Killer Queens...

Felon(ish) Females In Fiction…

Murder has long been a man's game in literature, readers more than happy to delight in their depravity. And while many book lovers and writers of crime novels are female, fewer fictional murderers are. As women, we have come to see ourselves reflected most often in the victims, increasingly as the sleuths, but seldom as the perpetrators. While plenty of women do kill within the pages of novels, these are often one-time acts chalked up to a crime of passion or an act of self-defense. Rare is the woman who makes murder her life’s purpose. Until recently.

Gone are the days when female characters were confined to boring old stereotypes and placed into predetermined boxes. Sure, they could be a little sassy and occasionally snarky, but only within the confines of societal expectations. But guess what? Those limits are getting blasted wide open, and the ladies are unlocking a whole new level of villainy, and let me tell you, the potential for mischief and mayhem is off the charts! Damn, it’s a good time to be alive.

I have come to love that female killers of the fictional kind are perfectly content to wear the unlikeable mantle. Authors willing to portray them as someone who could be sweet and deadly, all at once. Someone who did bad things for marginally good reasons, or just for the hell of it. Someone readers could relate to, if not fully endorse.

If you haven’t done so, it’s time to keep company with a murderess or two. Lucky for you, you’re not in their bad books.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…

Loose Lips – Kemper Donovan

Payton has put a lot of effort into organizing the “Get Lit Cruise”. Ensuring all the guests were female and that each will receive personalized advice from the experts she has assembled. Between mentoring guests, flirting with an ex and taking bets on how long before someone reenacts that Titanic scene, she has plenty to keep busy. And then, shocking on a crime cruise, someone turns up dead. Not shocked at all. When several other women suffer symptoms of poisoning many will question if the victim was the intended target. Expect twists galore!

The Bang-Bang Sisters – Rio Youer

A rip roaring, action-packed crime novel featuring three kick-ass heroines; bandmates who moonlight as vigilantes. To be clear, they only exact justice on criminals that deserve it. The worst of the worst who have gotten away with it. When they receive a tip about the notorious and vicious serial killer known as the wren, they never expected to walk straight into a trap set by a ruthless mobster with a personal vendetta. And that’s before he lays out the rules of his sadistic game of survival that will pit them against each other. God I loved these women!

This Girl’s A Killer – Emma C. Wells

By day, Cordelia has a perfectly respectable job, by night she culls her city of unscrupulous and monstrous men. The news starts throwing around phrases like “serial killer”, but that’s absurd. She is simply dispensing a suitable amount of Karma to each of these men. But when her best friend starts dating a man she isn’t sure is a good guy, things become a lot more complicated. Reader, if loving her is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Butcher & Blackbird – Brynne Weaver

Despite her preference for fresh corpses, we meet Sloane after she has gotten herself locked in a cell with a rotting, maggot infested serial killer, determined to renounce her wicked ways. Don’t believe her for a second. Rescued by Rowan, another vigilante, this one disappointed to find his prey dead and gone, the two embark on a very unusual path to getting to know each other. They agree to an annual game of “hunt the serial killer” and honestly reader, I’m not sure this book was supposed to be this much fun. Full of banter and spice!

Darling Rose Gold – Stephanie Wrobel

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose believed she was seriously ill. She was in a wheelchair with constant visits to doctors. Fundraisers were held and a diagnosis never determined. Turns out Mommy was doing some bad bad things. Sound familiar? With a plot this blatantly ripped from the headlines, you may worry that the book ends up being nothing more than a cheesy squandering of your reading time. And then between one page and the next, I was captivated by where the author might be going with this canny reimagining/reinvention. As mother and daughter reunite post prison stint for mommy not so dearest, you will ask yourself with every chapter, who exactly is torturing who here? The twists gave me shivers!

Of Vengeance – J.D. Kurtness

This story begins with a thirteen-year-old girl who plans on startling a classmate. Instead, she accidently kills him. And she likes it. As the years go by, she begins experimenting with murder. Choosing victims who have proven themselves worthy of such a fate. The anonymous narrator’s vocation draws the reader down some very provocative paths as she leads her life of vengeance. While the plot may appall you, the true horror of this book is in the author’s unwavering ability to sway you to the protagonist’s side.

Speak Of The Devil – Rose Wilding

New Year’s Eve 1999. Seven women. All of whom have a lot more to worry about than a Y2K glitch. Seven women, inextricably linked by one man. A man whose head is on a table in front of them. Where the rest of him lies? That’s anybody’s guess. Seven women, all with motive, must lie to protect themselves and whoever among them is a killer. This was a stellar thriller that kept this reader constantly on my toes, flip flopping on which motive was powerful enough to drive someone to such extremes. Secretly, I hoped they all had a hand in it…and maybe they did. That’s for me to know and you to find out.

