What do you think?
Rate this book
The World's 20 Worst Crimes: True Stories of 20 Killers and Their 1000 Victims
Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, The Hillside Strangler . . . serial murderers are the most horrific of all criminals. Kate Kray, whose marriage to gangster Ronnie Kray offered her access to a gruesome underworld few would dare to enter, peers into the minds of the worst killers to reveal the awful truth of their abominable acts. The extreme nature of their violence and their shocking lack of remorse makes for uncomfortable yet fascinating reading. From obsessive sexual predators and extreme sadists to cannibals and head hunters, each type of psychopath is examined, their crimes told with grim frankness. Kate's connections allow her to ask uncomfortable questions few would dare to ask such men. Offering extraordinary insight into the motivations of violent perpetrators often portrayed as monsters, this book begs the question of whether such individuals can themselves be viewed as victims of a troubled past, or merely as exponents of pure evil.
270 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2007
40 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 4, 2020
I can only stand to give this book two stars because I was interested in the stories and was surprised to find a few names I hadn't heard of before.
I cannot praise anything else.
Written by the wife of one of the Kray brothers (bit random don't you think?) she recounts some well known serial killers, and others that are less known.
The writing is horrendous. I have never read a book with so many typos, mistakes and just ridiculous sentences all mashed together. The punctuation was all over the place, commas very put in for no reason, and very often full stops were ignored altogether.
It is very clear that no one bothered to proof read this book. It's a pure disgrace. At the risk of being too graphic (I apologise in advance), when a book writes that 'the female was mutilated in their Virginia' you really can't take anything else seriously. I do wonder if she wrote this book as a joke...
I cannot praise anything else.
Written by the wife of one of the Kray brothers (bit random don't you think?) she recounts some well known serial killers, and others that are less known.
The writing is horrendous. I have never read a book with so many typos, mistakes and just ridiculous sentences all mashed together. The punctuation was all over the place, commas very put in for no reason, and very often full stops were ignored altogether.
It is very clear that no one bothered to proof read this book. It's a pure disgrace. At the risk of being too graphic (I apologise in advance), when a book writes that 'the female was mutilated in their Virginia' you really can't take anything else seriously. I do wonder if she wrote this book as a joke...
February 9, 2022
Poorly written, terrible grammar and badly researched, how did this get published.
Kate Kray, who was married to Ronnie Kray (like it made a difference to anything), says she will give a psychological analysis of their crimes. Well firstly she doesn't; no new information is learned, she doesn't give any insight whatsoever and some of the things she does imply are completely inaccurate (e.g. implying being gay is the same as being a degenerate!) Also she claims to have spoken to hundreds of killers over the years yet none of these made it into the book; we just got her 'own telling' of some of the world's most well known killers.
Definitely not one to recommend.
Kate Kray, who was married to Ronnie Kray (like it made a difference to anything), says she will give a psychological analysis of their crimes. Well firstly she doesn't; no new information is learned, she doesn't give any insight whatsoever and some of the things she does imply are completely inaccurate (e.g. implying being gay is the same as being a degenerate!) Also she claims to have spoken to hundreds of killers over the years yet none of these made it into the book; we just got her 'own telling' of some of the world's most well known killers.
Definitely not one to recommend.
February 8, 2016
Oh, just kill me. I read the title as being about crimes and not serial killers. This book was about serial killers. FFS! Can I read a true crime book this year that isn't about serial killers?! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!
May 10, 2019
I DNFed this book.
I thought I would learn more about the psychology of serial killers which, for some twisted reason, passionates me a lot. But this is just a museum of horrors to make you lose faith in humanity. And it's badly written.
So even though I tried (I really really tried) to finish it, it was not worth my time.
Would not recommend.
June 18, 2014
Horrible. The punctuation and grammatical errors annoyed me so much from the first few pages I struggled to finish. I love true crime, however this was badly researched, poorly written and not worth the time. Many things were assumed and read as though she was attempting fiction. You will find more insight and information about these serial killers on Wikipedia.
November 11, 2010
Just finished this one, it's really horryfying, but also good, could have gone more into the killers though, but all in all good book :o) Highly recomended :o)
February 15, 2013
This book should never have been allowed on the shelves! This Is my first book by Kate Kray and my last. Makes you realise why she married Ronnie tho. Her writing simply wouldn't sell otherwise......
July 25, 2024
Soooo�..it wasn’t great, wasn’t bad. There were tons of grammar and punctuation errors so whoever proof read that is illiterate af.
