This is the mostly fictional account of the "Bloody Benders". A family of serial killers living in rural Kansas.

While I appreciated the authors talents and her multiple perspective story. I prefer her first novel "In the Garden of Spite". Maybe because there's more information we know about the "Black widow or La Pointe". or because I'm from Kansas and already knew this story, I'm not sure.

Either way Camilla Bruce is an excellent story teller. But these books definitely are not for the faint of heart.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

What a story. This is some family I would not want to be part of for sure. It is bloody, it is gruesome, it is crazy. And the fun part is - it is real. Well, the book is based on real people. I enjoyed this family so much and loved how it ended. Kept waiting for the shoe to drop and see how they all turned out, so there's some satisfaction in the end.

The nitty-gritty: Macabre and full of dark humor, All the Blood We Share explores the surprising and complex lives of a family of serial killers.

Camilla Bruce is a must read author for me, and I was thrilled when All the Blood We Share was announced, a fictional account of a real life family of serial killers nicknamed “the bloody Benders.” If you enjoyed Bruce’s In the Garden of Spite, you will love this book, as it has a similar storyline and is also an historical accounting of a female serial killer.

The story takes place in the 1870s and follows the Benders, a family of grifters who have just relocated to Labette County, Kansas, after an event that forced them to flee their Pennsylvania farm. Elvira is the matriarch, William is her husband, John is her stepson and Kate is her twenty-year-old daughter. When the story opens, Elvira and Kate have just arrived at their new homestead in Kansas and are sorely disappointed by the house William and John have built for them, a far cry from the spacious home they left behind. But hoping to make the best of things, Kate has a plan to bring in money as a spiritualist, while Elvira sells her homemade salves and medicines. The family also hopes to attract travelers and advertises home cooked meals and a place to sleep, for a price, of course.

And it isn’t long before the Benders realize they can target wealthy travelers, kill them, and keep their money. After all, they’re only passing through, so who will miss them? But disposing of the bodies proves to be harder than they thought, and what if someone figures out who the killer is?

The chapters alternate among the points of view of Kate, Elvira, and a local boy named Hanson, who lives next to the Bender’s claim and develops an intense interest in the family. As in Camilla Bruce’s other books, the female characters shine the brightest. Kate may be a killer, but I found her to be a fascinating character. She’s smart and wily and will do whatever it takes to survive, even if that involves questionable things like seducing men and pretending to “see” spirits for money. I also loved Elvira, who blames Kate for losing her Pennsylvania farm and tries to stop the others from killing travelers. All she wants is a peaceful life, but she’s surrounded by idiots who are preventing her from having it. Hanson’s chapters give us an outsider’s perspective, and I thought it was a great idea to include his point of view.

The best part of this story was watching the Bender family implode. The first half is rather slow, as the author introduces multiple side characters and situations, some of which don’t seem to fit the main plot. But you have to trust this talented author, because she slowly builds the tension until it reaches an excruciating pitch. The spiritualist subplot, as well as Kate’s dalliances with various men in town, are merely distractions, in my opinion, but work especially well to show Kate’s devious character and her determination to make her own life outside of her family’s influence. From the beginning, Bruce drops hints about just how messed up the Bender family is. Elvira beats her husband with a chair after he explains his plan to invite strangers into their home. John proclaims his love for Kate (his step sister) and acts like a jealous boyfriend whenever Kate talks to other men. And Kate freely admits she has a “darkness” inside her that can only be assuaged by spilling blood. As the bodies (literally) start to pile up, the family realizes that once again they have dug themselves into a deep hole that might be impossible to climb out of. Watching each family member unravel was a horrifying delight!

The only negative for me was the spiritualist storyline, which I didn’t find very interesting. It takes up a lot of page time, especially in the first half, which is probably why it dragged for me. Kate is determined to become well known for her abilities to “talk to” the dead, and the author spends lots of time describing Kate’s methods of swindling people out of their money by staging fake séances. I was much more interested in the murders and watching the Bender family come apart at the seams! 

