Brian Masters has written widely on French literature, history and philosophy. He has also written about the British aristocracy and worked as a translator though he is best known for his books on serial killers .

His book Killing For Company (Jonathan Cape, 1985) won the Gold Dagger Award for Crime Non-Fiction and is a ground-breaking criminal study of serial killer Denis Nilsen’s killings. Written with Nilsen’s full cooperation, the result is a fascinating – and horrifying – portrait of the man who worshipped death. Killing for Company has remained constantly in print since it was first released over thirty years ago. In 2020 the book was adapted into a 3 part TV series for ITV, ‘Des’, which starred David Tennant and Jason Atkins. It was was ITV’s biggest drama launch in 14 years with 10 million viewers tuning in.

In The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer (Hodder & Stoughton, 1993) Brian Masters investigates the darkest side of the human psyche in this true story of evil, and tries to figure out what led Dahmer to kill.

She Must Have Known (Doubleday, 1997) follows Rosemary West’s trial, attended by Masters every day. Masters, from his privileged courtroom vantage point, looks closely at how and why ordinary human beings were driven to serial killing.