The Angel Makers
The True Story of the Most Astonishing Murder Ring in History
by Patti McCracken
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Pub Date 16 Mar 2023 | Archive Date 1 Mar 2024
HarperCollins UK, Nonfiction | Mudlark
Description
Nagyrev, Hungary, 1929. Over 160 mysterious deaths. A group of local wives conspiring together, and one woman at the centre of it all…
In 1929, a dark secret at the heart of a Hungarian farming village was finally exposed. For more than 15 years, Nagyrev had harboured a group of serial killers, one of the largest murder rings ever recorded. They came to be known as The Angel Makers.
Led by a sharp-minded midwife known as Auntie Suzy, the local wives brazenly rid themselves of unwanted relatives, spooning doses of arsenic into soup and wine, stirring it into coffee and brandy. Murder was just another chore.
Over 160 mysterious deaths later, the unlikely gang of murderesses came to justice in a sensational trial reported the world over. With absorbing detail, Patti McCracken pieces together the lives of Auntie Suzy, her wide network of killers, the unsuspecting victims and the villagers who witnessed it all.
The Angel Makers is the utterly gripping account of an almost unbelievable – yet entirely true – moment in crime history.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9780008579548 |
| PRICE | £5.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 432 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Dave B, Reviewer
The Angel Makers by Patti McCracken is a true crime story that reads like a Stephen King novel. The midwife in the small farming town of Nagyrev in Hungary in the 1920's was a character known locally as Auntie Suzy. As well as being a midwife Auntie Suzy had a few sidelines, general medicine, the occasional bit of veterinary work and ,along with a group of other local women.........mass murder. By the time the authorities investigated Auntie Suzy and her homicidal sisterhood ,acting on an anonymous tip off, they had racked up a rather impressive body count of over 160.
This is no dry telling of dark deeds, Patti McCracken's book borders on a novelisation and there's almost a Gothic horror element to stories of Auntie Suzy and her cohort almost casually disposing of those they have decided should not be allowed to live with as much thought and regret as if they were swatting a fly.
The book covers the crimes,the eventual investigation,the worldwide reporting and the eventual fates of those involved in all 3. There's also an unexpected postscript.
I really enjoyed this book,a harrowing and informative read enhanced by Patti McCracken's writing style which brings to life the hardships of rural post-WW1 Nagyrev with it's dark and deadly secrets.
Reviewer 266180
An Astounding Piece..
A true crime telling of the mysterious deaths of over one husband sixty people in Nagyrev, Hungary, exposed in 1929. A group of killers that later became known as The Angel Makers - a most unlikely group of serial killers, of murderesses - for whom home made arsenic was the weapon of choice. A richly detailed, atmospheric and evocative account, bursting with the deep, dark history of the time and place. Written with great empathy and often hugely emotional, distressing and disturbing. An astounding piece.
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