It’s not a ‘worst crime book�, it’s a serial killer book. Far better books to read than this one. Although there were a few serial killers I’d not heard of but the book does mention a lot of well known serial killers out there.
I found the way she described the killers very odd and I’m not too sure how I feel about it. For example; ‘The Hillside Stranglers� � Type of murderers - Sex maniacs� and � The Southern California Strangler� ‘Type of murderer- Homosexual psychopath�
Just abit odd to describe the murders that way I’m my opinion, like the story speaks for itself for you to make your own assumptions on what they are. I mean, they’re all psychotic, noncey fucking arseholes but I don’t know. I just found myself laughing at how she categorised the ‘type of murderer� that they were.
It’s not a ‘worst crime book�, it’s a serial killer book. Far better books to read than this one. Although there were a few serial killers I’d not heard of but the book does mention a lot of well known serial killers out there.
I found the way she described the killers very odd and I’m not too sure how I feel about it. For example; ‘The Hillside Stranglers� � Type of murderers - Sex maniacs� and � The Southern California Strangler� ‘Type of murderer- Homosexual psychopath�
Just abit odd to describe the murders that way I’m my opinion, like the story speaks for itself for you to make your own assumptions on what they are. I mean, they’re all psychotic, noncey fucking arseholes but I don’t know. I just found myself laughing at how she categorised the ‘type of murderer� that they were.
June 1, 2019
2.5 really as I could not finish the book! It was interesting no doubt about that however the author got information wrong which annoyed me. It was so many typos that I had to re-read several pages just to understand what she meant. Also the title is misleading as it implies she will write about all sorts of crimes however it's about serial killers only.
April 29, 2024
Very interesting book and a recommended read. Only reason it wasn’t a 5⭐️ is that it could have done with another proof read (spelling, grammar and content mistakes) and also that it’s not exactly a book of the worst 20 CRIMES, rather the worst 20 serial killers (crimes - multiple).
May 16, 2015
This book was very interesting and was good to have all the facts in one place rather than having to search online.
However the book was not edited very well, with errors in words which seemed to be due to predictive text as well as words missing for a coherent sentence and this made reading occasionally quite difficult. As well as this it was quite annoying that the author presumed a lot of things she couldnt possibly have known for example the way victims felt or what they said or where they looked and this detracted from the feel of how serious the book was.
This book is very graphic and hard hitting as unlike gruesome films or tv series on tv it was a lot more emotionally distressing to know that these were real killers and real events.
I did find the book interesting although may have preferred online knowledge of the facts as I feel I don't know how well to trust the book on anything except the bare facts of dates and ages
However the book was not edited very well, with errors in words which seemed to be due to predictive text as well as words missing for a coherent sentence and this made reading occasionally quite difficult. As well as this it was quite annoying that the author presumed a lot of things she couldnt possibly have known for example the way victims felt or what they said or where they looked and this detracted from the feel of how serious the book was.
This book is very graphic and hard hitting as unlike gruesome films or tv series on tv it was a lot more emotionally distressing to know that these were real killers and real events.
I did find the book interesting although may have preferred online knowledge of the facts as I feel I don't know how well to trust the book on anything except the bare facts of dates and ages
July 28, 2011
This was such a hard book to read!!! Either the proof-reader is in grade four or the writer doesn't know any basic facts of grammer or sentence structure. There are no new insights or extra info in this book,so it is really not worth the bother. There must be thousands of similar books out there and they are written much better than this(hopefully!!) A teacher would give this a D-, and that's being generous!!!
February 7, 2018
Interesting book.
The book should really be called 2 worst serial killers and not crimes as it really is just about serial killers and can be misleading.
Kate obviously hasn’t heard of a spelling/grammar check as there are many mistakes within the book which can be frustrating.
Interesting to learn about the different serial killers, would be nice if maybe the book was just one 10 instead of 20 therefore more information can be wrote instead of cramming it all in 300 pages
The book should really be called 2 worst serial killers and not crimes as it really is just about serial killers and can be misleading.
Kate obviously hasn’t heard of a spelling/grammar check as there are many mistakes within the book which can be frustrating.
Interesting to learn about the different serial killers, would be nice if maybe the book was just one 10 instead of 20 therefore more information can be wrote instead of cramming it all in 300 pages
March 19, 2023
Honestly don’t even bother reading this. Unless you like hundreds of grammatical mistakes and reading info you could easily get off of the internet. The book wasn’t terrible, there was some information in it that I hadn’t known before, but the amount of typos and errors is outrageous - it ruined the entire book.
