Women who kill rupture our assumptions about what a woman is. This book explores different socio-cultural understandings of women who commit, or are accused, of murder. A wide range of cases are discussed in order to highlight the ways in which such women have been perceived, and how such cases reflect important social and cultural shifts.
Introduction: Women, Murder and Femininity PART 1: FIVE GENDER REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN WHO KILL PART 2: GENDER, MURDER AND MID TWENTIETH-CENTURY ENGLAND AND WALES Gender Representations of Twelve Mid Twentieth-Century Women Accused of Murder Conclusion to Part 2 Appendix - Two Further Cases from the Sample Endnotes Bibliography