HOW COULD SHE DO THAT? A Study of the Female Criminal

Hardback. When a woman commits a crime - especially if it is murder - most people react with disbelief and shock. Women, however, commit substantial amounts of crimes, and in this book the author has examined 7 rather typical cases of women who have run foul of the law. They begin with the story of a gypsy woman who was brought up to be an accomplished thief and lived from the proceeds of a well-worn confidence scheme, and go all the way to the celebrated case of Carole Tregoff, who was convinced by her lover, Dr. Finch, that happiness awaited them if they would only collaborate in murdering Mrs. Finch. The author includes a wide range of stories. There is the girl from the poor family of 11 children, first forced by her mother to steal, who continues to shoplift from habit. There is the girl who conceives of herself as a saviour of mankind and becomes a revolutionary to prove it. There is the profoundly neurotic rich girl who shoots her lover when he cynically prepares to leave her. There is the negro prostitute from Chicago whose life has made her so bitterly disillusioned that she finally resorts to violence. And there is, of course, a classic study of a madam. Lurid though these tales may sound, they are told for insight not sensationalism. With Suggested Further Reading. 340pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Vg. in Vg. sl. frayed dw.