March 31, 2024
honestly only interested in this book as some of the crimes and killers I had not heard of, however, the writing speaking and grammar are terrible, I could not work out if some of the mistakes were on purpose as a joke or no one had proof read this book.
August 4, 2017
Throughly enjoyed read this book!! This book isn't for the week stomached as it goes into deep dark details about the killers that walk this earth! But it is so gripping !
December 17, 2021
Brilliant book, informative facts and very well written. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys true crime.
March 4, 2022
Wouldn’t waste my money on this.
How this was ever published is shocking.
The spelling is awful throughout.
How this was ever published is shocking.
The spelling is awful throughout.
December 4, 2020
Fascinating book, telling the stories of the world's 20 worst serial killers:
The Hillside Stranglers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, the Freeway Killer William Bonin, the Lady Killer Theodore Bundy, the Rostov Ripper Andrei Chikatilo, the Candy Man Dean Corll, the Milwaukee Monster Jeffrey Dahmer, the Stockwell Strangler Kenneth Erskine, the Brooklyn Vampire H. Albert Fish, Pogo the Clown John Gacy, the Plainfield Butcher Edward Gein, the Coed Killer Edmund Kemper III, the Southern California Strangler Randy Kraft, the Düsseldorf Vampire Peter Kurten, the Monster of the Andes Pedro Lopez, the Confession Killer Henry Lucas, the Muswell Hill Murderer Dennis Nilsen, the Grim Reaper Thierry Paulin, the Night Stalker Richard Ramirez, the Monster of the River Arthur Shawcross and the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
Kate Kray, who herself was married to Ron Kray, who would have despised all of the above, goes into the crimes of each murderer vividly in stomach turning details. All of the above mentioned had basically the same thing in mind, murder of an innocent woman, occasionally a man, and to do untold inhumane things to their bodies.
Kray says that each of the murderers had one or more of the following categories:
Power/control: the most common type of killer, they want power over the victim. Often they were abused as children, it is common for the killer to practise the same form of abuse as they suffered which in some way purges themselves of their feelings of humiliation.
Visionary: these killers such as Sutcliffe, have hallucinations or believe they hear voices telling them to commit murder. Although many claim this is the reason they killed (usually using the excuse to get them acquitted by reason of insanity), very few truly experience delusions of this sort.
Mission-orientated: these feel they are doing society a favour by eliminating certain types of people, Sutcliffe's reason was prostitutes.
Hedonistic: these murder for the pleasure of it, although the aspect varies. Some get their kicks out of the chase, others enjoy torturing their victim, others enjoy indulging themselves once the victim is dead.
There are two problems with this book. One is that whoever proofread it missed a lot out, occasionally there are words that are in the singular rather than the plural, some words which needed inserting are missing and the grammar is shocking at times. Not saying Kate isn't a great author, she is, although this brings me to my second problem. The book says 20 worst crimes, so the reader will be thinking, not just serial murderers and rapists but drug smugglers and armed robberies. But no, it is about serial killers who practiced other criminality on their victims, and just that. Ok perhaps the 20 worst crimes were these people mentioned, but surely there were other crimes committed that are as bad. These are the only problems, but Kate is the author and she knew what she was up against writing about these crimes.
The Hillside Stranglers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, the Freeway Killer William Bonin, the Lady Killer Theodore Bundy, the Rostov Ripper Andrei Chikatilo, the Candy Man Dean Corll, the Milwaukee Monster Jeffrey Dahmer, the Stockwell Strangler Kenneth Erskine, the Brooklyn Vampire H. Albert Fish, Pogo the Clown John Gacy, the Plainfield Butcher Edward Gein, the Coed Killer Edmund Kemper III, the Southern California Strangler Randy Kraft, the Düsseldorf Vampire Peter Kurten, the Monster of the Andes Pedro Lopez, the Confession Killer Henry Lucas, the Muswell Hill Murderer Dennis Nilsen, the Grim Reaper Thierry Paulin, the Night Stalker Richard Ramirez, the Monster of the River Arthur Shawcross and the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
Kate Kray, who herself was married to Ron Kray, who would have despised all of the above, goes into the crimes of each murderer vividly in stomach turning details. All of the above mentioned had basically the same thing in mind, murder of an innocent woman, occasionally a man, and to do untold inhumane things to their bodies.
