Dracula Was a Woman: In Search of the Blood Countess of Transylvania [Hardcover]

This is probably the best book about Erzsebet Bathory available. The problem is that information about the countess is a bit scarce, hence the book has some "fluff" in it to expand what would otherwise be a 100-page book. That explains the second half of the book which is a bunch of folklore about vampires, werewolves, and necrophilia that is just kind of thrown together to fill out the book. However in the first half, Florescu and McNally offer a straightforward, no-frills account of the Bathory murders and the politics surrounding them with no stupid speculation about blood-bathing or vampirism. There is no flowery prose or substitution of poorly drawn conclusions for facts. The sad truth is that there isn't a whole lot of information about the countess and the book is hindered by that. But, I'd rather have a concise, factual account with what information is available than a bunch of flowery pseudo-Gothic trash masquerading as history. Until the countess's diaries are translated -- they are sitting in the state archives at Hungary -- this is the best anyone can hope for.

One crucial element is a little out of whack with this book: it is almost 250 pages long, yet only the first 92 are dedicated to the Bathory tale, and only about 50% of that is about Elizabeth.
I'll repeat that because it sounds vaguely important: out of a 250 page book, only part of the first 92 pages have to do with the subject matter. There is more info on the political upheavals going on at the time, and much of it has seemingly nothing to do with Elizabeth. It's sort of a "meanwhile, in another part of the country..." type of digression. The focus is largely on what was going on "around her" instead of what was going on "with" her. As if McNally is saying "look at me, I'm a professor of eastern European history and you're not!"
After page 92, it gets a little ridiculous. Notice how each chapter afterward begins with a sentence which includes Elizabeth's name in it (just to remind you who the book is supposed to be about and poorly attempt to tie her in to the subject matter), then goes way off course and discusses Werewolves, Necrophilia, and then vampire movies. Apparently she fits into these somehow, but I think it is all in McNally's mind. He just needed to fluff up the book by a couple hundred pages with pointless sensationalism, since the actual part about Elizabeth had none and made her seem rather boring, believe it or not. He actually begins to champion her by book's end, as if he were her hero who will clear her name of these acts.
By the end of the tale, I still did not understand why she did it. There is no explanation or barely even a speculation. It's presented in a "yeah, she just kinda got into it for no apparent reason" fashion. McNally even alludes to the possibility of it all being a conspiracy against the Countess by other aristocrats who wanted to have their debts to her cancelled by having her imprisoned.
McNally says Elizabeth *probably didn't* bathe in blood since no official records tell of that, and that much of the killing was done by her servants. And there is nothing more than a glancing touch on her sexuality, which is a subject that could have helped paint a better picture of her as a person. Of course, with such little documentation available, some topics are going to suffer if there is a lack of speculation on the author's part.
Ultimately I was left thinking, this is it? that's all? Not that what she was accused of wasn't bad, but, if this is closer to the truth, it doesn't come near the drama of the legends. A bit of a let down for those fascinated by the myth.
If the legends were true it would have made for a more interesting psychological evaluation of the Countess, and subsequently a more interesting book.
Sorry to burst any bubbles out there, but I personally was a little perturbed about spending a pretty penny on a book that is less than halfway full of what I bought it for.

McNally did a great job of presenting and backing up all of his facts with historical documents that were uncovered in the early 80s in the archives in Budapest. He discounts all of the false legends regarding Elizabeth, including one that says she showered in young girls blood, bathed in, and drank it to remain youthful. Elizabeth tortured and killed servants merely because she enjoyed the act (similiar to Vlad The Impaler). It recounts the history of her family and her subsequent trial and house arrest, although she should have been executed along with her henchmen. The high body count she incurred sounds like a legend but some evidence did come out in the trial that did substantiate it as fact, im sorry but I wont mention it more than that cos I dont want to spoil it for you. If you want a well written, no-nonsense book about the Blood Countess of Translyvania get this book.