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The Psalm Killer
Belfast-based police officer Cross, in Dublin for a conference, turns down a lift to the train station; a young cop insists on walking with him. "Cross enjoyed the walk in the pale sunlight with its hint of spring, though he would have preferred it alone, to savour the rare occasion of being able to feel entirely safe. In Belfast part of him was always alert to the possibility of sudden danger, the peripheral moment of warning, the car drawing alongside or the hot blast of air that preceded the explosion ..." When a thriller so quickly and so eloquently sums up the difference between life in Northern and Southern Ireland, you know you're on to something special, and Petit doesn't disappoint. Cross--English and Catholic--has come to head the murder squad in Belfast because his wife wants to be near her parents. He finds that some of the crimes he's investigating are linked to more than just the sectarian violence of the day--and to a truly devilish killer called Candlestick who you'll remember long after the last page.
646 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 1997
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401 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 7, 2017
The Psalm Killer: Luck of the Irish
There is probably no greater misnomer than the phrase "Luck of the Irish." If history illustrates any luck for the Irish, it is bad. Actually, very bad. The Psalm Killer by Chris Petit traces the violence inflicted by the Irish upon one another from the awful "Troubles" of the early 1970s concluding in 1985.
Much more to follow...
Traditional
Kilkenny Cats
There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats there weren't any.
Irish, Traditional. Author unknown
There is probably no greater misnomer than the phrase "Luck of the Irish." If history illustrates any luck for the Irish, it is bad. Actually, very bad. The Psalm Killer by Chris Petit traces the violence inflicted by the Irish upon one another from the awful "Troubles" of the early 1970s concluding in 1985.
Much more to follow...
Traditional
July 21, 2012
Exceptional thriller cum police procedural. Yes, it's violent, and yes, it's full of profanities, but so is life. And I imagine life in Northern Ireland in the 80s wasn't a wonderful bed of roses either. Well researched and brilliantly executed - the whole story is a winner.
January 2, 2020
The crime story was really interesting, the different crimes and how they all linked together
but for me the history lesson about northern Ireland and the British and South Ireland went me a little bit above my head
I also had trouble that the flashback were not in chronological prder and a lot of times I was confused who was who
but for me the history lesson about northern Ireland and the British and South Ireland went me a little bit above my head
I also had trouble that the flashback were not in chronological prder and a lot of times I was confused who was who
December 8, 2018
A superb thriller set in Northern Ireland covering the troubles. Reminded me of an intelligent Ellroy but with gratuitousness replaced by empathy. Very good indeed.
March 12, 2018
Twenty years ago I read The Monkey House, where a detective has to try to solve a murder case in the middle of a civil war, where different factions are taking pot shots at one another in war-torn Sarajevo. This one, published about the same time, is very similar, except that it is set in war-torn Belfast about ten years earlier.
In both cases the temptation is not to bother too much, and simply ascribe any unexplained deaths to "sectarian violence" and leave it at that. But of course if they did that there would be no story. But there is also the danger that if the detective solves the crime, the interests and deeds and loyalties of powerful figures might come to light.
In this case, the killer publishes verses from Psalms in newspapers with each killing, almost as if wanting to be found.
The two main detectives in the case, Cross and Westerby, have no first names, or at least the reader is not told them. This calls to mind Inspector Morse of Oxford, whose first name was not known even to his closest colleagues on the force. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is -- to depersonalise them? But they are the strongest characters in the book. Perhaps to show that they are puppets, manipulated by forces beyond their control.
Despite a few puzzling plot holes this one is a very good read, and shows how the exercise of trying to find the "good guys" in conflicts like these is almost impossible. There is no "war on terror" here, there are just terrorists against terrorists, with ordinary people as the victims.
In both cases the temptation is not to bother too much, and simply ascribe any unexplained deaths to "sectarian violence" and leave it at that. But of course if they did that there would be no story. But there is also the danger that if the detective solves the crime, the interests and deeds and loyalties of powerful figures might come to light.
In this case, the killer publishes verses from Psalms in newspapers with each killing, almost as if wanting to be found.
The two main detectives in the case, Cross and Westerby, have no first names, or at least the reader is not told them. This calls to mind Inspector Morse of Oxford, whose first name was not known even to his closest colleagues on the force. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is -- to depersonalise them? But they are the strongest characters in the book. Perhaps to show that they are puppets, manipulated by forces beyond their control.
