In the Garden of Spite (book review)

I finished In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce! Review below:

Overall rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

In the Garden of Spite follows a fictionalized account of the life of Belle Gunness, a Norwegian-immigrant American in the late 1800s-early 1900s who became a prolific serial killer in the American Midwest. The novel explores ideas about what led a rural, poor farmgirl to become a serial killer and "black widow," as her reputation in the book is one of a widow who lures men to her estate to eventually kill them. The plot builds to this well, and sets up an interesting dynamic with the reader, who is expected to know already that Belle is to become a murderer, and we are simply watching things spiral and become worse over her life. I give it a 3 1/2 out of 5 because while the plot and characters were engaging, I felt that it skimmed over a lot of the gruesome details I would have enjoyed reading, especially coming from the perspective of the killer. I also think that there was a lot of time spent in the plot humanizing Belle (or attempting to show her reasoning) which read to me as somewhat superficial. It focuses somewhat heavily on dysfunctional family dynamics. But, it was overall an engaging read that kept me interested in what was going to happen next. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a casual slasher-style read.