In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce

"We are all just creatures on this earth, fending for ourselves the best that we can. There is nothing unnatural about me. I walk the same pastures as any other. I am as natural as they come. There are just not many of my  kind."

Wow. what a story! This largely fictionalized account of the real serial killer, The Widow of La Porte, Belle Gunness, is very slow to start but when it takes off -- you will find it impossible to put down. Despite lengthy investigations, there is still no accurate tally of the number of men, women, and children she killed. Although remains were found on the farm she owned in Indiana, it is believed that there are many unaccounted for given anecdotal evidence and a great deal of suspicion. In fact, there is nothing found to indicate when and where she died. The narrative is told from the viewpoints of Belle (also known as Bella) and her sister, Nellie.

The main feeling that I had while reading was that of dread. I could hardly believe that someone this evil was able to get away with what she did for so long. She is definitely a psychopath, very manipulative, and incredibly heinous. Everything she did was to protect herself and for money though there is an attempt to give her behavior a motive based on something that happened to her in Norway before she came to the United States. The author explains in an endnote that much of this novel is creative license, but if even a part of this is factual, it's a gruesome tale. Much of the book was quite difficult to read yet I could not stop reading as I had to know the extent of her terrible crimes. The truly scary part is to know that those murders essentially went unpunished and the many victims never got justice.

Definitely you will need to find something light and sweet to calm your emotions once you've finished.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend to those who can stomach it!

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - novelization of true story of a female serial killer