Bruce mentions in her Afterword that there is very little known about the actual Bender family. All the Blood We Share is equal parts fact and speculation, and I thought she did a great job of mixing these two elements. It seems that no one actually knows what happened to the Benders. Accounts of the family’s whereabouts after their bloody escapades in Kansas are mostly rumor and conjecture, but I loved how Bruce ended her story, leaving some things to the imagination and keeping the mysteries of the family intact.

All the Blood We Share was a bloody good time, made better by Camilla Bruce’s excellent prose. It isn’t as gory as In the Garden of Spite, so if you’re looking for a less graphic serial killer story, this might be a good place to start.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬.

An excellent fictionalized true-crime account of the Bender family from Kansas. Fun fact, I have shown the Supernatural episode "The Benders" to my freshman English classes after reading the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" and have always wondered about the title. One day I researched it and found out about the Bender family!

The entire story was dark, foreboding, and filled with a sense of imminent dread. In 1871 on the Kansas plains, Kate dreams of life as a medium. Her mother is cautious and doesn't want unwanted attention brought upon the family, and her husband and son are completely unbalanced. This is a tale of one family who moves to escape their crimes and start fresh only to repeat the cycle in their new location.

The Bender family were more than grifters; they were opportunists who thought nothing of killing someone if their victim could benefit them in some way. They opened an inn that appealed to travelers headed west; the problem is, most of them never made it to their destination.

While much of the book was of course fictionalized, it's worth doing a deep dive into this murderous family as I found them pretty fascinating. Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing for a digital copy of this book. ALL THE BLOOD WE SHARE is available now.

I was so excited to get this one from @netgalley and @berkleypub for my copy of this one today. I couldn’t wait to get home to dive in, and dive in I did.

This book is based on the real story of the Bloody Benders. They were a family of serial killers in the old West in the late 1800’s. There story is full of butchery, but it’s been lost in the shadows of American history.

Kate Bender and her family move to Cherryvale Kansas and open the Bender Inn. They take in wayward travelers and offer them a modest meal and place to rest their weary heads in exchange for a small sum. Kate makes some money as a spiritual medium and her mother is a local healer. However, the Bender’s decide to take a short cut to a better life by killing those men who seem prosperous when they come their way. Unfortunately for the Benders they may have got too greedy, and now they must flee or be hanged. Will they make it out alive?

I loved the way this one was written; it had enough slang from the time but not so much I got confused. I enjoyed the author’s note at the end discussing the research she performed while writing. It made me reflect on the book and I was able to clearly see how much research had gone into this one. The characters in this book were complex and well developed. This was an enjoyable read and I highly recommend this one!

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher, Berkley Publishing, @berkleypub, for my e-copy in exchange for this honest review. This one is out now so make sure to grab your copy ASAP!

The Bender women—mother, Elivira, and daughter, Kate—arrive in Kansas to find that Elvira’s husband and stepson have built a modest traveler’s inn. Elivira angers at this revelation; the family are fugitives and meant to keep a low profile. The others, though, convince her that this far out on the prairie, no one will recognize them.

To augment their inconsequential earnings, Elivira sells folk cures and cunning Kate crafts a career as a spiritualist, speaking to dead spirits. After a few successful seances, she becomes in demand for personal readings and lectures. Still, the family wants more, When they accidentally kill a lodger and find a large amount of cash, they’ve uncovered their next scheme. Kate’s “angels” mark the victims, but, for some of the family, killing becomes an end in itself, and the “angels” pick the wrong victim forcing the family into a reckoning.

This book is based on a true story! I was excited to read about historical serial killers (~1870s). The plot’s intersection with Spiritualism was also interesting, as at the time people were susceptible to claims because they wanted to reach civil war veterans. For me, this was a little slow to get started—the first quarter of the book established the setting and characters. The latter part of the novel moves more quickly, especially when the circle starts closing in on the Benders.

