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Book Awards and Honours.
- Historical Novel Society – “The novel is recommended for its carefully balanced tension, character appeal, and dedication to the process of discovery during the formative years of forensic science.”
- Bookworks – “Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?” has been selected by Bookworks for their 2018 Holiday Reading List.”
- Pink Quill Book Pick Badge for Johnny Gill & Kids who Kill: Austin Sigg,
- IHIBRP 5 Star Recommended Read for Blackmail, Sex and Lies
Couples Who Kill: Series of murdering couples
A Shocking Thrill-Kill by Young Newly Weds with a Serial Killer Confession
Craigslist is a well-known and popular classifieds platform. Those who use it seldom think they could be a victim of robbery or scams. Worse still, fewer think by answering an advertisement they could be killed. With a seedier side to Craiglist, it had become a paradise for those looking for casual sex.
When married, forty-two-year-old Troy LaFerrara agrees to meet eighteen-year-old newly married, mother of one, Miranda Barbour in November 2013, offering him ‘companionship’ in exchange for money, he never thinks that he may be dead by the end of their meeting.
Yet that is exactly what happens.
Once caught, Miranda Barbour confesses to killing many more people. After 22, she says, she stopped counting. The body count could be as high as 100.
Is she America’s worst serial killer or worst serial liar?
There are enough twists and turns in this true crime story that will have you second-guessing each fact as it is presented.
Kids Who Kill: Series of True Crimes committed by Teens and Children
The brutal, callous, and shocking true crime murder of young Jessica Ridgeway.
In Westminster, Colorado, on a snowy morning in October, 2012, ten-year-old Jessica Ridgeway is abducted, raped, tortured, murdered and dismembered.
Yet who could possibly be responsible for such a heinous crime?
A criminal profile is put together of the perpetrator based on the evidence they have. They are looking for a mature male sex offender who has definitely killed before. The crime, with few clues and no DNA left at the scene, is sophisticated and calculated.
Finally, there is a breakthrough in the case. They have a confession. There is one problem however; he does not match the criminal profile. He is just 17.
Is the confessor the murderer of Jessica Ridgeway, like he says he is, or is he making a false confession for his 5 minutes of fame?
Six Teens Beat up a Girl they Know, Two More who Don’t, Kill Her.
Bullied all her life, Reena Virk, just fourteen, is desperate for peer acceptance. However, she is the wrong race, the wrong religion, the wrong color, and in the world of superficial teenagers, the wrong body-shape.
A petty squabble over a boy boils over into blind rage, a rage that seeks revenge and to teach her a lesson.
The victim, now bloodied and beaten by her friends and peers, many of whom are already known to police, is taken down to the river’s edge by two teens she has never met before so they can finish her off.
This is the shocking true crime story of Reena Virk’s life and final moments at the hands of the Shoreline Six, 16-year-old Warren Glowatski and 15-year-old “Killer Kelly” Ellard.
WARNING: This story contains grisly and gruesome details of a child murder that some readers may find disturbing.
A child has been murdered and horribly mutilated in Canada; skin stripped to render the fat for later consumption.
Rumors spread of a monster on the loose, satanic cults, and ritual killings. It is a murder so grotesque people are kept in the dark by police authorities fearing they are not ready to hear the details. The killing is so horrific even the media is kept away for fear of creating a frenzy.
They may be monsters, but the community is unprepared when killer-kids, 14-year-old Sandy Charles and his 7-year-old accomplice, William Martin, are connected to the crime. Names that forevermore will conjure up images of abject depravity and the embodiment of pure evil.
As the layers to teen-killer Sandy Charles are revealed, it becomes chillingly obvious the youngster is dealing with some serious issues that may never be fixed.
The tragic story of Cristian Fernandez. The youngest person in Jacksonville’s history to be charged with first degree murder, with no possibility of parole.
Cristian Fernandez is just 12 when he is arrested; the same age his mother was when he was born. Cristian is accused of murdering his half-brother, two-year-old David Galarraga-Blanco. While he awaits trial, his mother, Bianella Susana, is being held in the same jail for aggravated manslaughter for withholding medical help for the toddler for more than eight hours.
As the trial plays out, and more information comes to light, one starts to wonder who really is responsible for killing David Garlarraga-Blanco. Is it Cristian Fernandez, or is it his mother? Is Cristian Fernandez’s admission of guilt because he is guilty, or because is he covering for a crime his mother has committed?
“I have just met the Anti-Christ.”
Four-year-old Derrick Robie is dead. The killer’s name is Eric Smith.
He is a heavy smoker, smoking nearly a pack of cigarettes a day and fast developing a nicotine addiction. He has flashes of uncontrollable anger. He constantly has strong urges to hurt someone or something. When he plans to kill the cat, he is nine. When he kills Derrick Robie, he is thirteen.
Did police officers stop a serial killer in the making?
Kids who Kill: Joshua Phillips
This is the first book in a true crime series on children who commit murder. The first book covers a murder in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1998.
Eight-year-old Maddie Clifton is a bubbly little girl who is friends with everyone in the neighborhood. She is chipping golf balls with neighborhood friends when she goes home to fetch more golf balls but never returns.
Her body is not discovered until a week later. Despite volunteers and police officials scouring the neighborhood of Jacksonville, FL., and even places beyond, Maddie Clifton is found across the street in the home of a neighbour, stuffed underneath a waterbed that he had been using during that time.
