The Devil's Rooming House

The True Story of America's Deadliest Female Serial Killer

By: M. William Phelps

Narrated by: Eddie Frierson

A silent, simmering killer terrorized New England in 1911. A heat wave unlike any that had come before killed people in the streets, caused others to drown in the waters where they sought relief, and drove still others to suicide. As more than 2,000 people died during the natural disaster, another silent killer began her own murderous spree. Amy Archer-Gilligan operated the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids in Windsor, Connecticut. What was thought to be a respectable business run by a pioneering woman was exposed as little more than a murder factory. Amy would be accused of murdering both her husbands and dozens (as many as 60) of her elderly patients with cocktails of lemonade and arsenic - all for money. She would be convicted and sentenced to hang, and her story would shock turn-of-the-century America and provide the inspiration for the Broadway sensation and classic film Arsenic and Old Lace. Acclaimed crime writer and New York Times best-selling author M. William Phelps has written the first book to tell the true story of greed and murder even more shocking than its fictional counterpart.

Readers will enter a kind of Twilight Zone where a Bible-thumping caretaker and entrepreneur of the nursing home industry became one of history's most evil female serial killers. With first-hand accounts from Amy's "inmates", riveting trial transcripts, and accounts from the investigative journalists who covered the case, Phelps puts readers face-to-face with a woman who was both a Black Widow and an Angel of Death. And Phelps paints a vivid, spine-chilling portrait of turn-of-the-century New England.

This is historical true crime at its best.

©2010 M. William Phelps (P)2015 M. William Phelps

FASCINATING!

Okay, I would agree with some of the other reviews that this story was repetitive at times ... but when you kill 54 people (might be that many) the psychosis of the main character can seem to be repetitive. I thought that the extremely hot weather that set up the story was very interesting ... if not completely necessary to the narrative. And speaking of --- I felt the narration was fantastic. At times it was like listening to a documentary, complete with the "talking heads" being interviewed. While perhaps not the most amazing true crime book ever written ... I was gripped by the story and the characters and will try to search out more from this team if they ever work together on another of Mr. Phelps' books. I thought the reader's performance was right on point for the subject matter and the different character voices really added to the narrative.

Not exactly Jack Olsen,

or even Gregg Olsen, but it is well researched and decently presented in a narrative style. Almost anyone familiar with true crime or serial killers has heard about this early 1900's case of the Christian boarding house killer, and it is nice to finally have a comprehensive book that tells the story.

cry for help

when the man went through so much to hide his lemonade and tried to get the doctor to help him because he just knew he was being poisoned. the doctor not doesn't believe him but he is so sure this man is making it that he actually drinks it.

listen to a sample before buying.

For whatever reason, this narrator shifts between cartoonish voices and an AI cadence. Its off-putting in what is supposed to be a recounting of a true crime- this would have made much more sense in a work of fiction.

Interesting story

Great story, but not incredibly well-written. Somewhat repetitive--caught myself wondering on several occasions if I had repeated a passage. And I've never heard of dictionary.com being cited as a source in a serious piece of non-fiction. Also, I listen at 1.5x speed, but the narrator really overdid the direct quotes. I can go a long time before I'll need to hear a man doing so many little old lady voices.