Hard Girls – J. Robert Lennon

Jane likes her safe, suburban existence, everything is numbingly normal. But she remains haunted by her past and her mothers’ secrets. When her estranged twin Lila contacts her with a claim that she knows where their mother is, Jane agrees to go with her to see her. Soon this attempt at family bonding becomes treacherous and none will be left unscathed. You know what they say, you can’t pick your family.

Butter – Asako Yuzuki

Gourmet cook Manako sits in the Tokyo Detention House convicted of the serial murders of lonely business, seducing them with her delicious cooking. When journalist Rika writes her asking for a recipe, she can’t resist writing back. When Rika becomes a regular visitor, she believes that their conversations about food will soften the hardened killer. But with each meal she prepares for herself based on Manako’s recipes, something is changing in her. A delectable and intriguing novel that defies description.

Murder Becomes Her…

How to Kill Your Family – Bella Mackie

In an understatement of epic proportions, Grace has some issues. Putting pen to paper while falsely imprisoned for a murder, she delights in teasing us that that doesn’t mean she isn’t a murderer. She has in fact creatively, sometimes brutally, dispatched several members of her family while executing a rather crooked set of life goals. All while avoiding any reflection on her own moral fiber. It’s not often in crime fiction that you may find yourself rooting for the murderer, but I defy you to resist the particular, let’s call them charms, of killer queen Grace. The twists in the final pages of the book were a stroke of genius!

Sweet Pea – C.J. Skuse

Rhiannon is your average girl next door, living a quiet life with her boyfriend and dog. She spends her days as an editorial assistant, her evenings listening to friends talk about marriage and babies. But the deep, dark of night, that time is all for her. For crafting her kill list. Whatever you do, do not call her sweet pea. You won’t live to regret it. Devilishly funny and wickedly depraved, the quintessential killer queen.

Blood Sugar – Sascha Rothschild

After her first kill, at the tender age of five, Ruby waited for guilt to set in. But it never did. Not the first time or any of the times that would follow. Ruby isn’t a sociopath; she feels empathy and sympathy. She cries and laughs and loves deeply. But she runs into trouble with an imbedded sense of justice, believing that if she’s not going to exact it, who will? It’s not like she’s an out-of-control homicidal maniac. Yes, she’s unrepentant, but you may find yourself hard pressed to blame her. Now she finds herself in an interrogation room facing a lineup of four photos and a detective intent on tripping her up, exposing her guilt for the one death on his radar she’s not responsible for, that of her husband. I dare you to put this down once you read the first page.

Best Way To Bury Your Husband – Alexia Casale

When Sally kills her husband with a cast-iron skillet, she’s more fearful of losing her kids than of disposing of a fresh corpse. That just wouldn’t be fair, not after twenty years of marriage to a truly terrible man. But Sally isn’t the only woman in town reaching the brink. Soon, she finds herself leading an extremely unusual self-help group, and among them there are four bodies to hide. Can they all figure out the perfect way to bury their husbands . . . and get away with it? A darkly comedic tale full of hijinks that will leave you torn between shock and horrified laughter.

The Self-Made Widow – Fabian Nicieza

When mother of five and former FBI profiler Andie solved a murder in her hometown, her husband and the local police hoped she would set aside crime fighting and return to carpools and mommy and me lunches. But when the husband of one of those mommies turns up dead, Andie isn’t buying the death by natural causes finding. She has had it with being nothing more than mother and wife, it’s time she fulfilled her crime solving destiny, even if it means taking her offspring along on stakeouts and takedowns. A hilarious ride from start to finish!

Guillotine – Delilah S. Dawson

Dez has no interest in dating Patrick, she just wants to meet his mother, the editor of a magazine she wants to work at. When she scores an invite to a family reunion, she figures she can fend off his advances long enough to get herself noticed by mommy dearest. But once everyone has arrived and the ferry departs for the mainland, things take a dark turn. Think The Menu meets Glass Onion. Gruesome and hilarious!

She’s A Killer – Kirsten McDougall

Thirty-something Alice has an IQ of 159 (almost a genius) and lives at home with her mother, with whom she communicates only by Morse code. When Alice meets attractive wealthy Pablo, she thinks she has found a way out of her dull existence. But then in walks his teenage daughter, Erika, an actual genius with impeccable eye makeup in the midst of committing a crime, and Alice finds herself drawn into action of the most dangerous kind. Just what is a slacker to do? Savagely amusing and oddly moving, a gem of a book.

