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Serial Killers
A well-liked, respected, caring pillar of the community – or an outsider, socially inept and with a frightening appearance? Wearing many different masks, serial killers are among the most disturbing and dangerous violent criminals in existence.They are individuals who have a history of multiple murders, normally committed over a long period of time and often with periods of apparent normality in between.With their different appearances and motives serial killers are hard to identify and often much harder to understand. Yet they must be caught because the one unifying characteristic all serial killers share is their inability to feel remorse for their actions, and consequently their need to keep on killing...Some profilers believe that serial killers don’t learn from their mistakes. This book explores the greed-factor that sets in and explains how killers come to think that the more they kill and get away with it, the easier it will become.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
46 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
William Murray
169 books7 followersWilliam Murray was an American fiction editor and staff writer at The New Yorker for more than thirty years. He wrote a series of mystery novels set in the world of horse racing, many featuring Shifty Lou Anderson, a professional magician and horseplayer. Among his many contributions to The New Yorker was the magazine's "Letters from Italy" of which he was the sole author. The majority of his later years were spent living in Del Mar, California, "exactly 3.2 miles from the finish line" of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Murray died in March 2005 at age 78. Just prior to his death, Murray had completed a book about Chicago's Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
April 26, 2015
Not a book to choose if you're after detail or analysis. But if you want some quick facts or have a general interest in the subject, it'll do the job. I actually found it most useful as a source of cases I hadn't heard of, so a useful stepping stone to some new material.
Not entertaining, not especially useful, but not a total waste of a read. Oh and it is well penned, always a bonus-reads a bit like individual magazine articles.
Not entertaining, not especially useful, but not a total waste of a read. Oh and it is well penned, always a bonus-reads a bit like individual magazine articles.
August 3, 2011
So far very interesting.
November 30, 2015
This book is very very interesting. If you want to know about the serial killers mind and how they thought. This is the one for you.
August 31, 2022
William Murray profiles thirty six serial killers, beginning with Dr. William Palmer, a man who poisoned several victims for the insurance money. He was hanged.
Mary Ann Cotton is next. Another Brit who did away with several husbands and children, she suffered the same fate as the good doctor.
Jack the Ripper hacked up five prostitutes in 1888 and the case remains a mystery to this day. Several books have claimed to unmask the killer. None have any real proof.
Herman Mudgett owned a large hotel in Chicago in the 1890s and after numerous disappearances, an investigation uncovered secret rooms and chambers with gas pipes for easy executions. I recommend The Scarlet Mansion for more information.
Henri Landru used lonely hearts club ads to lure widows to his house where he burned them in a kitchen stove. The France of 1922 still used the guillotine. Bye bye.
Fritz Haarmann put his skills as a butcher to good use. WWI fueled a meat shortage in Germany and Fritz picked up young boys and made sausages available to a hungry public. Twenty seven boys were missing and Fritz was beheaded in 1925.
A fellow German, Peter Kurten, was convicted of nine murders and was guillotined.
John Reginald Christie duped a feeble minded neighbor, Timothy Evans, resulting in Evan's execution in 1950. Three years later, three dead hookers were discovered in Reggie's apartment and Timmy was granted a posthumous pardon.
Ed Gein lived alone on a farm in Wisconsin, and as a good number of women vanished from the area, the police uncovered their body parts at Ed's place. The lunatic was placed in an asylum where lived quietly until his death at seventy-seven.
Harvey Glatman lured models to his apartment as a photographer. He posed them under the pretense of true crime magazine covers. The gas chamber ended his life.
Albert DeSalvo is best known as the Boston Strangler. He confessed to a fellow inmate and was convicted. Vastly different M.O.s point to other killers.
The Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley riveted the public in Britain with their tag team murders. Hindley was imprisoned and Brady declared insane.
The Zodiac Killer has never been captured. In San Francisco, a man calling himself Zodiac, taunted the police and the press with letters and phone calls. Nothing here.
John Wayne Gacy was Pogo the Clown at parties and when finally caught, thirty-three dead boys were found under his house. Lethal injection killed the clown.
Edmund Kemper is a six foot nine man with a genius level IQ who, at fifteen, killed grandma and grandpa to see what it would feel like. He later killed his mom, cut off her head and left a trail of dead co-eds in his wake. He resides at Vacaville Prison.
Ted Bundy needs no introduction. Like Kemper, Teddy had the habit of removing women's heads for future sexual pleasure. Old Sparky took him away in 1989.
