Women are supposed to be tender and loving – not cold-hearted killers, knife-wielding vampires or gun-toting hijackers. Yet throughout history, there's been no shortage of less than law-abiding ladies.

Let journalist Libby-Jane Charleston take you on a chilling journey through a true crime gallery of women who have smashed our perceptions of the stereotypical feminine persona: from meek Russian librarian Lucy Dudko, who commandeered a helicopter to break her boyfriend out of prison; to suburban sex goddess Michelle Burgess, who hired a hit man to take out her lover's wife; and Katherine Knight, who killed, skinned and cooked her partner to serve to his children.

Read these true stories and delve into the dark and disturbing lives of Australia's most fatal females.

Former TV reporter Libby-Jane Charleston began her career in her teens as one of Australia's youngest newspaper columnists. She has worked extensively in radio, papers and magazines as well as on TV – appearing on-camera for every television network in Australia, as a finance news anchor, current affairs reporter and general news reporter at Channels Ten, Nine, Seven, SBS & ABC.