Kray says that each of the murderers had one or more of the following categories:
Power/control: the most common type of killer, they want power over the victim. Often they were abused as children, it is common for the killer to practise the same form of abuse as they suffered which in some way purges themselves of their feelings of humiliation.
Visionary: these killers such as Sutcliffe, have hallucinations or believe they hear voices telling them to commit murder. Although many claim this is the reason they killed (usually using the excuse to get them acquitted by reason of insanity), very few truly experience delusions of this sort.
Mission-orientated: these feel they are doing society a favour by eliminating certain types of people, Sutcliffe's reason was prostitutes.
Hedonistic: these murder for the pleasure of it, although the aspect varies. Some get their kicks out of the chase, others enjoy torturing their victim, others enjoy indulging themselves once the victim is dead.
There are two problems with this book. One is that whoever proofread it missed a lot out, occasionally there are words that are in the singular rather than the plural, some words which needed inserting are missing and the grammar is shocking at times. Not saying Kate isn't a great author, she is, although this brings me to my second problem. The book says 20 worst crimes, so the reader will be thinking, not just serial murderers and rapists but drug smugglers and armed robberies. But no, it is about serial killers who practiced other criminality on their victims, and just that. Ok perhaps the 20 worst crimes were these people mentioned, but surely there were other crimes committed that are as bad. These are the only problems, but Kate is the author and she knew what she was up against writing about these crimes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2020
I would have given it 1.5 stars if I could.
I am so incredibly mad that I had to waste £8.99 on this absolute garbage.
This book is:
- not properly researched
- not edited
- not proof-read
- not engaging
It is completely riddled with typos and grammatical errors that are so incredibly easy to spot and correct had the writer read her own manuscript one more time.
As someone who is an aspiring writer, it makes me so mad that someone would just casually publish their entire book without even bothering to proofread it first when there are people out there who draft and reread their work multiple times before ever publishing it.
The only reason I gave it two stars is because I, personally, liked the selection of serial killers in the book (although what the twenty worst crimes ever committed are is a very subjective topic)
All in all, the whole book feels like a last minute essay written by a less than mediocre student. I really hope someone doesn't make the mistake that I made by picking up a random book at a bookstore without reading the reviews on ŷ/Google first.
I am so incredibly mad that I had to waste £8.99 on this absolute garbage.
This book is:
- not properly researched
- not edited
- not proof-read
- not engaging
It is completely riddled with typos and grammatical errors that are so incredibly easy to spot and correct had the writer read her own manuscript one more time.
As someone who is an aspiring writer, it makes me so mad that someone would just casually publish their entire book without even bothering to proofread it first when there are people out there who draft and reread their work multiple times before ever publishing it.
The only reason I gave it two stars is because I, personally, liked the selection of serial killers in the book (although what the twenty worst crimes ever committed are is a very subjective topic)
All in all, the whole book feels like a last minute essay written by a less than mediocre student. I really hope someone doesn't make the mistake that I made by picking up a random book at a bookstore without reading the reviews on ŷ/Google first.
June 25, 2020
The stories of the serial killers are of interest and a wide variety are covered, but the book is so badly written with annoying typos and grammatical violations. She even uses the word ‘Virginia� instead of ‘Vagina�. But then the publisher John Blake and it’s myriad of crappy ghost-written celebrity ‘autobiographies� tend to fall down the spelling rabbit hole a lot I find.
It is also stated that the 1980 Olympics was moved to a different state from California because of one of the serial killers she writes about rampaging around. Nah. It wasn't.
If she means the summer Olympics, that was in Moscow (LA bid but lost out and hosted 4 years later in �84) and if she meant the Winter Olympics in NY state, that's also wrong. LA never bid and couldn't host a Winter Olympics if they tried.
Oh dear, Kate Kray. Oh dear. Please don’t shoot me!
It is also stated that the 1980 Olympics was moved to a different state from California because of one of the serial killers she writes about rampaging around. Nah. It wasn't.
If she means the summer Olympics, that was in Moscow (LA bid but lost out and hosted 4 years later in �84) and if she meant the Winter Olympics in NY state, that's also wrong. LA never bid and couldn't host a Winter Olympics if they tried.
Oh dear, Kate Kray. Oh dear. Please don’t shoot me!
November 28, 2024
"We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands. We are everywhere."
~ Theodore Robert Bundy
I picked this up in Waterstones recently and found it incredibly interesting!!
