Talking with Serial Killers: A Chilling Study of the World's Most Evil Murderers

by Christopher Berry-Dee

Talking with Serial Killers A chilling study of the worlds most evil people ABISBOOK John Blake.

Genres: Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

Chris was a former Royal Marine intelligence officer. He is now a criminologist who has interviewed over 30 serial killers.

Reviews

[Lucy Withers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this was a great book, it was lovely to read about people that I hadn’t hered about before as well as the great details of they’re upbringing and what lead them to doing the things they did.

[Ben’s Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book strips serial killers of the mythology we’re too eager to give them.

Christopher Berry-Dee approaches his subjects without theatrics, allowing them to speak in their own words. What emerges isn’t brilliance or mystery, but ego, repetition, and a chilling lack of self-awareness. These aren’t masterminds or dark anti-heroes, they’re men endlessly rehearsing their own justifications.

What makes the book unsettling isn’t the violence itself, but the tone. The calmness. The way cruelty is narrated as routine rather than rupture. Berry-Dee doesn’t rush to explain or excuse, and he resists the comfort of over-psychologising. In doing so, he leaves the reader exposed to something far more disturbing than gore: indifference.

At times, the stories blur into one another, and that sameness feels intentional. The repetition reveals how unremarkable many of these personalities are once the crimes are stripped of spectacle. Violence becomes a habit. Identity collapses into obsession.

This isn’t a book for sensationalists or casual true-crime consumption. It demands restraint from the reader and offers very little emotional release in return. But if you’re interested in how serial killers speak about themselves when no one is trying to dramatise them, this book is quietly devastating.

I finished it feeling less shocked than sobered, and that, I suspect, is exactly the point.

[James Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinatingly dour, this book is a thoroughly researched collection of grisly serial killer crime. the “talking with serial killers” part of this book is a tiny bit disappointing though - there is very little in the way of interview itself, and the book is largely a recounting of the crimes, and backgrounds preceding them.

the author also considers factors of childhood and biology/psychology that may contribute to the compulsion of a serial killer, making a nice debrief to each segment. whilst not exploitive, something slightly unpleasant (beyond the morbid details themselves) is the author’s descriptions of some victims having been “pretty” or some variation of attractive. this is used to portray hallmarks of certain killers targeting patterns, but given that some of these subjects are minors, it gives the narration tone an unnecessary discomfort of its own.

this book is of an ilk that is neither pleasant to read nor something to eagerly recommend, but is gripping in its morbidity and misery. i read cover to cover in a little over 24 hours out of somber horror, but also a need to move on to something with more warmth and goodness. although this book perhaps misrepresents itself with the promise of conversation with killers, true crime aficionados will find this book worthwhile.

3.5/5

[Niamh :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 book (in terms of the writing rather than the crimes). I would highly recommend, his writing is very good. Some of the crimes are quite disturbing so if you don't like that sort of thing I wouldn't recommend reading before bed or anything. But it is a good book and fascinating.

[Shannon Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

These sorts are compiled in a way that's easy to forget that they actually happened. It felt like I wasn't just reading a bunch of facts but several short stories.

[Vanshika Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theres a lot to unpack emotionally. Each chapter is a new blow. Leaves you shocked at the heinous crimes that have been committed in history and continue to be committed

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were some facts in this book that I haven’t heard before