Kate Bender is a self-professed medium who helps her family run the small, broken down Bender Inn, a rest stop for travelers. But they make money another way as well, a dark and terrible choice they have willingly made, and it is this that begins to catch up with them.

This book was highly intriguing from the very start, a fictionalized version of a true crime story. I had actually just read a nonfiction book on the Benders, the family at the center of this story, and was really curious how Bruce would handle the source material.

I think Bruce did an excellent job creating a gripping read, a book that managed to be suspenseful even when one knows how (most) of the story works out going in. Even having just read a nonfiction account of the events, I was engrossed in reading what happened next. I would definitely recommend this book, and will absolutely be reading Bruce's previous book as well.

As a true crime buff, I am always hesitant when it comes to fictionalizations of what are almost always already sensationalized crimes. That being said. when I read over the synopsis of this one in the offer email to provide a review, I was definitely interested.

There isn't much known about The Bloody Benders, and there are even several other heavy hitter serial killers who did similar things on a more publicized scale, which had be curious pretty quickly. I enjoyed the narrative style and absolutely admire the way that Camilla Bruce is able to use the multi-perspective narration to really take advantage of the unreliable narrators that are Kate and her mother Elvira. In the first chapters alone, we get very different perspectives on the people and things around them. Having the third narrator, an innocent bystander named Hanson, was a nice addition to add some levelheadedness into the mix (though his crush on Kate could also make him a touch unreliable as well depending on how you look at things).

Bruce really did a great job at telling the story of a murder group of murderers on the Frontier that takes advantage of underutilized writing styles and the general eeriness that came along with the time period. While I found the pacing slow in places, I still enjoyed the story both as a reader and a true crime fan. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for more of her work in the future.

“No justice was there but the one decided between a madman, a brute, a hag and a devil.”

The Bender Family, now known as The Bloody Benders, are all based on real people during a dark page of US history in the 1870s in Kansas. My advice: read All the Blood We Share and save the deep dive for afterwards.

🩸At it’s core- All The Blood We Share is a mix of horror, historical fiction and true crime. The shifting perspectives offers insight into the two females of the Bender family, Kate and her mother Elvira, but also by an innocent bystander, Hanson, who watched the truth of the Bender family evil slowly unfurl.

🩸This book is well written, with complex characters. For my fans of atmospheric stories- All The Blood We Share is absolutely for you. The smell of the rot from the cellar seems to ooze from the page. This family is so easy to hate, yet you keep wanting to know more and more, Be prepared to shut the book feeling mild shame by your complete investment in these characters. All in all- this was a wicked story that will resonate with the right reader.

This novel is a disturbing read about a family of serial killers. It is based on the real-life “Bloody Benders” family who lived in rural Kansas and committed numerous murders to better themselves. Their first killing took place in 1871. Nearly a century before the internet came into being, there was no way for people to know what was going on outside their own communities.

The story is told from three perspectives. The story centers mostly on Kate, the daughter who is a self-proclaimed healer and psychic. She is intelligent, bold, and cold. Then there is Elvira, the mother who sells “curative” potions. Definitely not a nice woman. And finally, Hanson who is a boy that works at local trading store and does some paid labor for the family.

When the Benders arrive in Cherryvale, they are welcomed. They soon turn the front portion of their house into a general store and an inn for travelers for those passing along the nearby Osage Trail. Not long after their arrival people began missing and some found dead. The family was selective in their killings, targeting those who traveled alone and would not be readily missed.

There is no factual documentation of this family, and no one knows what happened to them, making the book mostly fiction. I think this is why I could not get into the story. I had no strong positive feelings for any of family members, I just felt disgust. But the author did create a good fictional story of this highly dysfunctional family. The members of the family disappeared. Were there more killings after they left Kansas? Does their bloodline continue today? Scary to think about.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

All the Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce

(Thank you @berkleypub for the #gifted copy!)