This talks about twenty different serial killers and their victims. It's very detailed and gory, with some insight into the psychological side of the killers minds. For each killer, there was a little bit of their childhood background and some explanation as to why they were driven to murder innocents. I feel this could've been expanded slightly but considering it was only a short book (just under 300 pages), it was quite insightful.
~ Theodore Robert Bundy
I picked this up in Waterstones recently and found it incredibly interesting!!
This talks about twenty different serial killers and their victims. It's very detailed and gory, with some insight into the psychological side of the killers minds. For each killer, there was a little bit of their childhood background and some explanation as to why they were driven to murder innocents. I feel this could've been expanded slightly but considering it was only a short book (just under 300 pages), it was quite insightful.
October 3, 2019
This is so poorly written it feels like reading 200 pages of a tabloid.
Grammar, punctuation and substantial information are absent from this book.
Kate Kray gives all the gory details of murders but no background info, no psychology. Just dry brutal descriptions.
Some of the facts are also mildly inaccurate . Not to mention she considers on several occasions that homosexuality is a "deviance". WTF...
The worst book I've read so far this year! It is the "clickbait" type of literature.
AVOID THIS BOOK.
Grammar, punctuation and substantial information are absent from this book.
Kate Kray gives all the gory details of murders but no background info, no psychology. Just dry brutal descriptions.
Some of the facts are also mildly inaccurate . Not to mention she considers on several occasions that homosexuality is a "deviance". WTF...
The worst book I've read so far this year! It is the "clickbait" type of literature.
AVOID THIS BOOK.
October 7, 2023
Really poorly written, clearly not edited by the publisher and zero attention to detail. Its written in the style of listening to a housewife recount a sordid story about the neighbours, who sits with a cuppa and a fag in her hand.
Despite the obviously flaws, these true crimes needed no embellishment, and are so brutal and sadistic that they basically write themselves.
I still really enjoyed this book - the twisted stories of serial killers always make for a psychologically fascinating tale of human behaviour and how evil truly manifests.
Despite the obviously flaws, these true crimes needed no embellishment, and are so brutal and sadistic that they basically write themselves.
I still really enjoyed this book - the twisted stories of serial killers always make for a psychologically fascinating tale of human behaviour and how evil truly manifests.
March 6, 2018
This book was very interesting, however it isn't for those with a queasy stomach. There was even a couple stories where I had to put the book down take a breather then continue. However most of the people who did the crimes are no longer living but that is beside the point what they did was horrific and the book does get into names, ages, and details of pretty much all the victims.
*Trigger warning=murder, rape, suicide
*Trigger warning=murder, rape, suicide
March 29, 2018
I think this is probably the most poorly written book I've ever read! Half of the chapters were written list a dry list of facts, names, ages and dates then some others read as if she was trying to make a story of her own; full of irrelevant and fantastical additions which couldn't possibly be known. Also, the sheer amount of spelling and grammatical errors made me cringe, where was the editing?! Steer clear of this one and do some research online instead.
June 1, 2020
This is not a book I would recommend to others. There is nothing new in what is outlined here and a lot of it feels like reading lists quite apart from the truly awful nature of the narrative. I also have questions about the suitability of a woman married to a murderer (whether or not he is a serial killer) then labelling other criminals of a similar ilk as worse than that husband. Whilst this is not explicitly stated it feels like a definite undertone to the book
January 15, 2021
This book was interesting to me as I love true crime and find serial killers fascinating. But I feel like this needed a better proof reader before it was published, as the way some of the sentences are written and how some of the paragraphs are ended is a little sloppy. Overall, I enjoyed this book for its information and liked that Kate named all the victims names rather than just giving the killers the spotlight.
August 16, 2024
It was interesting to read the backgrounds and lives before the serial killers began killing�. Just average people with average backgrounds mainly!
Insights into their minds and reasons behind killing. If serial killers interest you then I recommend this book. It’s not the greatest piece of writing and the grammar errors made me have to only give 3⭐️ but as I say it was interesting and detailed.
Insights into their minds and reasons behind killing. If serial killers interest you then I recommend this book. It’s not the greatest piece of writing and the grammar errors made me have to only give 3⭐️ but as I say it was interesting and detailed.
September 23, 2024
This was a quick-read for the true crime fan, with well researched, yet concise cases. It's a great one to begin down a rabbit hole researching more! While some of these are the more well-known true crime cases, there were some lesser known that were just as interesting. It's definitely a page turner. Facts were well done, however there were several typos and grammatical errors that ultimately lowered my rating, but I still say it's worth a read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.