"This book offers important new insights into the relationship between crime and gender in Scotland during the Enlightenment period. Against the backdrop of significant legislative changes that fundamentally altered the face of Scots law, Anne-Marie Kilday examines contemporary attitudes towards serious offences against the person committed by women." "The book challenges conventional feminist interpretations that see women principally as the victims of male-controlled economies, institutions and power structures, and calls for a major re-evaluation of the scope and significance of female criminality in this era. It will be of interest to scholars, students and those interested in the fields of gender studies, social history and the history of crime."--Jacket.