All the Blood We Share is a historical fiction/crime fiction/horror novel and is based on the Bender family of serial killers from 1870s Kansas.

Holy moly, this book was a wild ride!! Sinister is the perfect word to describe the contents 😳 I think the premise of a fiction novel based on a notorious family of serial killers is very creative. Especially because there is so much mystery around what happened to the Benders—were they killed, did they escape?! No one knows.

There is quite a bit of graphic content in the novel, so it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. But it’s fast-paced, engaging, and intriguing.

All the Blood We Share is out now!!

I loved this mostly-fictional take on the real life family of killers called The Bloody Benders! Kate was so interesting. I enjoyed the different POV because it showed how the family began to come unglued from multiple perspectives. Some parts were really hard to read. I loved the author's note too - it gave more detail on the real Bloody Benders.
Read this if you're a fan of true crime.

I love a story set in the old West and this one is based on a family of serial killers in the old west.
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This historical fiction focuses on the Bender family, known as The Bloody Benders of Kansas. A gory and bloody account of this family that takes mattress into their own hands, quite literally, to make sure their dreams come true.
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Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

"𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴."

This historical fiction/true crime/horror novel is based on the real-life "Bloody Benders," who lived in Kansas in the 1800s. The first known family of serial killers, the mother, father, son and daughter killed at least twelve people before they were discovered. There's not much known about them, but Camilla Bruce gives each of the Benders believable personalities that explain how and why the cold-hearted foursome did what they did. This bloody read will immerse you in the Benders' minds for better or worse, and since I finished reading, I can't stop researching the family whose fate remains unknown.

Thanks to Berkley for the copy to review.

Book Review

All the Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce
@CamillaBruce
Pub date: November 22, 2022

Thank you @BerkleyPub for this gifted DRC!

Interestingly, I didn’t know anything about the Bloody Benders until I read this and with my interest piqued, I went down the internet rabbit hole in search of information. What a vicious and blood thirsty family this was!

I enjoyed Bruce’s take on the possibility of who the Bender’s were and the multiple POV’s giving her unique perspective on this profanely violent family. In the 1870’s, it was a bit easier to disappear but not as easy as I thought it would be especially for those with extremist views and violent tendencies.

One of the main characters, Kate Bender, daughter to Elvira and step-daughter to William and step-sister to John Jr., maneuvered her way around everyone to satisfy her own needs and to gain the wealth she thought she deserved, at the cost of others. Her mother, Elvira, wasn’t any better and she manipulated her step-brother, who was in love with her, to do much of her dirty work.

This is a darkly fascinating story made even more so by Bruce’s research and fictional account. I highly recommend reading the afterward which is so interesting!

One of the best titles ever - I love the word play.
The Benders flee Pennsylvania - eluding to the Vandals, an occurrence forcing this family to split up and head to Kentucky. Pa and John arrive first, purchase land and build a house - intending to open a grocery and hotel.
Ma is less than pleased upon arrival - desperate to live a quiet life. Kate fails to agree - desperate to become a medium and build her brand.
Then the bloodshed begins.
Based on a true story, this book is chilling. Lovely fictional story wrapped around a family's legend - one rarely heard of. Excellent read!

I am not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. A historical western about a family of serial killers is definitely not what I had in mind but really enjoyed it. Make sure and read the author’s note at the end for some insight into the researching and writing of such a unique story. While inspired by the Bloody Bender family, she took liberties where the information was sparse.

I’m not sure I liked any of the characters, but heck, I am not sure you were supposed to. As I read and listened to the tale unfold, I kept having to remind myself this wasn’t all fiction. I do wish there was more to read on the actual Bender family, because I am now hooked.

In addition to exposing the killings, the author does a great job of describing the town and townsfolk so you can picture what is happening.

I flipped back and forth from listening to reading and more than once I was so engrossed in the narration of Teri Clark, Cindy Piller and Michael Crouch, that I’d rewind to make sure I heard what I thought I did.