Despite a few puzzling plot holes this one is a very good read, and shows how the exercise of trying to find the "good guys" in conflicts like these is almost impossible. There is no "war on terror" here, there are just terrorists against terrorists, with ordinary people as the victims.
May 29, 2024
A brutal, bruising combination of police procedural, political conspiracy thriller and serial killer horror novel set in Belfast during the troubles. Like John le Carré with a knuckle duster or Ellroy without the battered but still palpable sense of moral purpose, Petit’s long, compelling and unyieldingly cynical novel is a tour de force.
February 26, 2024
A really interesting and well researched crime thriller, perhaps 100 or so pages too long. Suffered from a bloated cast of characters and a couple of plot points I didn't care for much, but overall a clever narrative with a satisfactory ending.
June 16, 2023
This was clearly intended as Petit writing an on spec screenplay for something vaguely mainstream which got knocked back and then became a novel. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, because Petit writes very visually and clearly had some great ideas for how it would look on screen, but does feel weirdly generic from the man who made Radio On. It’s also not helped by him clearly wanting us to notice how much research he’s done, because the last hundred pages are like a victory lap of his favourite bits that he’s worried you might have missed earlier
The other significant problem is that Petit really can’t write women very well. He really, desperately tries but they tend to fall into the usual virgin/ mother/ whore categories and his attempts at erotic writing and sub Freudian sexual kinks are kind of low level hilarious. It’s even funnier that Alan Moore thinks this is one of the best things in the book, especially given his own dodgy issues with sexual assault in his comics. Moore’s introduction is, I have to say, absolutely terrible - a bunch of preposterous thickets of dense, pretentious prose which weirdly ends up making you like the book less, in direct opposition of everything introductions are clearly meant to do
The other significant problem is that Petit really can’t write women very well. He really, desperately tries but they tend to fall into the usual virgin/ mother/ whore categories and his attempts at erotic writing and sub Freudian sexual kinks are kind of low level hilarious. It’s even funnier that Alan Moore thinks this is one of the best things in the book, especially given his own dodgy issues with sexual assault in his comics. Moore’s introduction is, I have to say, absolutely terrible - a bunch of preposterous thickets of dense, pretentious prose which weirdly ends up making you like the book less, in direct opposition of everything introductions are clearly meant to do
March 1, 2017
The premise was interesting and the context meticulously researched, but the characters... the plot... didn't do it for me. Maybe I'm missing something, but the weird menstrual quirk of the plot - suddenly grasped by Westerby from thin air - was just a bit strange. Felt like it was making a point about religion, but with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer smashing into a car, alarm blaring, that's also on fire.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 18, 2018
I didn't have high expectations of this book , "modern classics" is a term that scares me.
I was surprised! Unlike some other readers, I didn't struggle to get into this book or have a hard time with the violence in it. Yes there's lots of it but I feel it is in context of the story.
Cross and westerby are confident, palatable characters and I feel the book kept a good pace.
The ending did disappoint a little, just because I wanted s slightly happier ending! Would recommend.
I was surprised! Unlike some other readers, I didn't struggle to get into this book or have a hard time with the violence in it. Yes there's lots of it but I feel it is in context of the story.
Cross and westerby are confident, palatable characters and I feel the book kept a good pace.
The ending did disappoint a little, just because I wanted s slightly happier ending! Would recommend.
August 25, 2018
An insanely in depth and head spinning account of fictitious case in amongst the absolute minefield of the troubles. This was engaging, fascinating and confusing (in an enjoyable way). I felt some of the personal relationship details toward the end were a little off putting but I am prepared to forgive this of a book that informed entertained, horrified and opened my eyes to just some of what went on during those times,
September 8, 2019
Disappointing. In my opinion, badly written, full of clichés and ridiculous characters with no credible motivations or personalities. A mostly terrible, simplified, sensationalised representation of the conflict in NI. I've seen it described as an intelligent and nuanced understanding of the Troubles. As someone from Northern Ireland, I disagree. Horrible ending with unnecessary sexual motive thrown in at the last minute.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2011
This book is frightening. It had me shivering afterwards. The violence is intense and I can't keep on not imagining the villain Candlestick lurking in the four corners of my house waiting to make me his next victim.
