In The Book of Cold Cases, the Lady Killer leaves a note at the scene of her first crime that reads, “Am I bitter or am I sweet? Ladies can be either. Publish this or there will be more” (162). This is a reference to something Mariana said to Lily and Beth: “Which one are you today? Mariana would say when they were little girls. Are you bitter or are you sweet?” (162). It becomes a motif that recurs in Beth’s mind throughout the story and ties in with one of the major themes of the book, that of Women and the Feminine Ideal. There is an implication in this quote that girls are either one or the other, easily categorized, and that a girl should strive for sweetness. 

St. James uses Beth’s preoccupation with this motif to thread it throughout her life. When she is fairly young, Beth realizes that it is better to be the bitter girl for two reasons. The first is that Mariana seems to prefer her own bitter daughter, Lily, to her sweet one, Beth: “There was no question about Mariana belonging to Beth. She belonged to the bitter girl, the one who wouldn’t be eaten” (202).