The Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History’s Most Astonishing Murder Ring by Patti McCracken

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Angel Makers is an unbelievable true crime story. It is the story o the most prolific and least likely serial killer of the 20th Century. Spanning nearly 2 decades in the early 1900’s, in a small town in Hungary, midwife “Aunt Suzy” helped women to eliminate their problems (men) whether for reasons of abuse or to secure inheritance of land and money. The catch is, sometimes the women were complicite in Aunt Suzy’s help and sometimes they were not. The weapon of choice was arsenic referred to as “inheritance powder”. 160 plus men later… Aunt Suzy was found out.

The story in and of itself is fascinating. Who has not wanted to take the law into their own hands when a loved one or innocent girl is being hurt? The question really is whether or not Aunt Suzy really was a sadistic killer, or if she was a hero in disguise. Other readers seem to be astonished that all of this was happening so near to the capital with no one being the wiser. Let me remind you all of a little thing called the Holocaust that millions turned a blind eye to only a decade later.

McCracken has done a fabulous job with her research and brought this true crime tale to life with sometimes too much description. I found at times the over description of Aunt Suzy’s physical appearance to be annoying, but the story itself definitely is worth the slight annoyance.

I recommend The Angel Makers to any true crime or history buff. I was truly a fascinating tale. Thank you to Patti McCracken and William Morrow Harper Collins for sending me the Advanced Copy for review.

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