The Green River Killer was active from 1982 to 2001. DNA samples from the dead prostitutes were linked to Gary Ridgway, who admitted to forty-eight murders.
Aileen Wuornos turned the tables as a prostitute who, instead of being the victim, became the killer. She did away with a few of her johns and was executed in Florida.
Ivan Milat was linked to a few missing women found in an outback area of Australia. They had been shot after being hunted by Ivan. Milat is serving a life sentence.
Another fun loving couple, Fred and Rosemary West, tortured and killed more than twenty women, including Fred's daughter. Freddie offed himself and Rosie was jailed.
Dr. Harold Shipman was said to have a way with elderly women. Eventually, autopsies of several of Harry's dead patients showed high levels of diamorphine. The demented MD hanged himself and authorities believe that he may have killed over 200 women.
The Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, shot couples in cars in NY City. A parking ticket led to his arrest. Others may have been involved but Sammy ain't talking.
The Ken and Barbie Killers inspired a few books and were media stars in Canada. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka tortured, raped and killed several women. A plea deal was disgusting as killer Karla is once again on the loose.
The BTK Killer, Dennis Rader was tracked by DNA and a computer disk from a Lutheran church where Dennis was a member. A few books on Rader are available.
William Murray has put together an entertaining and good read.
Mary Ann Cotton is next. Another Brit who did away with several husbands and children, she suffered the same fate as the good doctor.
Jack the Ripper hacked up five prostitutes in 1888 and the case remains a mystery to this day. Several books have claimed to unmask the killer. None have any real proof.
Herman Mudgett owned a large hotel in Chicago in the 1890s and after numerous disappearances, an investigation uncovered secret rooms and chambers with gas pipes for easy executions. I recommend The Scarlet Mansion for more information.
Henri Landru used lonely hearts club ads to lure widows to his house where he burned them in a kitchen stove. The France of 1922 still used the guillotine. Bye bye.
Fritz Haarmann put his skills as a butcher to good use. WWI fueled a meat shortage in Germany and Fritz picked up young boys and made sausages available to a hungry public. Twenty seven boys were missing and Fritz was beheaded in 1925.
A fellow German, Peter Kurten, was convicted of nine murders and was guillotined.
John Reginald Christie duped a feeble minded neighbor, Timothy Evans, resulting in Evan's execution in 1950. Three years later, three dead hookers were discovered in Reggie's apartment and Timmy was granted a posthumous pardon.
Ed Gein lived alone on a farm in Wisconsin, and as a good number of women vanished from the area, the police uncovered their body parts at Ed's place. The lunatic was placed in an asylum where lived quietly until his death at seventy-seven.
Harvey Glatman lured models to his apartment as a photographer. He posed them under the pretense of true crime magazine covers. The gas chamber ended his life.
Albert DeSalvo is best known as the Boston Strangler. He confessed to a fellow inmate and was convicted. Vastly different M.O.s point to other killers.
The Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley riveted the public in Britain with their tag team murders. Hindley was imprisoned and Brady declared insane.
The Zodiac Killer has never been captured. In San Francisco, a man calling himself Zodiac, taunted the police and the press with letters and phone calls. Nothing here.
John Wayne Gacy was Pogo the Clown at parties and when finally caught, thirty-three dead boys were found under his house. Lethal injection killed the clown.
Edmund Kemper is a six foot nine man with a genius level IQ who, at fifteen, killed grandma and grandpa to see what it would feel like. He later killed his mom, cut off her head and left a trail of dead co-eds in his wake. He resides at Vacaville Prison.
Ted Bundy needs no introduction. Like Kemper, Teddy had the habit of removing women's heads for future sexual pleasure. Old Sparky took him away in 1989.
The Green River Killer was active from 1982 to 2001. DNA samples from the dead prostitutes were linked to Gary Ridgway, who admitted to forty-eight murders.
Aileen Wuornos turned the tables as a prostitute who, instead of being the victim, became the killer. She did away with a few of her johns and was executed in Florida.
Ivan Milat was linked to a few missing women found in an outback area of Australia. They had been shot after being hunted by Ivan. Milat is serving a life sentence.
Another fun loving couple, Fred and Rosemary West, tortured and killed more than twenty women, including Fred's daughter. Freddie offed himself and Rosie was jailed.
Dr. Harold Shipman was said to have a way with elderly women. Eventually, autopsies of several of Harry's dead patients showed high levels of diamorphine. The demented MD hanged himself and authorities believe that he may have killed over 200 women.
The Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, shot couples in cars in NY City. A parking ticket led to his arrest. Others may have been involved but Sammy ain't talking.
The Ken and Barbie Killers inspired a few books and were media stars in Canada. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka tortured, raped and killed several women. A plea deal was disgusting as killer Karla is once again on the loose.
The BTK Killer, Dennis Rader was tracked by DNA and a computer disk from a Lutheran church where Dennis was a member. A few books on Rader are available.
William Murray has put together an entertaining and good read.
November 9, 2021
I’ve always been fascinated by serial killers so I thought this would make an interesting read. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. If you’re looking for a book that gives quick facts on serial killers then this is a good book, but if you’re looking for detailed analysis of particular killers you’ll be left disappointed.
I’d describe this book as suitable for someone who lacks knowledge of serial killers and is wanting a beginners guide. Otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it.
I also noticed several annoying, simple mistakes that made the read less enjoyable. For example, on occasion ‘were’ was used instead of ‘where’, and sometimes words were missing or extra words were added. Obviously this is more of an editing issue but it still negatively affected my read.
I’d describe this book as suitable for someone who lacks knowledge of serial killers and is wanting a beginners guide. Otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it.
I also noticed several annoying, simple mistakes that made the read less enjoyable. For example, on occasion ‘were’ was used instead of ‘where’, and sometimes words were missing or extra words were added. Obviously this is more of an editing issue but it still negatively affected my read.
March 9, 2021
Some details were certainly missed, but overall an interesting read.
November 10, 2023
A good book for a general overview on these killers and their crimes, but not one for Depp analysis
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January 9, 2026Very nice book
Very nice book
to read and interesting will try and get more in the series it's very nice to learn about people like them
Very nice book
to read and interesting will try and get more in the series it's very nice to learn about people like them
February 19, 2012
This is another compilation of true crime accounts. It covers ‘Serial Killers’, with the loose definition of a serial killer being a person who kills multiple people with a cooling off period between. There are some that have issues with that definition.
However I am not here to debate that. This book covers killers from Dr. William Palmer of Rugeley, Staffordshire, Britain, the first documented murder he committed was in 1846, it continues down to our day, the last account being of Angel Resendiz who committed his first murder in 1997. Mr. Murray has researched crime accounts from around the world for this book. There are 36 accounts in this book, some are of pair or couples that killed together.
Mr. Murray had done an excellent job of condensing the details of these crime into a few pages, the average page number is 8. I felt that he gave an appropriate amount of detail, he covers the crime, not a lot of detail on the investigation, but does tell how the suspect was caught and pertinent details from the trial and what punishment he or she received.
I gave this book 4 stars and recommend it to true crime readers that enjoy the ‘short story’ version of true crime.
However I am not here to debate that. This book covers killers from Dr. William Palmer of Rugeley, Staffordshire, Britain, the first documented murder he committed was in 1846, it continues down to our day, the last account being of Angel Resendiz who committed his first murder in 1997. Mr. Murray has researched crime accounts from around the world for this book. There are 36 accounts in this book, some are of pair or couples that killed together.
Mr. Murray had done an excellent job of condensing the details of these crime into a few pages, the average page number is 8. I felt that he gave an appropriate amount of detail, he covers the crime, not a lot of detail on the investigation, but does tell how the suspect was caught and pertinent details from the trial and what punishment he or she received.
I gave this book 4 stars and recommend it to true crime readers that enjoy the ‘short story’ version of true crime.
January 1, 2016
As a society, true crime can both excite us and sicken us at the same time - especially when murder is involved. This book explores perhaps the most interesting aspect of all, people who kill systematically and repeatedly for their own benefit.
Most of the cases in this book have been widely reported. This book doesn't offer much else new in the way of reporting, but does consider the psychological issues which affect many mass murderers. Where it disappoints, is simply in the depths to which the author explores. Having said that, there is enough here to keep the reader interested until the last page.
An ideal starter book for those interested in true crime; other well read persons may better enjoy something with more detail on fewer cases.
Most of the cases in this book have been widely reported. This book doesn't offer much else new in the way of reporting, but does consider the psychological issues which affect many mass murderers. Where it disappoints, is simply in the depths to which the author explores. Having said that, there is enough here to keep the reader interested until the last page.