August 31, 2025
I picked up the Psalm Killer from a substack recommendation. A book that took a man who committed political violence goes on to be a serial killer and the detective who has to wade through a bunch of recent history that the authorities both British, Irish and revolutionary, wanted to forget. I had not had a lot of luck with thriller detective type stories of late. I usually found them too gory for violence's sake or just depressingly vicious to women. This book is often depressing but the way it is written always kept me engaged even when I wanted to look away.
From the first pages it is clear who the killer will be.Even though I knew that the point of view I was following was vicious it doesn't feel unhinged. The book starts with violence and sex and deception and it never really goes away even if for most of the book it is the knowledge of the violence more than the descriptions of it that are in the forefront of the story. There is a moment when that physical, personal, terrifying violence is brought back in detail to remind the reader what violence really means though.
The book shifts back and forth from the detective's time in the early 1980s to ten years earlier. Sometimes the reader has more information than characters and sometimes we do not. The collection of police, bureaucrats, english spy masters, and what feels like 10 million splinter paramilitary groups that populate Belfast and this novel all know part of the story. Without ever leaving the thriller detective genre ( the penultimate scenes could fit into any cop show even if they carry more than usual emotional heft) The Psalm Killer refuses to fit neatly into any sort of tidy ending..it is as devastating and messy as I imagine living in the tangled briar patch of intrigue and partisanship and paranoia that runs through life in Northern Ireland.
--
From the first pages it is clear who the killer will be.Even though I knew that the point of view I was following was vicious it doesn't feel unhinged. The book starts with violence and sex and deception and it never really goes away even if for most of the book it is the knowledge of the violence more than the descriptions of it that are in the forefront of the story. There is a moment when that physical, personal, terrifying violence is brought back in detail to remind the reader what violence really means though.
The book shifts back and forth from the detective's time in the early 1980s to ten years earlier. Sometimes the reader has more information than characters and sometimes we do not. The collection of police, bureaucrats, english spy masters, and what feels like 10 million splinter paramilitary groups that populate Belfast and this novel all know part of the story. Without ever leaving the thriller detective genre ( the penultimate scenes could fit into any cop show even if they carry more than usual emotional heft) The Psalm Killer refuses to fit neatly into any sort of tidy ending..it is as devastating and messy as I imagine living in the tangled briar patch of intrigue and partisanship and paranoia that runs through life in Northern Ireland.
--
July 6, 2022
The Psalm Killer is a long and complex thriller about a serial killer operating in 1980s Northern Ireland that murders victims from both sides of the city’s traditional sectarian divide.
British Detective Chief Inspector Cross and his junior colleague Westerby are tasked with finding the killer, but continually run up against the politics and secret motivations of the ongoing conflict in the country in their pursuit for answers.
The book is excellently written and despite it being long for a thriller (close to 650 pages), it really held my attention throughout. The pacing is considered and it’s mixes well the need for exciting moments with the need for slow elaboration and detail.
The politics of Northern Ireland during the troubles really dominates this story, so at the beginning it was a little difficult to get to grips with the many different factions involved in that particular ecosystem and what their motivations were in relation to the others. However, this became less of a problem as the novel progressed and by the end I didn’t have any issue piecing the bits together. Style-wise, it reminded me very much of a John le Carre novel with an Irish twist; the intricacy of the plot and the sheer amount of characters with concealed or unknown motivations was pure le Carre.
I’d highly recommend this novel.
British Detective Chief Inspector Cross and his junior colleague Westerby are tasked with finding the killer, but continually run up against the politics and secret motivations of the ongoing conflict in the country in their pursuit for answers.
The book is excellently written and despite it being long for a thriller (close to 650 pages), it really held my attention throughout. The pacing is considered and it’s mixes well the need for exciting moments with the need for slow elaboration and detail.
The politics of Northern Ireland during the troubles really dominates this story, so at the beginning it was a little difficult to get to grips with the many different factions involved in that particular ecosystem and what their motivations were in relation to the others. However, this became less of a problem as the novel progressed and by the end I didn’t have any issue piecing the bits together. Style-wise, it reminded me very much of a John le Carre novel with an Irish twist; the intricacy of the plot and the sheer amount of characters with concealed or unknown motivations was pure le Carre.
