@970ab77f @Jimmy Carter of Mars Her backstory is actually really quite good. Ryukishi's schtick - one which he hits on in Higurashi harder, but which is still present in Umineko - is that people are not evil except by circumstance, mental illness or trauma. Beatrice cannot "just be an evil bitch," and having her be the warped product of mystery novels and genital removal is good. Those are the types of things that turn someone into a murderer, that makes a lot of sense.

That said, Shkanontrice is dumb as a mystery element, but as a general fiction element I think it's quite great.