This should appeal to those that love the wild west, serial killers and true crime.

“We take care of our own. The rest can fend with themselves.”

This was unlike any historical fiction novel I have read. It’s loosely based on a true crime real life serial killer family that lived in the 1800s setting up an Inn killing random strangers stopping for rest and food. The family is a diverse mix of personalities, with the daughter being a narcissist brat (in my opinion) and leads the downfall of their welcome in this particular prairie town. The author made her own story of what she thought the family was like behind closed doors and created her own fantastic ending bringing a nice little bit of closure to the story. However, in real life know one really knows what happened to the Bender family, they just up and disappeared. Their crimes were gruesome and nightmarish and I’m so thankful this occurred such a long time ago, otherwise I may be found triple checking my locks! This was a fantastic read and I highly recommend for all historical fiction and true crime lovers alike. It was an excellent blend and difficult to put down!

I sure would love to know more about the author’s research and this family. I read the author’s note on this and it was just as fascinating as the book itself. True crime has always fascinated me and to read about a crazy murderous family from the 1800s is mind blowing and intriguing!

This western historical fiction novel is based on the Bloody Benders, a family of serial killers who lived on the Kansas plains in the late 1800s. The Benders have recently arrived in Kansas and Kate Bender has wasted no time in making a name for herself as a medium. Kate’s messages from beyond the grave and her mother’s potions cure the townsfolk little ills, for a price. However, the Benders aren’t getting rich fast enough, so they devise a shortcut to a better life. It’s only from those who are marked, those who travel alone and can disappear, that they demand their pound of flesh. But, even a gifted medium like Kate can make mistakes.

Their story is told through the points of view of Kate, her mother Elvira, and a work hand from a neighboring farm, Hanson. To say this family is dysfunctional is an understatement. Kate is the primary character with “the darkness”, but her step father, William believes “she talks to the angels” and they tell her who is marked, her step brother John is in love with her and his jealousy grows throughout the novel, and Kate’s mother Elvira has taught Kate from a young age to be a criminal and believes Kate has a debt to repay. This family of serial killers is definitely interesting. I recommend this book.

Fiction based on actual events always intrigues me, so I was drawn to All The Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce based on the real Bloody Benders, a family of serial killers in the old West. This twisted tale pulled me in. Grab a cup of cocoa and snuggle in. You won’t want to set it down once you begin...

Anyone else fascinated by serial killers? The Benders were a family of serial killers. They lived in Labette County, Kansas, from May 1871 to December 1872. John Bender, his wife Elvira, their son John Jr. and daughter Kate. It is believed they killed over eleven people, including one child.

I listened to the author’s previous novel, In The Garden Of Spite and was excited to try her latest offering.

Bruce did a wonderful job of introducing us to the Benders. John and John Jr. arrived in Kansas first, then Elvira and Kate arrived by coach. They set up a homestead near the road at the end of town where they took in travelers offering meals and space by the fire to sleep for the night. Elvira sold herbal remedies and Kate claimed to be a spiritualist.

We get their history as we get to know them and are given Kate’s perspective along with that of a neighbor. It makes you wonder how well you know your neighbor. The story was atmospheric and kept me enthralled.

The Bender family was twisted from Kate’s upbringing to John Jr.’s infatuation with Kate. Kate’s stepfather John believes Kate hears angels telling her who to kill to benefit the family’s coiffures. The relationship between Kate and her mother was odd and caused friction.

The tale was twisted and kept me on the edge as I waited for them to crack or be discovered. The author skillfully captured the period and the dangers, all while showcasing this dysfunctional family and its twisted family business. Not much is known about the Benders, but Bruce did a splendid job of imagining their darkness and the crimes that occurred. It was well researched and hit upon what we know of them while offering a dark and macabre tale.

Fans of stories based on serial killers will want to add this one to their bookshelf. I felt the author did a good job of keeping us slightly detached as she conjured up the murderous acts and depravity of this family.