Book excerpt: The Disturbing Inside Story of Women Who Are Driven to Kill. From Elizabeth Bathory, 'The Bloody Countess' whose vampire-like tendencies terrorized sixteenth-century Hungary, to the Moors Murderer Myra Hindley and the Florida Highway Killer Aileen Wuornos, these women transfix us with their extreme ability to commit savage acts of cruelty and depravity. In some cases their methods of disposing of the corpses fall nothing short of ingenious: meet Leonarda Cianciulli, 'The Soap-Maker of Correggio', who used the fat from her victims' bodies to make soap and teacakes to sell to unsuspecting customers. These killers' backgrounds, methods and their crimes are described in forensic and gripping detail. Killer Women collects the most disturbing yet compelling of all criminals, representing the very darkest side of humanity and subverting the conventional view of women as the weaker sex. 50 terrifying cases of killer women are brought to life, including: Elizabeth Bathory 'The Bloody Countess' Amelia Dyer, The Reading Baby Farmer Jane Toppan, 'Jolly Jane' Juana Barraza, The Old Lady Killer Leonarda Cianciulli, 'The Soap-Maker of Correggio' Bonnie Parker, 'Bonnie & Clyde' Rosemary West Myra Hindley Aileen Wuornos