Jane Toppan was born in 1854 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her birth name was Honora Kelley, the daughter of Irish parents. (Her mother died from TB and her father was an alcoholic.) She was placed into an orphanage after the death of her mother, and her name was changed once she was placed with a family. She went to Cambridge Hospital when she was around thirty to study to be a nurse. By all accounts, her patients really enjoyed her and gave her the nickname Jolly Jane. It is also reported that she would falsify records or give medications to patients she liked to make them appear more ill to keep them around longer. She also used them as experiments, learning the effects of various drugs on the human body. She is suspected to be the perpetrator of around 100 murders, though she confessed to 31, and only 12 of those were proven. She used various methods of poison as her medium. She admitted that part of the reason she killed was for a sexual thrill, and admitted to touching her victims in sexual ways after they had died/as they were dying. She was a real character....

Harold Schechter is one of my favorite true crime writers, as I have stated on other book reviews for this author. I ordered this book because I knew I would like it, and I was right. I do not often read or listen to things about female serial killers, so this was of particular interest to me. I probably should have not read it while in the hospital surrounded by nurses, but, lucky for me, none of mine were murderous or crazy. I am always happy to strongly recommend any book by this author, so if you are interested in true crime, give this one a chance and check out his other books!