The killer is her friend. He is also a closet burglar, destroys and steals property within the Clifton home, is obsessed with graphic porn, violent sexual images, and her older sister, Jessica. He is fourteen-year-old Joshua Earl Patrick Phillips.
He claims it was an accident. But was it?
Victorian True Crime Murder Mysteries:
Blackmail, Sex and Lies
Blackmail, Sex and Lies is a story of deception, scandal, and fractured traditional Victorian social values. It is the tale of a naïve, young woman caught up in a whirlwind romance with an older man. However, both have personality flaws that result in poor choices, and which leads to a tragic end.
For 160 years, people have believed Madeleine Smith to have been guilty of murder. But was she? Could she have been innocent after all?
This Victorian murder mystery, based on a true story, takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, 1857. It explores the disastrous romance between the vivacious socialite, Madeleine Hamilton Smith, and her working class lover, Pierre Emile L’Angelier.
Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?
This is a fictionalized account of the true crime against a young boy called John Gill living in Bradford, England in 1888. Despite the fact that this was considered one of the worst murders of the day, equal to those of Jack the Ripper of the same year, very little was written about the case. This book was written to honour John Gill’s memory as well as to remember his parents; Thomas and Mary Ann Gill. It was a murder that affected me deeply and one that left me with more questions than answers.
Here are some quotes from some of my readers:
” ‘Who killed Little Johnny Gill?’ a True Crime, Victorian Noir; read very much like the captivating style of Kate Summerscale’s “The Suspicions of Mr Whicher” ….it also had the cosy parochial feel of an Agatha Christie…as well as, I might add: the procedural methodology of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle… as such, I take my hat off to you, good lady and wish you well in your literary venture…” Lesley Bush, Berkshire, UK
“I thoroughly enjoyed this read! It was very exciting. As soon as the body was discovered, I felt the ensuing panic, the parents’ worry, and the morbid curiosity of the onlookers. I could actually feel the tension in the air and hear the murmurs and exclamations of the townspeople as word of the gruesome discovery spread. I give your book a rating of two thumbs up; I read this late at night, and though I was tired I could not stop reading until I finished the last word.” – Lisa Stone Gustafson (USA)
“Loved the story and it had me in tears! Where did you find such wonderful words? … I feel like I am sitting in the 19th century.” – Paxie Adrienne Kelsey (South Africa)
“Loved the details given of each character. It made them seem real and I was able to visualize them and their actions in my mind. As needed, at the end of each chapter you have left me wanting to read more.” – Deborah Peters (Portugal)
Kathryn McMaster a True Crime Author
Kathryn is a best-selling, historical crime fiction author transporting you back to a different era. She crafts stories around unsolved murders of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, on both sides of the Atlantic, highlighting poor policing practices with a rudimentary knowledge of Forensic Science that often allowed the guilty to walk free, and the innocent to hang. Kathryn’s books are further enhanced by her in-depth knowledge and training in Psychology, Criminal Profiling and Forensic Investigation which she draws on to analyze each crime in the Afterword.
She has long had a fascination with crime and the criminal mind, looking at the ‘why’ rather than the ‘how’.
Her first crime fiction novel was entitled “Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?” This book is based on a true story. It covers the shocking murder and mutilation of a seven-year-old boy in Bradford, England. The murder was so heinous that it was thought, at one stage, to have been the work of Jack the Ripper. On day 1 of its release, it topped the Best Seller List and continues to sell beyond all expectations.
She is currently working on her second novel. Here 3 people were killed aboard the “Herbert Fuller” in 1896, not far from Halifax, Nova Scotia. There were less than a dozen crew members and one passenger on board. Someone was the murderer, but who?
Her Amazon Author Page is a showcase for new book releases. Her current novel is in e-book, paperback and audio book formats.
If you would like to learn more about her, work and the various influences in her life as an author, she was interviewed by Jeff Kivela from Buttonholed Book Reviews so pop over and see what she had to say.
If you like reading true crime books, want to read free chapters of my new books, and are as interested in the workings of the criminal mind, as I am, then hopefully you won’t be disappointed with what you find here.
I have always been drawn to why criminals behave the way they do. I am morbidly fascinated with the minds of serial killers in their need to kill again, and, from a psychological aspect, their signature killings. Criminal profiling is also a personal interest, but my real passion is looking at unsolved crimes.
There were many crimes in the past that went unsolved, due to poor policing practices and a rudimentary knowledge of Forensic Science. And of course, there were many at this time who were accused of crimes where they were totally innocent. The result being, that on both sides, there was a gross miscarriage of justice.
I focus on unsolved crimes that occurred during the Victorian and Edwardian eras when Forensic Science was still in its infancy. My style of writing is not just taking the facts and regurgitating them. Instead, I research the cases thoroughly, and then fictionalize the events as they unfolded; breathing new life into dusty bones. In this website, you will not only find information on my latest murder mysteries, but I will also publish short stories of true crimes that occurred nearly 100 years ago.
In this website, you will not only find information on my latest murder mysteries, but I will also publish short stories of true crimes that occurred nearly 100 years ago.
If you have read my books and you have enjoyed them, please go to Amazon.com and write an honest review. Many readers are not aware how important these are for authors. I read each and every review, and your support is always much appreciated.
Kathryn can be reached via email at info@kathrynmcmaster.com
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