The Echo Wife – Sarah Gailey

What if you discovered your husband was having an affair with his wife? Yes, you read that properly. The main character knocks on the door of what she believes to be the home of the women her husband is cheating with. Things get a lot more perplexing than expected when the door opens, and she sees…herself. Evelyn is a brilliant scientist who has made unprecedented strides in the area of human cloning. Never in her wildest imaginings did she expect that her husband would steal the technology to make a version of her that was more palatable to him. Someone he could dominate and be superior to. As the saying goes, the best laid plans…

Here Lies A Vengeful Bitch – Codie Crowley

Murdered bad girl Annie is back from the grave and hellbent on revenge, she just has to figure out who killed her. Between her neglectful mom, her cheating ex-boyfriend and her rotten reputation around town, there is no shortage of suspects. She might soon have company to take back with her. A clever and cathartic thriller that skewers society’s condemnation of “unlikeable” woman. I for one, love a badass bitch!

Girls Can Do Anything Boys Can Do…

Long Live Evil – Sarah Rees Brennan

Rae wakes up in a castle, smack in the middle of one of her favourite novels after what might be a deal with the devil. When she realizes that she is not the heroine, but the villainess. What’s a girl to do…Well at least the wicked are better dressed. Soon she assembles a band of misfits, a rogue’s gallery that includes an axe wielding maid, a shining night with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard and a playboy spymaster with a pure heart and filthy reputation. Infectious fun is yours my readerly friends.

My Husband – Maud Ventura

The story starts off with the husband whispering in his wife’s ear, “we need to find a moment to talk. It’s important.” The potential implications of this send her spiraling while she takes the reader back through her week in the hopes of finding an inkling as to what this chat might be about. Our narrator, also unnamed, is blunt and unnerving in her devotion. At one point reflecting that she can say with certainty that she could survive the death of her children, but not her husband. Wow. A daring and provocative offering that will linger in your thoughts for days. No matter how much you might wish to purge them.

The Widow’s Guide To Dead Bastards – Jessica Waite

After the sudden death of her husband, a woman unearths shocking revelations about the man she was married to for seventeen years. He’s a closet drug abuser, compulsive spender, porn addict and cheater. While keeping this from family, including her son, she decides to grant herself a divorce and unleash some revenge to ease her pain. But unfortunately, she can’t kill a guy who's already dead. Not in the literal sense. A rollicking seesaw of emotion will keep the reader clued to the page.

Witness 8 – Steve Cavanagh

Something about Ruby is…off. A former member of the ultra-elite in Manhattan, she now works as a maid in the kind of houses she used to live in. When she witnesses a murder, she uses her invisibility to a plan something very wicked. What lengths will she go too to see her plan play itself out? Ones with no bounds as it turns out. Trust me when I tell you, if you decide to read this book, you have no idea what you are in for. Neck snapping twists, surprises that will land like a thunderbolt and razor-sharp tension.

The Lightning Bottles – Marissa Stapley

Jane was once half of the famous rock n’ roll duo, the Lightning Bottles. Years after her troubled partner disappears without a trace, she is the most hated woman in music. Once that dizzying fame came crashing down, she retreats to the country for what she hopes is a peaceful life. She has no idea what awaits her. Her sullen teenage neighbour claims her partner is still alive and only they can save him. I smell trouble. A love letter to grunge music and the tale of what star-crossed love can do to a live.

Girl’s I’ve Been – Tess Sharpe

Nora has been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when her mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora decides to pull the ultimate con, escape from the grift. After playing at normal for five years, Nora has to dust off her skills as she has a few problems. Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend, they all walk into the bank to make a big deposit to only have a couple of guys start to rob it. And these buffoons have no idea who they are holding hostage. A kick ass female lead who will have you on the edge of your seat.

First Lie Wins – Ashley Elston

Evie has everything a nice Southern girl could want, a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie doesn’t exist. Once she was given a name and location by her mysterious boss, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in in. Then she seeks out her mark, Ryan. But this job isn’t like the others, Ryan is getting under her skin, and she is beginning to imagine a different life for herself. Secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat and mouse game that will keep you guessing, what more could you want in a thriller.

Bodies To Die For – Lori Brand

Gemma has transformed herself to compete in the world of bikini bodybuilding, but the cutthroat business may destroy her. Ashley is fed up with online trolls demeaning her because of her weight, when she falls in with a radical group of activists, she thinks she has found her people. These two women are on a collision course that might result in grievous bodily harm for anyone in their path. With razor sharp satire of the diet and fitness industry blended with demented humour, this is hoot.

Bad Men – Julie Mae Cohen

Saffy, a vigilante with a strict moral code, takes justice into her own hands, eliminating the bad men who prey on women. Fueled by righteous anger and a desire for justice, she must navigate the quagmire of her romantic entanglements. Can this serial killer have a happily ever after? Despite the bloodshed, you will root for her happy ending. Witty and charming, despite the murderous intent.