Belle Gunness Books

As one who regularly is asked to speak to organizations about crime and criminals, I have read extensively about the subject. This book is an excellent telling of the story of America's first and worst female serial killer, Belle Gunness.

The Author, a former newspaper writer, tells the story of serial murders in a small Indiana town that are discovered during an election year. Led by a Sheriff and Prosecutor who just might have been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the crimes committed right under their noses, Republican officials claimed that Gunness died in a fire set by her handyman, thereby laying the investigation of the extent of her killing spree to rest with the burned corpses found in the fire. Led by lawyers for the handyman, Democrats claim that Gunness set the fire herself to cover up her escape, perhaps because the brother of one of her victims was getting too close.

The author tells the story in a clean and unbiased manner, leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about Mrs. Gunness and her victims. This book is factually accurate and good reading for anyone who is interested in mystery. It is not macabre or sensational despite the subject matter. It is a page-turner.

Like Sylvia Shepherd, I am a writer, as well as avid reader, of vintage True Crime books. In researching my own projects, I frequently noticed that some cases are so sensational and politically charged during their day that only the passage of time ever generates a solution. Deathbed confessions, yellowing diaries, and relatives whose own reputations can't be harmed by a final solution have done more to shed light on mysterious crimes than contemporary police investigators were ever able to achieve.

Ms Shepherd does not present her theory on the Gunness tragedy as the final solution, and for that she has my complete respect. She examines the murders from a combined sociological, historic, and forensic vantage point, and presents a convincing arguement for what she believes to be the fate of LaPorte's 'Lady Bluebeard'. "The Mistress of Murder Hill" also has photos, some of them pretty graphic, that take away the 'quaint' aspect that pre-World War One murder cases have assumed in hindsight. A previous reviewer cited the book's lack of footnotes, endnotes, and other supporting documentation, but I don't find that this detracts from it in any way, as Ms. Shepherd presents dates and sources (ie the LaPorte museum, newspaper names and issue dates) thoroughly throughout the text.

It may not yet be the definitive word on the Gunness mystery, but time could prove it to be.

Sylvia Shepherd does a very good job piecing together the story and events of Belle Gunness, the serial murderer of LaPorte County, Indiana. The nonfiction story is generally unbiased, well composed and laid out, and thorough. My only disaapointment with the book is that Ms. Shepherd fails to provide any footnotes or literature cited section in the book citing the sources of information. Ms. Shepherd quotes quite extensively in the book...from newspapers, coroner reports, court affidavits, etc. However, one has no way to research any of the quotes or put them into context. I was surprised that the author would leave out source information, especially when her biography indicates that she was a former reporter and editor of the Chicago Tribune. This book is excellent as a *general reading* book concerning the serial killings of Belle Gunness. It is not, however, a book that could be easily used to *research* more about Belle Gunness. Individuals interested in Belle Gunness may also want to read "Belle Gunness: The Lady Bluebeard" by Janet L. Langlois .....