Queen Of All Mayhem

Queen Of All Mayhem by Dane Huckelbridge is out now (published May 13, 2025).

See if this book is on Audible (Free Trial)

Queen Of All Mayhem
Check availability on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Queen Of All Mayhem Release Date: May 13, 2025

Published

A riveting, deeply researched, blood-on-the-spurs biography of Belle Starr, the most legendary female outlaw of the American West.

On February 3, 1889, just two days shy of her forty-first birthday, Myra Maybelle Shirley—better known at that point by her outlaw sobriquet “Belle Starr”—was blown from her horse saddle and killed by a pair of shotgun blasts, delivered by an unseen assailant, only a few miles away from her home in the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. Thus ended the life of one of the most colorful, authentic, and dangerous women in the history of the American West.

While today’s household names like Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane had dubious criminal bona fides, Belle’s were not in any doubt. She led a gang of horse thieves (a very serious crime in an era when horses were often the basis of one’s livelihood); was romantically involved with two of the West’s most legendary outlaws, Cole Younger and Jim Reed (her first husband); and participated in stickups and robberies across present-day Texas and Oklahoma.

When Reed was murdered, Belle crossed into Indian Territory, where she assimilated into the Cherokee tribe, a matrilineal society, and soon married Sam Starr, a direct descendant of Nanye’hi, the greatest female warrior in Cherokee history.

Dane Huckelbridge, acclaimed author of No Beast So Fierce, probes a life rich in contradictions and intrigue. Why did a woman who had considerable advantages in life—a good family, a decent education, solid marriage prospects, a clear path to financial security—choose to pursue a life of crime?

The life of Belle Starr is one of almost endless trauma: the horrors of the Civil War, which destroyed her hometown and killed her beloved brother, Bud; the untimely deaths of her first two husbands, both of them murdered; a stint in Detroit’s notorious women’s prison. Her career coincided with those of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and yet Belle Starr was a very different sort of feminist icon.

Queen of All Mayhem is a triumph of biography, revealing one of the most-mythologized figures of Western lore as she truly was.

Dane Huckelbridge was born and raised in the American Middle West. He holds a degree from Princeton University, and his fiction and essays have appeared in a variety of journals, including Tin House, Literary Hub, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and The New Republic.

His debut novel CASTLE OF WATER was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2017, and his book NO BEAST SO FIERCE was published by Harper Collins in 2019. He currently lives in Paris, France, although he comes back to New York whenever he can.

Reader Anticipation Rating:
[Average Rating: 0]

Book Club Journal: Reading Log For Adults & Kids Who Love Books!
Book Club Journal: Reading Log For Adults & Kids Who Love Books!
Check Latest Price
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Genre: Nonfiction

Dane Huckelbridge

More books from Dane Huckelbridge

🎧 While You Wait for Queen Of All Mayhem

Prefer audiobooks?

Check Audible to see if Queen Of All Mayhem is available to listen to.

Start a free trial and get your first audiobook free.

✔ Listen while commuting or relaxing
✔ Your first audiobook is free with the trial
✔ Cancel anytime

Start Audible Free Trial

Book Club Journal: Reading Log For Adults & Kids Who Love Books!
Book Club Journal: Reading Log For Adults & Kids Who Love Books!
Check Latest Price
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Recommended Book Release Guides

Similar Books Liked By Our Readers

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *