Who Wrote 'Killing For Company' And When Was It Published?

'Killing for Company' stands out for its unprecedented access to the killer's mind. Brian Masters, an Oxford-educated biographer, took the extraordinary step of corresponding with Dennis Nilsen while the murderer was in prison awaiting trial. Published in 1985, the book emerged during a golden age of British true crime writing.

Masters approaches the subject with a scholar's precision but a novelist's eye for detail. He doesn't sensationalize the 15 murders committed between 1978-1983. Instead, he constructs a psychological portrait of Nilsen that's both clinical and deeply human. The timing of publication was crucial - it captured the cultural shockwaves from one of Britain's most notorious spree killings.

What fascinates me most is how Masters frames Nilsen's crimes within broader questions about loneliness and alienation in modern society. The book transcends true crime to become a meditation on the darkest corners of human nature. For readers wanting deeper context, I'd suggest pairing it with Gordon Burn's 'Happy Like Murderers' about Fred and Rosemary West.

Brian Masters penned 'Killing for Company' back in 1985, creating a true crime masterpiece that still gives me chills. Unlike typical crime reporters, Masters brought literary elegance to this gruesome subject. He spent months visiting Nilsen in prison, unraveling the killer's twisted logic firsthand. The book arrived when Britain was still reeling from the discovery of Nilsen's flat full of corpses in 1983.

Masters' background as a royal biographer seems unlikely preparation for documenting a serial killer, yet it gave him unique insights. He treats Nilsen not as a monster but as a profoundly damaged human being. The narrative juxtaposes meticulous crime scene details with existential musings on why Nilsen kept victims' bodies for company. For those interested in psychological depth, this outshines more sensational true crime works. Contemporary readers might compare it to David Peace's 'Red Riding' novels for its bleak portrayal of 1970s-80s Britain.

I remember stumbling upon 'Killing for Company' during a deep dive into true crime literature. The book was written by Brian Masters, a British author known for his meticulous research into criminal psychology. Published in 1985, it remains one of the most chilling accounts of serial killer Dennis Nilsen's crimes. Masters didn't just report the facts; he got inside Nilsen's head, revealing the disturbing banality of evil. The timing was significant too - coming just two years after Nilsen's conviction, when the case was still fresh in public memory. What sets this apart from other true crime is how Masters balances forensic detail with philosophical questions about what drives someone to kill repeatedly.