Pretty Evil New England

Nineteenth century New England was the hunting ground of five female serial killers: Jane Toppan, Lydia Sherman, Nellie Webb, Harriet E. Nason, and Sarah Jane Robinson. PRETTY EVIL NEW ENGLAND tells the story of these five women, from their humble births through the circumstances that led to them committing their heinous crimes.

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For four centuries, New England has been a cradle of crime and murder—from the Salem witch trials to the modern-day mafia. New England is also the birthplace of several infamous serial killers, like H.H. Holmes and The Boston Strangler. Maybe it’s those long winters?

Only 15% of known serial murderers are women, but in the nineteenth century New England was the hunting ground of five female serial killers: Jane Toppan, Lydia Sherman, Nellie Webb, Harriet E. Nason, and Sarah Jane Robinson. PRETTY EVIL NEW ENGLAND tells the story of these five women, from their humble births through the circumstances that led to them committing their heinous crimes. Female killers are often portrayed as caricatures: Black Widows, Angels of Death, or Femme Fatales. But the real stories of these women are much more complex. The author provides a look at the lives of at each killer through primary source materials, including diaries and trial records. Readers will be glued to their seats as they follow the killers through broken childhoods, first brushes with death, and overwhelming urges that propelled these women to take the lives of a combined total of more than one-hundred innocent victims. The murders, investigations, trials, and ultimate verdicts will stun and surprise readers as they live vicariously through the killers and the dogged investigators who caught them.