Lethal ladies: 7 novels about killer women

• From wronged wives to a psychotic socialite, these fictional femmes are playing for keeps

• You know the expression “dressed to kill”? You might not want to use it around any of the characters in these seven deadly books.

• Spring and summer fiction is packed with women who can do almost anything in cold blood. From wronged wives to a psychotic socialite, they would do well to stay away from anything sharp.

• (But, of course, they don’t.) Superstars like James Patterson and Charlaine Harris return with their latest, but there are also gripping works from newcomers, such as Canadian Holly Luhning, who weaves a story around the legend of sixteenth-century Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time. Bathory was bricked up in a castle as punishment for her crimes, and you might want to brick yourself up somewhere quiet to work through this killer reading list.          Photo source