This was a horrifying read! What a messed up woman- portrayed by the author as an absolute madwoman, as was true in real life. It was also interesting to read about the Norwegian community of immigrants. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

So this is based on a true story, and it's as gory as they come. It follows real life serial killer Bella Sorenson in a reimagining of her life in the 1900s. It was a little slow in places but really delivered a succinct picture of the woman outside of the crimes she committed, and that's not always achieved in these types of books. An interesting read.
Thanks to Camilla Bruce, Penguin and Netgalley for the ARC.

Triflers Need Not Apply is based on the true story of Belle Gunness, a Norwegian who emigrated to America. And that’s what makes it so unnerving: her normality. Outwardly, Belle is a nice, god-fearing woman. But if you are married to her, that’s a different story.

I enjoyed how the two different sides of Belle were portrayed, and how her sister wanted to always think the best of her. But she knew there was a darker side. Belle’s children seemed oblivious to her proclivities, but would they have been? In fact, it does seem that at least one had a pretty good idea of her mothers capabilities.

Part of me likes to think that Belle did what she did to keep herself and her children financially safe. Men were a means to an end in a time where women had no rights. Belle really was a woman scorned - and boy, did she hold a grudge! There are some truly gruesome scenes described in an offhand way, so much so that I just got used to them: “Oh, she’s chopping them into bits! Well, that’ll make disposal easier, I suppose!” I mean, I’m not in the market for this type of thing, but it all seemed quite reasonable. That’s what made it truly horrific!

It’s a great story. I might bear some of Belle’s methods in mind…😉

This was an interesting take on the Belle Gunness story, but ultimately, I found the narrative itself a little bit repetitive and too long. I thought that the author did a great job with fleshing out Belle as a character and loved the addition of James Lee as a nefarious partner in crime for her travails. I also found the last 100 pages of the novel really compelling. I think however, that what the author found more intriguing were Belle's origins whereas for me, the more interesting plot was the succession of murders. Consequently, I did find the first half of the book a bit monotonous. I think that your enjoyment of this book will definitely depend on what your interest and expectations are going in, but I would definitely recommend it as a character study of a truly unpleasant woman.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

⭐⭐⭐

I had a case of fomo with #TriflersNeedNotApply & to be brutally honest, I could have continued on without reading it & been no worse off.

The title & the cover & the marketing was an easy sell to someone like me. I don't know why but I really enjoy fiction set in this era. Sadly, this book dragged. It could have been at least 50 to 100 pages shorter because the repetition was almost unbearable. Bella was unlikeable but that's kind of the point. Nellie was unnecessary to the degree she was written. She's very much a minor character given to much time.

Triflers starts off really well. You get a strong idea of Bella's character, you actually kind of like her & then she gets to Chicago and it all just implodes. The writing and the story give you no reason to stay with it. Obviously, I'm in the minority (again) but you can't like everything.

A dark intriguing story inspired by true events that will ensnare your imagination. Perfect for reading on stormy autumn nights.

This book was far darker than I initially expected – for some reason I assumed from the blurb it would be some sort of comedic murder romp, like Arsenic and Old Lace!

Instead, this is a story full of bitterness and bile, rage and revenge, violence, murder, lies and betrayal, with a main character who displays increasingly socio- or psychopathic feelings, thoughts and behaviours as the story progresses. It was fascinating to see the story through the perspective of this deeply flawed main character, and therefore to better understand what is driving her behaviour in a way that those around her cannot.

Also fascinating was how, although men play such a major role in Belle’s life and activities, the male characters in the book all somewhat blur into each other while female friends and family members are much more distinct, perhaps because it is their approval and affection that Belle craves.

The plot presents horror piled upon tragedy, so is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted, and the author gives us an insight into the depravity which humanises Belle and allows us to pity her without blurring the morality or softening the terrible acts she commits.

I was haunted by what I read for days and nights after putting this book down and was driven to do some research into the true story of Belle Sorenson. When I looked up the available facts, I was even more deeply impressed at how the author neatly blended them into this fictional, but horribly plausible, account.

This one is perfect for true crime fans who like to get not just the facts, but a cohesive narrative to frame and explain them.


