America's Femme Fatale

Ever since she asked for a magnifying glass when she was eight so she could start looking for clues, Jane Simon Ammeson has loved mysteries. She's now upped her game and writes historic true crime. She is the author of 15 books, including How to Murder Your Wealthy Lovers and Get Away With It: Money & Mayhem in the Gilded Age, Hauntings of the Underground Railroad, and Murders That Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana. Her travel book, Lincoln Road Trips: The Back-Roads Guide to America's Favorite President, won the bronze in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards.

• PrefaceAcknowledgments1. In a Faraway Land2. Dearly Departed3. A New Home and a New Husband4. My Baby She Wrote Me a Letter5. Boundless Opportunities for an Enterprising Woman6. Jennie Olson7. The Rivals8. The Beginning of the End9. The Fire10. The Discovery11. Bringing Up the Bodies12. The Confession13. The Theory of the Exploding Head14. More Bodies and More Clues15. The Company She Kept16. Dead or Alive?17. EndingsBibliography

Ammeson uses astute research and punchy prose to chronicle Belle's transformation from destitute farm girl to one of history's most egregious female serial killers. . . . Compact and captivating, this salacious tale of murderous greed during the early twentieth century will be devoured quickly by true-crime fans.- Michelle Ross (BOOKLIST / Amer Library Assn) It's a mesmerizing cautionary tale I had to keep reading despite the late-night hour. . . . Ammeson writes narrative nonfiction with a sense of drama to propel us along the unbelievable.- Rita Kohn (NUVO) Speaking of wild women, you'll be riveted by America's Femme Fatale. More than a century has gone since Belle Gunness killed her first victim and she didn't stop there. Belle went on to kill at least thirteen more people over the course of just twenty years. Money was involved, of course, and she had a little bit of help now and then, but what's creepiest about Belle are the circumstances of her death. And now you've gotta read the book...- Terri Schlichenmeyer (Webb Weekly - The Bookworm Sez)