I enjoyed the premise of this novel which made for a good page-turner. I don't know that I thought it was all brilliantly realised, but it was a good romp nevertheless.

I adored this book, based on a true story this is a very well written and engrossing account of a female serial killer. really interesting tale of ultimate revenge. Read with the lights on!

Unfortunately I’m unable to review this book due to the formatting - every attempt to download resulted in random numbers being scattered across every page. A real shame as the first few pages had me hooked and I’m really keen to read it…I will return to leave a review if I manage to download a readable version!

This is such a unique book, absolutely fabulous.

Based on a historic woman this book is thrilling (and disturbing to read)

Really fresh and new.

A very enjoyable read I had never heard of Bella Gunness but a quick Google search gave me the chills. This book is very long but still holds your attention to see it through. Gruesome and disturbing in part, but also quite a sad story.

Brynhild Størset/Belle Gunnell was a Norwegian woman, born into poverty who emigrated to America in the late 1800s to join her sister Nellie in Chicago. She went on to become America’s first female mass murderess with a suspected number of victims totalling over 40, most of them never identified.
This is the fictionalised story of her life, told from both her and her sister Nellie’s viewpoint.
Her childhood was harsh, her upbringing brutal, she was starved and beaten.
Was the seed for her future ruthlessness sown back then?
So much pain - received in spades and dished out with a vengeance. Cold and calculating when killing, charming when it was to her advantage, she always had her eye on social advancement, tinged with her fear of sinking back to poverty.
The juxtaposition of the sisters’ characters and POVs is done to great effect, Nellie being the timid one, duty-bound and always suspecting Belle’s murderous character but never daring to fully acknowledge it.
Belle’s voice, on the contrary, is very matter-of-fact, detached even with only a few glimpses of feeling - mostly for “her” children and, albeit briefly, for the men in her life.
A dreadfully sad story of losing one’s moral compass and sink into depravity.

Quite a read - darkly rich, deeply wild and wicked!

Triflers Need Not Apply is Newton's third law at play. Cautions men against abusing and dismissing women as helpless and harmless, and the chances of them being equally heartless and ruthless.

Author Camilla brings the contrasting lives and mindsets of two sisters, Belle and Nellie each with their own set of problems finding escape in the lands of America from their stigmatic Norwegian community.

My heart pounds as I read through Belle's POV. Sizzling hot and madly dangerous and tempting folklore! Her elder sister Nellie's narrative pulls me out at the instant of switching to her from Belle but disturbs me with her affection, compassion and struggle. Both women prove to be clever and share the love of children. And oh, how they toil!

Appreciate Author Camilla's tireless efforts and passion! It truly takes a mighty soul to slip into the shoes of a real life murderess. Triflers Need Not Apply is a heavy blow of a cleaver to the head!

Thank you so much MJ and NG for the e-ARC.

SPOILERS

I hadn't realised until after I read this,that it was based on a true story.
That always adds a bit more interest. Though,it was interesting enough.
At the beginning of the book,you cant help but feel sorry for "Bella" brought up in poverty,and treated badly by her father,and then abused in more than one way ,we find her broken and bruised and bloody before too long.

A whole new character emerges then,cold,calculating and manipulative.
She gets what she wants and appears to have no problem leaving a trail of dead behind her.
Fascinating stuff,and despite being a long book,I felt the pacing just right,and it flew by.
I'm off to google the true story now.

An intriguing novel that is based on the real story of Bella Guinness, a notorious serial killer who was born in rural Norway and emigrated to Chicago in around 1900. A very clever idea that was well executed. It does not pull any punches and is explicit about Bella's crimes and psychology, which made uncomfortable reading at times.
The author has clearly done her research and the novel felt historically correct and included the details known about Bella as well as providing the required poetic license to make this an entertaining, shocking and immersive read. I recommend this book. It is very different and could be read by a wide audience. The feminist in me appreciated the female focus and I was certainly left with an understanding of why Bella was so disturbed. (Just to be clear - I do recognise she was a murdering psychopath..)
Thank you to Camilla Bruce, her publishers and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of this book. I will definitely look out for any future books by this author - she is good.

This is half true crime half historical fiction and if you have an interest in either genres I would suggest that you give this book a go.

