Fatal by Harold Schechter
The story of Jane Toppin, killer of anywhere from 11 to 100 people. She began her killing spree working as a nurse in Cambridge (MA) Hospital in the late 1800s where she experimented with different poisons. She went on to become a private nurse, poisoning many of her charges until she was finally caught for killing an entire family in Barnstable in 1902.
This is different from Schechter’s other serial killer books, mostly because this is a woman. He draws comparisons between male and female serial killers which may or may not be valid. He claims that male serial killers by and large reflect sterotypes of their gender. Males, he says, are violent, quick, and anonymous killers, whereas females tend to a more intimate method and tend to kill those they know. At least he seems to claim this is the case when the serial killings are sexually motivated, as in this and some other cases. Anecdotal evidence can be found to support this claim, but I’m not convinced it holds up. One claim that I think may hold up is that there are not be fewer women serial killers than men, it’s just that the methods they use make them harder to detect. (Killing someone who is already ill in a hospital may not arouse suspision if done “correctly” in an age of limited medical ability).
But of whatever value his psychoanalysis of the situation, it’s an interesting read in a biographical context.