An ideal starter book for those interested in true crime; other well read persons may better enjoy something with more detail on fewer cases.
November 1, 2014
Serial Killers are thankfully rare, though you do wonder when you read this book, All are driven by compulsion; the triggers are multiple... greed, hatred, sexual deviance or its it simply a sick mind? What is amazing is that most operate in society in a normal way and are not seen as a threat. Catching these killers also seems to require an element of luck, Ted Bundy, the Yorkshire Ripper are good examples and would not have been caught had it not been for a lot of luck. Serial Killers documents the killers acts, how they were caught and how they ended up. If you like reading true crime this is a good book for you.
December 28, 2014
When I got this book I thought that it would be a look more at the serial killers who totally flew under the radar and "lived among us." What I got however was a list, which I could have Googled, with what amounted to a brief synopsis of each killer. More like a mini encyclopedia.
Having said that, it's not a terrible book I just feel that it isn't as advertised and I was looking forward to a more in depth psychological book investigating how these people lived such normal lives on the outside.
One thing that seriously let it down was the editing with the misuse of where/were and other such simple mistakes being left in.
Having said that, it's not a terrible book I just feel that it isn't as advertised and I was looking forward to a more in depth psychological book investigating how these people lived such normal lives on the outside.
One thing that seriously let it down was the editing with the misuse of where/were and other such simple mistakes being left in.
January 16, 2015
This is a very interesting read if you want to know about all the famous serial killers. It doesnt go into much detail about each one but it does give a broad prospective of who they were and what they did. It did give some details of how they murdered their victims or where they were found. Some details left me shuddering. Over all it was very interesting and it left me wanting to know more about some of the serial killers.
April 5, 2013
I love true life crime/murder stories. Scares the life out of me but then again I do love a good scare occasionally. I can't believe there have been so many sick horrible crimes committed over the past decades. I love thinking about what has made these people so evil, is it just the way they were born or is it circumstance, especially so when there are more than one person involved in the horrendous crime. Makes you shudder!
February 21, 2009
This is my current coffee table book, and it represents my fav kind of crime book. I only like crime books that are big picture books with only like 5 pages tops on each "insident." I own/ have owned so many of these books that I live in fear I will die under suspicious circumstances and stragers will find these books and judge me unfairly.
August 24, 2012
Quite the interesting read. This book gives in some insight into the serial killers. I read about some I hadn't heard of before. It seems there were just as many outside of the US as there are in the US.
If you're into true crimes then you'll enjoy it.
If you're into true crimes then you'll enjoy it.
October 9, 2013
Bundy, Shipman, Zodiac, BTK, Night Stalker, Fred & Rose West! You name it they are all here in this book. 5 to 8 pages on the sickest minds of our time. Not too much detail but just enough to keep you flicking through the pages.
5/5 brilliant must read book if you like true crime!!!
5/5 brilliant must read book if you like true crime!!!
April 11, 2011
I enjoyed this book, for what it is. Rather sensational, and lots of gruesome pictures. Nice bedtime reading!
December 19, 2011
A great insight into the twisted minds of some well known serial killers. This book was easy to read and hard to put down.
March 30, 2013
FREAKY! Omg! Very interesting!
May 10, 2012
This book is a great look into the minds of different serial killers. A definite must read if you are interested in this topic.
August 17, 2012
Not for bedtime but a great insight into dark minds!
May 29, 2013
Read like an encyclopedia or who's who of serial killers. A little too graphic for me. I was hoping to hear more of the why and/or forensics but not so much.
April 7, 2014
easy read, more like searching on Wikipedia than an actual book.
August 24, 2014
This book was packed full of information on serial killers. I loved it, but one thing that disappointed me was that Robert pickton wasn't in it.
July 26, 2014
It is a nice book about serial killers. But i not good for explaining the psychology of these serial killer. Although the book was good but the description is limited.
December 29, 2015
This is a fairly informative book with a lot of information, but it was clearly not proofread before it went into publication. There are a lot of simple typos and grammar mistakes.
April 30, 2016
One too many dateline stories lead me to read this. I wish I hadn't. Absolutely horrifying and on top of nightmare worthy subject matter, terribly written.
November 18, 2011
Fed my fascination!
Couldn't put it down!
Couldn't put it down!
October 20, 2012
Very interesting. Had some stories about some I never heard of before.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews