Inside the Minds of Serial Killers: A Chilling Dive Into the Minds of Murderers

by Jamie King

Discover the disturbing inner workings of the serial killer brain in this gripping compendium of true crime stories, each placing the mind of an infamous murderer under the microscope

For years, criminal psychologists have tried to understand the minds of murderers. The key questions remain the Is a serial killer born or made? What leads them down such a dark path? And how can they justify their evil deeds to themselves?

This fascinating exploration of criminal minds seeks to answer these questions by examining some of the most infamous serial murder cases of all time. From mission-oriented minds like the Yorkshire Ripper to hedonistic killers like Ted Bundy, this book recounts the bloodcurdling events of each case before taking a deeper dive into the individual's twisted psychology, their background and upbringing, and the events that led them to become a cold-hearted killer.

What goes on in the mind of a serial killer? Perhaps we'll never fully understand, but in this book, we can begin to process the motives, experiences and delusions that drive someone to commit the most heinous crimes imaginable.

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2025

Reviews

[Tahar]

i haven’t finished yet but this doesn’t go into the minds or psychology nearly as much as i wanted. it’s more like a bunch of 3-4 page serial killer stories with no depth or insight. there are a couple of pages of insight at the start of each chapter but it’s not very profound or anything. it’s an interesting read just in terms of curiosity but i definitely wouldn’t call it a ‘deeper dive into the individuals psychology’. it’s really basic and surface level tbh.

the cover and the back made it sound like it would be much more in depth than it is

[L. Harrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this to read on a long flight after I forgot to pack my ebook reader. It's not an in-depth look at the psychology at all, unfortunately. The author divides serial killers into four categories, and then provides a list of famous killers and a 'bio' of them that's a few pages long.

I'm more than halfway through and I've spotted some errors with dates/ages already, which is quite jarring.

I'm not sure who this book is for. On the one hand, there were some cases that were new to me, but I'm more interested in criminal psychology than true crime. I'm pretty sure my true crime loving friends would want much more information about each case. As someone who made an impulse buy because of the "dive into the minds" tagline, I was disappointed that the psychology side was almost non-existent.

I'm giving it two stars because it's an easy read and kept me entertained on a flight, but it's not something worth bothering with for 'research'.

[Stephanie Azzopardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this non fiction book. It categorizes serial killers into 4 groups; visionary serial killers, mission oriented serial killers, hedonistic serial killers and power oriented serial killers. It gives a description of why the author put these serial killers in that particular chapter. The descriptions are short which made it ideal for me when my reading time was only a couple of minutes. Totally recommend reading this book, although personally I would have suggested a name change because it doesn’t really give a detailed “dive into the minds of murderers”, but rather a brief explanation of the story of the particular serial killer.

[Monika Kasińska · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book disappointed me a bit. I expected a more psychological and in-depth analysis. In reality, it’s a very superficial categorisation of serial killers with descriptions of their crimes. Essentially, nothing new.