Killing for Company: The Story of a Man Addicted to Murder (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This brilliant psychological study of British serial killer Dennis Nilsen was, writes the author, an "oddity," because its subject was so "outlandish," so unheard-of in the annals of psychiatry: "Until, that is, Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested … While in the immediate sense of personal impact Dahmer is unlike Nilsen, being diffident, quiet, polite, even a little dull, against Nilsen's extrovert loquacity and self-confidence, their crimes bear such close similarities of method, manner, and, yes, motive, as to … mean that the Nilsen/Dahmer brand of florid necrophilia could at last be definable." Brian Masters, better known for his literary and historical works, has written a classic of true crime--a penetrating exploration of not just the crimes, but also the mind of a serial killer. Especially fascinating are excerpts from Nilsen's journals and a collection called "Sad Sketches: Monochrome Man" of drawings and handwritten prose and poetry about the victims. The book includes a postscript by a forensic psychiatrist and a bibliography.

From Publishers Weekly

Dennis Nilsen was arrested in February 1983 after the plumbing in his suburban London apartment was found to be clogged with body parts. "Are we talking about one body or two," a detective asked. Nilsen, a 35-year-old civil servant, replied: "Fifteen or sixteen, since 1978. I'll tell you everything." Besides confessing to the police, Nilsen wrote extensively to Masters from prison and offered him his journals. Using these sources and his considerable journalistic skill, the author ( Moliere ) fashions a stunning account of the largest mass murderer in British history. Nilsen is depicted as a lonely, articulate man who met men in pubs and cafes, invited them to his flat for drinks and killed them, fearing that they would leave the next day. Nilsen's trial was brief and expert testimony cast little light on the grisly events (Nilsen dismembered his victims, stuffying body parts under floorboards or boiling off flesh in a soup pot). Noting that the plea of insanity was not accepted either for Nilsen or for Jeffrey Dahmer, who was convicted of similar acts in the U.S. in 1992, Masters suggests that the current legal definitions of insanity need reworking. Photos not seen by PW. True Crime Book Club selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dell; Revised edition (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440220432
• ISBN-13: 978-0440220435
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #397,599 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the squeamish, April 26, 1998

By	Debbie King (Durham City, Co Durham United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This book grabs your attention from the very first paragraph as it describes the events leading up to Dennis Nilsen's arrest. It explains in detail Nilsen's early years, and the profound psychological effect on the 6 year-old Nilsen when he sees his first dead body - the corpse of his beloved grandfather.
Although Nilsen's crimes were horrific and, to us, senseless, you cannot help but feel immensely sorry for a man who is so consumed with loneliness that he prefers the company of a corpse to no company at all, hence the title of the book. One can but imagine what might have been if Nilsen had been able to form a stable and secure relationship with someone.


An extremely interesting book for anyone interested in the criminal mind - but definitely not for the squeamish.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dahmer Was Not Unique, February 20, 2002

By	Sires (It's a Toss Up Right Now) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

After the Jeffrey Dahmer story broke, it was easy to think that no one else like him ever did or ever could have lived. After all, his motive for killing was bizarre to say the least-- he wanted to keep the men he picked up from leaving him. Then a few years later I picked up Brian Masters' Killing for Company almost by chance-- It was shocking: here was Dahmer's mirror image in a quiet British civil servant named Dennis Nilson. For some reason his crimes had not been publicized in the US.

Nilson's crimes had been discovered in 1983 when the plumbing in his apartment buildng started to back up. Workmen were called in and discovered what looked like human flesh was the problem. The police questioned Nilson who confessed to his crime. He had been actively killing young men for 4 years and using their bodies in bizarre tableaus of domesticity and no one had noticed--would probably not have noticed had it not been that his plumbing couldn't handle his method of body disposal.

Masters' book does a very good job of laying out Nilson's life. It is definitely not a quickie books churned out to take advantage of a sensational crime. If you are at all interesed in the darkest, most tabu areas of the human soul this is a very interesting read.