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A silent, simmering killer terrorized New England in 1911. As a record-setting heat wave took the lives of more than 2,000 people, another silent killer began her own murderous spree. That year a reporter for the Hartford Courant noticed a sharp rise in the number of obituaries for residents of a rooming house in Windsor, Connecticut, and began to suspect the reason: Amy Archer-Gilligan, who’d opened the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids four years earlier. Bible-thumping “Sister Amy” would be accused of murdering both of her husbands and up to sixty-six of her patients with cocktails of lemonade and arsenic. Her story would shock turn-of-the-century America and provide the inspiration for the Broadway sensation and classic film Arsenic and Old Lace.
With The Devil’s Rooming House, acclaimed crime writer M. William Phelps has written the first book about the life, times, and murders of America’s most prolific female serial killer. He recounts how a pioneering, pious caretaker and entrepreneur of the nursing home industry became an American original in the realm of evil: the first Black Widow and Angel of Death. With first-hand accounts from Amy’s “inmates,” riveting trial transcripts, and the shocking discoveries of the investigative journalists who covered the case, Phelps puts readers face-to-face with the matron of what the media billed a “Murder Factory.”
Historical crime at its best, The Devil’s Rooming House is a true story of greed and murder even more shocking than its fictional counterpart. In telling this fascinating tale, Phelps also paints a vivid portrait of early twentieth-century New England.
Paris182
Posted September 27, 2010
I picked up this book with some trepidation, given the very bad review given by the previous reader. However I am now not sure he and I read the same book. This is an interesting true story of a female serial killer in the early years of the 20th century, a woman who ran a sort of boarding house and then murdered her "inmates" for financial gain. Whereas the other reviewer took exception to the background setting of the severe heatwave of 1911, I found it interesting as well as providing a background for the tale. And while the loss of the Titanic did not directly impact the story, it did give us a contex in which it was set. I found the book well written, well put together and exhaustively researched, and if I would fault the author on anything it would be for the overuse of a few catch phrases like "backing down". The personalities and motives of the main characters never fail to interest, and one thing I found worth reading about was what life was like before regulation. I mean how does a private citizen buy 10lbs of arsenic and no one appears to think twice about it. While I would not put this alongside "The Devil in the White City" I did find it a page-turner in the best sense. Recommended.
33 out of 36 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 4, 2011
I really enjoy this authors writing style and the way he tells this story. I have read 6 of his books and this was one if my favorites, a page turner, and very well researched as is the case with all his books!
14 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 28, 2011
The Devil's Rooming House is a well-researched account of what can happen when lack of governmental supervision allows well-meaning intentions to meet abject greed. Although, the plot of this story is evident, Phelps, leads us through it play by play. Documenting one of America's prolific female serial killers, we find ourselves asking, sadly, where are the authorities? Despite its' lack of suspense, the book is riveting read.
11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Unlike most people I didn't know anything about a heat wave in 1911 - and what I had heard about Arsenic and Old Lace was confined to the movie...
Wow.
This book takes you through what has to be one of the most chilling cases of serial murder in history and with a female killer to boot - if you like good detective stories and excellent historical documentation and writing, grab this book.
It's well worth every penny and then some.
11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 6, 2010
This book starts slow with a lot of background history of the happenings of the early 1900's, but I think it helps create a solid foundation for the story of Amy Archer-Gilligan.
I didn't mind reading all about the heat wave and enjoyed the other random facts of those years. It helped paint a picture of what life was like back then.
I felt very sad for Amy's victims - especially Franklin Andrews.
9 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 23, 2010
I was expecting a slightly different type of book when I started reading it. The beginning was slow due to being interrupted with a side plot of a heat wave that wasn't really beneficial to the story. Loved how the story was written in regards to Amy Archer and her horrendous deeds. Decent writing about a little known incident in American history. Enjoyed it very much.
8 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 31, 2010
poorly written. like bad first semester student work. you would think it impossible to make serial killings boring...especially when the crimes happened in your own childhood town! well, this writer has done the impossible. it's a page turner in that you cannot turn the page after page about the weather fast enough. early on the author writes @ length about a weather related suicide. i spent several chapters waiting for him to connect this person to the story. but there was no connection. he even writes about the titantic. don't ask me why. the titantic is not related to the murders either.
7 out of 24 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 12, 2012
Poorly written, meandering book with very little factual information. The author writes like a grade-school dropout. Who edited this book or was it self-published? The inclusion of the historical "heat wave" seems to serve no other purpose than to add more pages. Phelps never really ties the two together. There is no flow to this blook, it's just a lot of ramblings that turn a fascinating historical account of a female serial poisoner into a boring dime novel.
4 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 13, 2012
I Also Recommend:
Great book I couldn't put down. Would recommend
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 12, 2012
This book is today's daily find and does anyone know how much it is? Thanks.
2 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 20, 2013
M. William is a great story teller. Fascinating read cover to cover. I only wish history had left more photos.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 6, 2013
I love a great true crime story, and typically love Mr. Phelps's books. This one, however, i found myself having to skim over quite a bit in order to get back to the meat of the story. Although i realize many people appreciate the long winded history lesson(s), i didnt, i wanted to read the story about amy archer and what she did and what the end result was. Period. But thats just me, if you like a good connecticut history lesson coupled with a good crime story then you'll love it. And its not that i dont like to read the history either, just in this case it was partucularly excessive, in my opinion.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 17, 2012
Interesting book although i dont think the 80 pages or so about the heat wave was necessary or fit into the story about Amy very well.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 7, 2012
Not finished yet but am completely facinated. How did this go on so long. Can't wait to go to bed tonight and pick up where I left off!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is a great storey! I found out alot of information about Connecticut State Police. I lived in Connecticut for 63 years and that might be why I enjoyed it so much as it was full of infomation I didn't know before. But as a story it also held your attention. I stayed up a few nights to late so I could keep on reading
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 31, 2012
Well written, fun to read
Nothings better then a good crime novel...except a TRUE crime novel
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 16, 2012
This is a fascinating subject, especially for someone who lived in the
Hartford area for many years. BUT it is VERY poorly written, there
seems (at least to me) to be no logic to it, more like loose rambling
facts/thoughts strung together. I paid $3, about what it is worth, and
am not sure I'll finish.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 15, 2012
I found myself very bored read this book and forcing myself to finish it. Thd book looked very interesting but in the end i wouldnt recommend it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 14, 2012
I appreciated the background and historical details in this book
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 12, 2012
This is not a review of the book, however it was supposed to be the nook deal of the day it says it is supposed to be 2.99 however when you go to buy it they want to charge 19.99. I dont spend that much on my nook books unless I know the author. Henceforth I am disapointed, I will not get to read this book since the nook website is screwed up.
1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
A silent, simmering killer terrorized New England in 1911. As a record-setting heat wave took the lives of more than 2,000 people, another silent killer began her own murderous spree. That year a reporter for the Hartford Courant noticed a sharp rise in the number of obituaries for residents of a rooming house in Windsor, Connecticut, and began to suspect the reason: Amy Archer-Gilligan, who’d opened the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids four years earlier. Bible-thumping “Sister Amy” would be ...