I’d highly recommend this novel.
December 22, 2023
A very dark, violent book about the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Petit fuses fact and fiction, like James Elroy does in his books on the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath. And like those books, this feels like it is all true. Using the records of the Dirty War and the infiltration of both Republican and Unionist paramilitary groups and the atrocities of the Shankill Butchers, he creates a believable Serial Killer.
I was slightly less convinced by the policeman trying to catch up with the cold blooded murderer - I am not sure how many English, Catholic, married to posh N Irish Protestants there would have been in the Northern Irish Police in the 1980’s. However, the difficulties posed by the higher ranks and the dealings with Special Branch and other parts of the Security Forces does ring true.
A dark story with a bleak ending. I am not sure which of the two women would survive the meeting planned in the final couple of pages.
4.5 stars
Petit fuses fact and fiction, like James Elroy does in his books on the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath. And like those books, this feels like it is all true. Using the records of the Dirty War and the infiltration of both Republican and Unionist paramilitary groups and the atrocities of the Shankill Butchers, he creates a believable Serial Killer.
I was slightly less convinced by the policeman trying to catch up with the cold blooded murderer - I am not sure how many English, Catholic, married to posh N Irish Protestants there would have been in the Northern Irish Police in the 1980’s. However, the difficulties posed by the higher ranks and the dealings with Special Branch and other parts of the Security Forces does ring true.
A dark story with a bleak ending. I am not sure which of the two women would survive the meeting planned in the final couple of pages.
4.5 stars
November 19, 2023
Good story, well written. An enormous amount of research went into this book. Unfortunately I am not a fan of history or politics. Only close to the end of the book did I understand the history and how all the different players fit in. I was constantly turning to the glossary. It took me forever to finish this book. It was not an enjoyable read for me but I'm sure it might be for someone who enjoys and understands Irish history and politics.
October 17, 2018
The mixture of true incidents and fiction during a particularly fraught time in the North makes this a book that draws the reader in. Separating fiction from fact also makes it a difficult book to read as the reality of collusion is still causing trauma now and the truth of the manipulations of the State is nowhere near being told. That said as a thriller I am glad to have read it.
February 2, 2021
I think this is a great mystery novel but it wasn’t for me. It was set deep in the Irish troubles with details of very factions and alliances. I mostly read mystery to relax and I found it hard to summon the concentration required to keep track of everything going on here. In the result I got a bit lost.
June 9, 2024
A hugely disturbing read, made even more disturbing by its sense of plausibility, that is, until the closing scenes of over dramatic implausibility. I came across this book unexpectedly having already purchased a kindle version of the Irish troubles I intend to read on completion of the current kindle book I am reading. The book has a very useful list of sources at the end…
July 10, 2017
I liked the main character Inspector Cross in the book and the quick pace. The background of the Norther Irish conflict was interesting, too. However, I felt that, with the number of players, the book would have been easier to read if presented in a more linear fashion.
June 21, 2022
This story starts off slow, only getting really interesting around page 150ish. Although quickly sucks you in. I felt the ending was a little skewed, but suitable for the overall story. Wished there was more of a distinct ending and not having to guess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2017
Possibly the best thriller I have read thus far within the context of the Northern Ireland conflict. The novel has been very well researched and therefore does not fall into the usual realm of cliché. There are qualities to this novel that one can only describe as operatic. It is dark and everything points to the crescendo, which when reached, leaves the reader dazzled by the illumination and epiphany to the extent where one truely feels that we have moved from darkness to light. I cannot rate highly enough. Bravo!
July 13, 2019
A reasonable story, but I felt it too long and complex, unnecessarily so. Having lived through the troubles, I thought some parts were implausible.
January 17, 2021
Pretty good but the ending is a real stuff up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2022
i dont understand this book.. confuse as f***.. not sure if i ever finished this
August 1, 2023
dnf about 50 pages in, could not get stuck in, boring
February 4, 2025
Very gruesome with no redeeming social value. The plot involving The Troubles in Northern Ireland is just an excuse for cruelty and violence.
March 1, 2025
Tangled Troubles story with graphic descriptions of sex and violence - not for everyone.
June 3, 2024
Great read sometimes a little hard but couldn't put it down. Grew up in Belfast, this guy did his research.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews