19th Century Serial Killer as Modern Feminist Antihero

LOS ANGELES - Feb. 14, 2025 - PRLog -- Set in 1890s Indiana, Belle follows its titular character as she builds her dream life through a thriving lonely hearts club business--with an ever-growing body count. The novel deftly balances dark humor with poignant observations about love, desire, and the prices we're willing to pay for happiness. Because as it turns out, her male victims themselves would do it all again in a heartbeat, even knowing their grim fate.

Inspired by real-life events but infused with a sharp, modern sensibility, Belle is both a chilling thriller and a biting social commentary about gender, power, and the American Dream.

"We wanted to explore Belle Gunness not just as a historical figure, but as a woman facing timeless struggles for independence and success," says co-author J.G. Duby. "While her methods are undeniably extreme, her fundamental desire to control her own destiny resonates with modern readers, as does the deep loneliness at the core of the male characters."

And gnawing at the heart of the story is a surprising (if tortured) love affair between Belle and the only man in her life that she did not kill, her pale, awkward, profoundly loyal groundskeeper, Ray Lamphere, who helped her dispose of the bodies in increasingly outlandish ways.

"A major challenge to telling Belle's story is a tendency to get hung up on distractions, such as the gruesome, horrible deaths of her victims, and in that way to lose sight of her perfected art of serial killing," says William Roetzheim (half of the writing duo known as Eden Francis Compton). "So of course, the only way to overcome that challenge is to turn Belle's story into a dark comedy, allowing us a guilty laugh at the devil, a shiver, a flinch, and a grudging appreciation for a woman who lived entirely on her own terms."

Belle is available now in trade paperback and ebook formats wherever books are sold. https://a.co/d/9j8qioV

About the Authors

Eden Francis Compton is a pseudonym for the writing team of William Roetzheim and Randy Becker. William started his career in the tech industry. After launching multiple software companies, he turned his attention to writing, penning an award-winning trilogy of plays about America's great poets. Randy is an Emmy-nominated producer who began his career as an actor starring in film, television, and on Broadway (including the Tony Award–winning play Love! Valour! Compassion!). He now expresses his creativity through writing and producing. This is the fourth book William and Randy have co-authored as Eden Francis Compton.