, most importantly, after, their lives in prison. If you are fan of Caleb Carr or Mathew Pearl, I highly recommend this book and Shechter's others.

Schechter is one of my favorite writers of historical true crime. He gives enough detail to place the murders in historical prospective, but doesn't go overboard. In this case he opens the book with a synopsis of a crime of the late 20th century then goes on to discuss a crime that occured in the late 1870's, twenty years before the events that form the core of the book. Both of these crimes help to illuminate the story of Jolly Jane Toppan, a popular nurse, whose surviving patients could not believe the accusations leveled against her.The author also has a theory about the difference between female and male serial killers. I'm not sure I totally buy it but it is something to think about. Anyway, this book is riveting. The background of the characters is well developed and researched. It also will you give you pause the next time a nurse hands you a paper cup with a bunch of little anonymous pills in it. "Take your medicine, it's good for you."