"Walk into the darkest side of human behaviour. In the Mind of a Female Serial Killer is a forensic investigation into the lives and crimes of four violent female serial killers who were active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using original research based on family owned primary sources and government files only recently made available to the public, Stephen Jakobi delves in to the grisly psyche of these infamous murderesses. Meet Agnes Norman, the most successful known mass killer of her generation, yet who was only convicted of one attempted murder. With Louie Calvert, Stephen launches an investigation into the truth of her unique death cell autobiography, leading to her only known photograph and a third murder victim. Kate Webster committed one of the most notorious murders by a woman in the nineteenth century. Was she also responsible for the early Thames torso murders, a Victorian crime sensation which rivalled Jack the Ripper? Finally, meet the mysterious Mrs Willis, the baby farmer whose last confession of her true identity proved false"--Page 4 of cover.

Lacing tea with poison and slipping arsenic in to soup, this is what comes to mind we talk of murderesses of the Victorian age. Fuelled by a rumor-driven press and cases of notorious killers like Marry Ann Cotton, the 'Angel of Death', or Christiana Edmunds, the 'Chocolate Cream Killer', death by poisoning was a great anxiety of Victorian Britain. But what about those women who were wrongly convicted? What about the suspects who fell victim of a biased jury and unrelenting press? In Misjudged Murderesses , Stephen Jakobi takes a forensic approach to examine the trials of six women falsely sentenced for crimes they didn't commit. With the aid of primary sources, and in two cases the ready assistance of descendants and local journalists, the validity of their convictions is questioned. Highlighting common factors in poisoning cases that led to ostensible miscarriages of justice, Jakobi shines a light on a flawed and inconsistent legal system.