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

This historical fiction/murder mystery/crime is based loosely on the real crimes of Belle Gunness (worth reading about her). We follow Bella and her spiral into murder , how she became this woman and how she slowly became undone. It’s quite a read and gory at time but you also have empathy for the character as you see how she was treated to become this killer. Worth a read!

Unfortunately the format of this ARC has made it impossible to read so I cannot at this time leave a review for this book.

A great story - I very much enjoyed this novel, and would recommend.

Thanks to Camilla Bruce, NetGalley, and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for this copy.

This is historical fiction, based on the real Belle Gunnerson. However, because there is a lot of myth and muddled facts surrounding the real person, this book has a large dose of fiction mixed in.

I found the book a bit slow at first, but it picked up as it went on, and overall I found it really interesting. It's a horrific story, with Belle doing absolutely awful things. Reading it is like watching a car crash; it feels wrong, but you can't look away.

Some of Belle's actions were understandable. She suffers a trauma very early on, and so I could understand her need for revenge. But understanding that wasn't enough for me. She is fundamentally unlikeable, with very few redeeming qualities, and I think if the book had been solely from her perspective I would have given up on it. However, we also get the perspective of Nellie, her sister. I found the juxtaposition of the two perspectives were what really made the book enjoyable for me. Belle is the woman who doesn't care or think about others, except sometimes her children. She is self centred, and everyone has wronged her, in her view. Her sister loves her, and notices that something is off about her, and has to cope with those conflicting emotions of love for Belle and horror at Belle's actions.

Definitely worth a read if you're interested in the time period (late 1800s to early 1900s Scandinavia and America), or you're interested in true crime.

I'm really sorry but I couldn't read this as there is something wrong with the document/e-book formatting that has messed up the line spacing and added random numbers here and there. I therefore obviously cannot review it either.

Dark, deadly and utterly enthralling.

Belle Sorensen doesn't have much going for her. She's not especially good-looking and has been born into a very poor family. But she has sex appeal, a clever mind and absolutely no scruples. A harrowing experience as a young woman sets her on a murderous scheme. Always just in the edge of suspicion her sister Nellie can only watch as there are more and more disappearances and 'accidents' around Belle.

Based with plenty of artistic licence on the life of Belle Gunness who murdered at least 40 people in the early 20th century. It's a fascinating story that had me enthralled throughout. I'm not one for true crime, but this sits on the fence between true crime and fiction expertly. A gripping read.

Gripping based-on-truth female serial killer story.

I was caught up in this from the first. Based on a true account of a female serial killer, the path she will later follow isn't immediately obvious to the reader, but we build with first-person and her sister's soft-hearted observations to a place where murder is excused and explained away.

Brunhilde (interestingly enough, meaning 'battle armour') is a name the main character sheds when she moves to a new life in America. The young woman is lucky to be able to make the journey though, after finding herself with child by the farmer's son... who will not marry her and tries to make sure he does not need to. It's an experience and a scene that changes who this girl is, how she sees men, how she decides she can respond to their treatment of her.

When her sister Nellie pays for Brunhilde (now calling herself Bella) to cross the ocean and start a new life with her, helping with her housework and babies, Nellie no longer sees the innocent girl of the past, but a woman determined to find a better place for herself, using whatever she possesses to reach a place of safety, of security, of a full larder and respectability.

But Bella is not going to let people or problems stand in her way. She hasn't before.

Bella's character is understandable in so many ways. Her craving to always have more food than she actually needs is one I personally understand. Even if I can't explain it myself easily. Alright so the justification to kill a man who isn't perfect may not be one that I can also understand, but her history and mental state do help explain why a woman may have turned into a creature who both felt she had to do this, and wanted to do this.

We needed Nellie's view on Bella's behaviours, to remind ourselves how outside the norm almost everything she does actually was. Her sisterly 'looking away' and justifying her little Brunhilde's actions to herself is at once horrifying (as we know the details) but also so easy to rationalise. Her little sister is trying to make her mark and win in a man's world, with everything against her, and Nellie can't make herself believe all those terrible things her gut is telling her. She herself is a truly honest and upright woman, a counterpoint to Bella, cut from the same cloth but through different paths heading in the polar opposite direction in life, the slow plodding way to contentment.

