Talking with Female Serial Killers - Christopher Berry-Dee

"Is the female of our species more deadly than the male?"

⭐⭐⭐

I am so conflicted by this book. I want to rate it higher, but there are a few things that are stopping me. I love true crime and I have loved some of Berry-Dee's previous work, I just don't think this book is on par with the others, and unfortunately part of that isn't even his fault.

In this instalment of his popular 'Talking with...' series Berry-Dee delves into the life and crimes of notorious femme fatales from all over the world, from the 'monster' Aileen Wuornos, to Joanna Dennehy, to emerging serial killer British born, eleven year old Mary Flora Bell. He discusses the differences in method and motive between male and female serial killers in order to answer the question; 'is the female of the species more deadly than the male?'

I should start by saying that there are things I really enjoyed about this book. Despite the obvious nod to the infamous Myra Hindley front and centre on the cover, Berry-Dee also sheds light on some women who are not necessarily as well known but whose stories are just as, if not more shocking than the murderesses who have become household names. There is no doubt that a significant amount of research is done for this book and that helps provide the innumerable amazing but terrible facts and statistics that are littered throughout the book. I couldn't stop reading them out to my flatmate so she should be as horrified as I was!

Christopher Berry-Dee has a very informal style of writing, which is unusual for such a serious topic. It is like he is just sat across from you in a coffee shop, croissant in hand casually relating the ins and outs of some of the most macabre and disturbing murder cases. But this informality makes for an easy and engaging read, though he does have a frequent tendency to digress. You can't really blame him for this though, the man is a font of serial killer knowledge, and sharing is caring!

There are two main reasons however why I don't feel I can rate this book any higher than three stars; firstly I kind of think the title borders on false advertising, and secondly THERE ARE SO MANY TYPOS (please just bear with me on this one). We all know that compared to male serial killers, female serial killers come along once in a blue moon. Statistics show that women commit serial murder significantly less than men, and therefore the sample pool to pick from for this book is already limited. However, I felt like a huge proportion of this book was made up of female mass murders, and one-time killers. Their stories are super interesting in their own right, but don't put them under the banner of 'serial killers' when they aren't, especially if you are going to hammer home the distinction in the introduction.

Secondly maybe it is just me, but I don't think there are many things worse than not being able to lose yourself in a book because errors, inconsistencies and typos keep pulling you straight back out. I lost count of how many mistakes there are in this book before I even reached the 100 page mark and it was infuriating. Now I know that this is not necessarily the author's fault, but it totally ruined my enjoyment of the book.

I may not have loved this book as much as his other work but for true crime lovers I will always recommend Christopher Berry-Dee, the man is prolific in the genre. This book may have flaws but the overall content and information is a true crime fan's dream!

H x