The League of Lady Poisoners by Lisa Perrin is an illustrated book of true stories of dangerous women. I’m not sure what exactly drew me to this book; perhaps it was the title or the cover, whatever it was though, my curiosity was piqued. I did appreciate the background research and explanation that not all of the women were evil or cruel. Many were desperate and looking to escape impossible situations where they felt trapped.
The chapters are divided out by professional poisoners, escape and defiance, money and greed, power and politics, anger and revenge, and love and obsession. The author is careful to stipulate as these are not necessarily motives, as motives are complex and multi factorial.
The stories are told with a lot of detail and description (but you will not find recipes). Some of the stories were familiar, others I’ve never heard of. In both cases, as one who appreciates stories of true crime, I was enlightened. It is macabre as well as interesting. My curiosity was satiated and I learned quite a bit about these women.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

This was just a fun interesting read. I was enthralled with everything about this book and I really want to see more as soon as possible.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The League of Lady Poisoners.

I was so excited my request was approved because I'm always eager to read anything related to female serial killers.

Hmm...that didn't come out right.

As I was saying, this was a well-researched and fascinating read about more than twenty-five accused women poisoners, exploring the circumstances and skill sets that led them to lives of crime.

Some of the women were familiar to me, having recently read a book about female serial killers, but others were not and I was glad to learn more.

I love the author's idea to organize the chapters based on the women's motives, and I did enjoy the poison primer about the origins uses, and deadly side effects used through history.

Another big plus: great illustrations!

A book about female poisoners throughout the years that explores their stories. It has a few pages at the front about poisonous plants and animals. I thought the plants section was helpful because most of the stories involved one of these (or the metals). The animals was not as relevant I thought but still a fun addition. Then the book splits up stories based on why the women were poisoning - professional, romantic, political, etc. I thought this was a good way to break it up instead of just chronological! The illustrations within are also very beautiful.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.