For fans of bloody gore, you'll get your fill. For fans of (social) history, especially from the female perspective, you will also be spoiled. There's psychology and plenty here for discussion, and definitely a good TV series to be made from this.

And a few moments you might not be expecting. My one qualm was with the Audible version. Two voices, each portraying a sister, were great. But when one sister's voice then 'put on' the voice of the other sister, it sounded totally wrong. Too old and different to the voice given us by the opposing actor. It jarred a little and I wasn't actually sure who they were voicing until it became obvious from the narrative. Aside from that, this worked brilliantly on audio, and I raced through 15 hours in just a few days.

Excellent, evocative storytelling. Horrific, enticing and very convincing as a fictionalised account of a real-life killer.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy, and to Netgalley for the reading copy.

Was a good book, just took me a while to read, mainly my fault as it’s not my usual type and is a little older then some of the books I read (dyslexic) so this book was a little harder going. My sister borrowed it and loved it (she’s older) the ideas were great and when she explained it to me it sounded amazing, sadly just wasn’t for me.

Based on the true story of Belle Gunness, a serial killer in Chicago in the 1900s, this is the fascinating story of how an abused young girl became a deeply troubled woman. Starting with her disappointing husband, Bella begins an addictive killing spree for the history books.

Triflers Need Not Apply is a true crime novel that gives notorious murderess Belle Gunness a cause and a personality. Most areas of her story have been fictionalised and enhanced, but the heart of the story remains based on fact. The case of Belle Gunness is truly fascinating, not least because she was never caught. It’s widely accepted that she killed as many as 40 men, and got away with it. The story is gruesome and could be triggering – containing violence, abuse and child-murder – but is well worth the read. It is marvelously written and absolutely riveting.

One of the best aspects of this story was the inclusion of Nellie, Bella’s sister. Nellie’s involvement is entirely fictional, but it was an eye-opening exploration into the possible responses of a family member of a serial killer. How would you react if someone you’ve loved and cared for since childhood turned out to be a dangerous criminal?

I would highly recommend this book to true-crime fans, and anyone interested in murder/revenge stories as long as you have a strong stomach!

Did not finish.

I found I wasn't really intrigued by Bella's story. While we're obviously not supposed to like her character, we do need to be interested in her story which I wasn't.

I was surprised to see so much of the story told through her sister's perspective, and I think that's what made me so detached from the story.

The dark aspects of the story felt very surface level, it lacked any real atmosphere for me.

LOVED this. I didn’t want it to end. I’ll be heading straight to Google to find out more about Belle Gunness when I’ve finished writing this. A variety of different characters and I probably shouldn’t like Belle… but I do, a bit. Very well written; I love a book about a serial killer, especially a female one. I’ll be checking out more by Camilla Bruce in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley publishers for the ARC.

This was one of my favorite books of 2021, it kept me hooked until the very end, couldn’t put it down.

I thought Belle’s perspective, despite intense and dark, was truly well done. It mustn’t be easy, considering how twisted the character (and the real person is based on) is. Yet, it still put us inside Belle’s head — what could possibly go through someone’s head to do these things? And the book explores that as well, the many sides of Belle and the darkness around her, her past, her crimes, her twisted secrets.

Some scenes aren’t easy to read, there’s graphic detail, and well, it’s pretty dark.

What I liked the most about this book was the interpretation (creative freedom even?) when the author wrote Belle’s perspective.. In fact it’s easy to forget that this was based on real events such is the depth of the narrative.

Big thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for sending me a copy of this to read and review.

I was so so so intrigued about this one, A female serial killer out to prove to the world, in a time when inequality was at its worst between men and women, that she could be just as ruthless and single minded as a man if not more. And a true story?! Say no more, I am HERE for it. This however did not deliver for me unfortunately. I so wanted to love this book.

I got about 30% of the way through and just could not make myself keep reading. This bored me which I honestly was not expecting it to. This is also probably my fault as Historical Fiction is not my favourite, However I thought that the fact that its a true story and the fact that it was about a female serial killer trying to have everything that a man can but going the wrong way about it would intrigue me no matter the setting.