Vronsky’s thesis to counter the public perception that women can’t be aggressive killers. An interesting premise, but his lack of compassion does give me pause. Do I think women can be just as aggressive as men? Absolutely, but Vronsky doesn’t exactly address the “how” and the “why” in his title. He is more interested in categorizing the killers than exploring the individual psychology of his title. ( )

Quite an interesting read. Vronsky does a good deal of myth-busting in this book, refuting for example the old canards about how female serial killers are always poisoners, or only kill people they know, or aren't as vicious as the male ones. He goes way back in history -- all the way back to the infamous Elizabeth Bathory and also chooses to include the Nazi camp guards Irma Grese and Ilse Koch. Most people would not think of Nazis as being "real" serial killers, but Vronsky makes a good case for including them.

Be forewarned that Vronsky has a very blunt way of writing, with occasional cursing (though cursing shouldn't faze anyone reading a book about serial killers). I really liked the tone myself, and I liked his research. This book isn't for the cursory true crime reader, being close to 500 pages long, but if you're really into this sort of thing you'll enjoy it. I now want to seek out more of his work. ( )