Its a bit of a slow burn but I found myself captivated by the story of Bella. She's one of the best written villians I've come across in a long way, yknow the ones who make you think you can justify their actions for so long and then... you can't, kind of? Or can we? Was it reeaaaallyyyyyyy her fault? Its so interesting!!!

Its VERY well written, a longer book than I usually reach for but it kept me engaged and eager to read on throughout the whole thing.

I was looking forward to reading Triflers need not apply and was happy to receive the e-book from the publisher. But alas, it turned out differently. After diving into the first few pages I found my enthusiasm evaporarting. This does happen from time to time and in this case it is not the author's fault. This book is simply not for me. I gave it another try some weeks later, but with the same result.

Still I would recommend it to those of my friends with a habit of reading crime novels. The case in itself is gruesome and so very much interesting. I am sure this novel will find its' readers. but unfortunately it is not me this time.

This historical fiction book is based on the true story of serial killer Belle Gunness. Born in Noway and killer in America. After a violent assault in her youth she was never mentally the same again. The story flits from past to present so we get a great insight into her mind and what triggered the violence.

This is a dark and bone chilling read but I couldn't stop reading it. I found her mindset fascinating and intriguing. She had endured a lot of suffering in the hands of men and I did feel for her. This is my first book by this author but it won't be my last.

Loved this, Bella is a little fire cracker, I loved her although the ending was gruesome. Full of blood, guts, murder, lust this would make a brilliant movie. The story alternates between bellas story and her long suffering sister who is also a very likeable character. Definitely a 5* read. Thanks to netgalley for my advanced copy.

Dark and entertaining retelling of one of the most infamous female serial killers of the 20th C. This is more an ‘inspired by’ story of Belle Gunness’ rampage in Chicago 1900 rather than a fictionalised biography. At times it’s pretty gruesome. However the book is fast paced, well plotted and the historical setting is excellent. It’s refreshing to see a female anti hero too.

An interesting interpretation from Camilla Bruce of presumed true life serial killer Belle Gunness, a Norwegian who moved to America for a better life but found that her husband's & properties always seemed to have unfortunate accidents, but it's lucky she always had the foresight to purchase a little insurance policy. Little is known about the true Belle but reading " Triflers need not apply "allowed the reader to imagine what her life might of been like and through her fictional sister you can almost feel sorry for her but also marvel at her ingenuity and how she managed to get away with everything for so long.

This is the story of a murderess and the body’s just keep mounting and mounting?!
I enjoyed the book a lot but got quite desensitised to the killing towards the end. Is quite a long book but well written and such a fa I sting story!

"Triflers Need Not Apply" by Camilla Bruce is the kind of book you update friends and families about the goings-on as it is so unbelievable. Based on a true story about Belle Gunness, the black widow of La Porte, it follows a fictional account of her life (author's words), starting when she was young and an incident that set her up for her life of doing away with men, in particular her husbands and lovers. It is seriously addictive stuff and gob-smacking to read how many husbands she got through and how many insurance policies she claimed on. Truly fascinating!

I first learned about Belle Gunness from the raucous Last Podcast on the Left series, which was based on Harold Schechter's Hell's Princess, an incredibly well-written piece of true crime. No prior knowledge of Belle is required to enjoy Triflers Need Not Apply (what an incredible title that is!), although readers may find themselves heading to Wikipedia (or ideally, Schechter's book) to find out whether the real case was really as gruesome and shocking as Bruce makes out. Much of Belle's life in Norway is unknown, but Bruce takes various rumours and scandals that appeared in newspapers following her crimes to give her protagonist an origin story that screams "anti-hero" rather than "murderer". It is left to Belle's older sister Nelly to fill in the details that our unreliable narrator omits- while Belle undoubtedly suffered much in her young life, it's possible she always had a calculating streak. Her accomplice and lover James does not appear to be based on any real-life person, and I found it somewhat unlikely that stodgy labourer Belle would ever take up with a "spiv". His career as a baby farmer, trafficker and illegal adoption broker is sadly all too believable. Some newcomers like Nelly and her husband John found a place in communities just like the ones they left back home; women like Belle, who never played by the rules to begin with, are perceived as a threat to the slice of Norway her fellows have carved with the sweat of their brows.. Others like James and Belle quickly discover that the American Dream is far easier to catch if one is willing to lie, cheat, steal and even murder. I don't think it's necessary to have any prior knowledge of Belle's case to enjoy this book, but readers might want to research the Chicago World's Fair and that other infamous serial killer, H. H. Holmes.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Camilla Bruce’s previous book, the dark and disturbing You Let Me In, I was excitedly anticipating Triflers Need Not Apply, based on the real life case of female serial killer Belle Gunness, and what an absolute treat it is…

