Mistresses of Mayhem: The Book of Women Criminals

Rating:
Summary: Great concept, poor execution...
Review: Great concept for a book, but not well executed. Too many typos (Countesss Elizabeth Bathory, the "Blood Countess," is listed as having the last name of "Bathroy," just as one example), showing that the book was not proofread very well . The author also uses web sites and magazines for sources, many of which have erroneous information about these women.

Better research techniques, and a decent editor would have helped immensely. I was very disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly researched, poorly edited...
Review: If you are looking for solid facts, this is not something you need to invest in. I agree with several other reviewers in that I noticed that the infamous Elizabeth Bathory had her name mutilated by the author as Bathroy and not just a typo! Even though the Bathory issue was NOT a typo, I found several of those as well. Another thing that was in error was with the Susan Smith excerpt...the author states that she drove her children into a river. I live in SC and know for a fact that Susan Smith drove her children into a lake. Horribly written with a lot of the word "um" in the pages (which I find very irritating) and what appears to be a lot of "fluff" that just isn't necessary. I am currently reading the book from the prospective that these are just stories and looking at the book that way makes it almost entertaining.....but still not factual.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly researched, this book is a must-NOT Read.
Review: No one is perfect but a non-fiction is no use if you cannot trust the accuracy of the information in it. In Mistresses of Mayhem, Ms. Hornberger makes mistakes so blatant that it calls the whole book into question. One wonders if she did any research at all or just read up on the criminals on the Court Tv Website. She misnames Countess Elizabeth Bathory (the so-called female Dracula) as Bathroy. (No it is not a typo. It is spelled that way all through the book.) In the famous Diane Downs case already well documented by Ann Rule in Small Sacrifices and made into a tv movie seen by many, she misidentifies the daughter who died as Christie who might be surprised by this since Christie not only survived but testified against her mother. (Cheryl is the daughter who died but Hornberger describes Cheryl as testifying at the trial.) Simple proofreading could have corrected these mistakes. Good research would have made proofreading and this review unnecessary.