Set in around both Norway and Chicago from 1877 to the start of the twentieth century, Bruce has brilliantly melded together the true crime story of killer Belle Gunness, with her fictional creation Bella Sorensen, tracing the dramatic growth of one woman scarred mentally and physically from a violent episode in her youth in Norway, to a cool headed, avaricious killer now inhabiting Chicago. From the very outset of the book, Bruce raises some interesting points on the age old argument of nature vs nurture, gradually incorporating small snap shots of Bella’s previous life in Scandinavia, prior to a vicious assault, that makes the reader question her motivations for her killing spree later in life. With an unsettled upbringing in a violent household, is the violence within her a product of this, or do the flashes of her propensity for sadistic behaviour run deeper with her psyche, when compared with the lives of her fellow siblings, most noticeably her older sister, Nellie who is the catalyst for her move to Chicago?

Consequently, Bruce presents Bella as a highly mercurial and complicated character, manipulating our empathy at every turn, as her killing spree gathers pace, and her reasoning for killing becomes a little less clear cut. Does she kill out of compulsion, misandry or for financial gain? Does she kill to avenge the sins of the past, “It was better that I felt strong, I thought, able to take down the biggest of men, than feeling like the ruined girl bleeding on the ground.” Or does she kill, simply because she enjoys the act itself? She says pointedly on the cusp of one killing, “I wanted him dead; but then I wanted him alive, just so I could see him ache,” leading her to ask another later in the book, “you think I like the act of murder?” but are these other factors, money and so on, her real motivation? Bruce leads the reader to form their own conclusions, and I guarantee these will change as the book progresses…

There’s always a danger when a story is constructed around factual events that the writer can let slip of the narrative and lean too heavily one way or the other. However, what I most admired about this book is the way that Bruce maintains a tight grip on both fact and fiction, to not only produce a novel that positively resonates with the atmosphere and events of the period in some cases in almost forensic detail, but never loses sight of the need to keep this as a flowing and entertaining narrative, despite the darkness that lies at his heart. I loved the descriptions of the run down Chicago neighbourhoods that Bella initially moves to, alike, but different, to the grinding poverty of rural Norway from where she escaped. Bruce captures the spirit of the age with allusions to events, social and political detail, and the world she sets before her is vibrant and alive with energy. Her powers of description are top notch, to fully immerse the reader in these contrasting environments, and the changing environments Bella moves through.

The characterisation is superb throughout, and as I encountered each character they were so vivid and real in my mind, from both their physical descriptions, to their individual behaviour and their strengths and weaknesses as they encircle or become more intimately involved with Bella. From the growing mistrust of her sister Nellie, to her obsessive relationship with the shadowy James Lee, and the trail of unsuspecting men who fall for her womanly charms, each character is defined by how Bella impinges on and ingratiates herself into their lives, so she is seen not only just as herself, but through the prism of how others see her too, which leads to conflicting perceptions of her to the reader.

There is absolutely no question that Triflers Need Not Apply is an absolute dead cert for one of my books of the year as I found it utterly mesmerising, with its compelling blend of fiction and fact. Bruce’s use of vivid description, incisive characterisation, and her ability to totally subsume the reader in each environment, carefully interweaving the actual events of Bella’s life, and the zeitgeist of the age is mesmeric throughout. By playing a clever guessing game with the reader as to Bella’s true motivations, the book totally heightens the reading experience, and when you take a step back and think this woman actually existed, the chill down your spine just gets that little bit more chilling indeed. Highly recommended.

Based on the true story of Belle Gunness whose murderous rampage began in Chicago in 1900, Triflers Need Not Apply is a novelistic tour de force exploring one woman's determination to pay men back for all they have taken.
If you're interested in true crime, Victorian era or female historical characters then I absolutely recommend this book for you.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.