There’s something magnetic about true crime books. You tell yourself you’ll read one chapter before bed. Then suddenly it’s 2am, four murders in, tea gone cold, and you’re side-eyeing your quiet neighbour with the dodgy smile.
I’ve been there. It’s partly why I wrote 25 Scottish true crime stories and gathered them into one book, Scottish Killers: 25 True Crime Stories.
If you want to know what’s inside before you buy, this page shows you. It covers which killers are in it, the psychology behind each chapter, who the book suits (and who it doesn’t), and which Scottish true crime books to read next.
Scottish True Crime Stories
- Scottish Killers retells 25 real cases, from Peter Manuel to Archibald Hall, each analysed by a psychologist.
- Every case leads into a psychological theme: narcissism, hitmen, poisoners, insanity pleas, hiding a body, and why men and women kill differently.
- It’s built for readers who want the why, not just the what. It’s not for anyone chasing gore.
- It runs to over 300 pages and 50 chapters, out now in paperback and on Kindle.
Contents
What is Scottish Killers: 25 True Crime Stories?
Scottish Killers: 25 True Crime Stories is a nonfiction book by psychologist Dr Aaron Mullins. It retells 25 real Scottish murder cases, from serial killers to crimes of passion. Each case is paired with an analysis of the killer’s psychology and of how Scots law judged them. It’s available in paperback and on Kindle.
The book runs to over 300 pages across 50 chapters: 25 case chapters, each followed by a chapter on the criminal psychology behind it. It was published in May 2025.
I didn’t write it just to shock or entertain, though if it keeps you up into the wee hours, I’ll take that as a win. What I really wanted was to explore criminal psychology, to uncover the why behind the what:
- Why do people kill?
- What snaps inside the mind that turns a friend or neighbour into a killer?
- Why do some people choose poison?
And the question that haunted me most: could any of us do the same, given the right (or wrong) circumstances? It stayed with me through every chapter.
Which Scottish killers are in the book?
Scottish Killers covers 25 cases. They include Peter Manuel, the “Beast of Birkenshaw”; Glasgow-born butler Archibald Hall; Dennis Nilsen, born in Fraserburgh; Glasgow-born Ian Brady; and Peter Tobin. Every killer in the book has Scottish roots or crimes linked to Scotland. Alongside the famous names are lesser-known killers whose stories rarely make the lists: the quiet ones who lived among us.
Take Peter Manuel. He was cold, manipulative and terrifyingly composed. He was convicted of seven murders across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and 1958. His victims included Peter and Doris Smart and their 11-year-old son Michael, shot in their beds during a burglary. That level of detachment is both cruel and clinical. It’s a textbook example of how a criminal mind rationalises the unthinkable. He was hanged at Barlinnie in July 1958, aged 31.
Every one of the cases in this Scottish true crime book left behind victims and families who were far more than a footnote. Their stories deserve to be told with honesty and respect, not just to understand why these murders happened, but to learn how we might prevent the next one.
It’s a deeply human exploration of the circumstances, motives and consequences behind some of the most infamous true crimes in Scotland’s history.
What psychology does the book explore?
Each case in Scottish Killers leads into a chapter on one psychological theme. They cover hitmen who kill without blinking, narcissists who destroy for control, and people who kill to belong, whether to a lover, a gang or an ideology. Others look at poisoners, diminished responsibility, insanity pleas, hiding a body, accidental killings, and why men and women kill for different reasons.
Across the book you’ll find:
- Detailed case histories, giving the context, background and analysis behind each crime.
- Psychological insight into the mental states and likely motives of each killer, drawn from my training as a psychologist.
- The justice system on trial. Some cases show it at its best, while others expose its failures.
- Stories of redemption. Not every case ends in darkness, and a few challenge what we think we know about criminal behaviour.
Scots law matters here, because it draws its lines in its own places. Culpable homicide is the Scots law term for an unlawful killing that falls short of murder, roughly equivalent to manslaughter in England. Diminished responsibility is a plea that an abnormality of mind substantially impaired a person’s ability to control their actions, which can reduce murder to culpable homicide.
Why I wrote Scottish Killers
When I started writing this book, I didn’t expect the emotional rollercoaster it became. As a psychologist, I’d spent years exploring the human mind, but nothing quite prepared me for the depths of these stories.
I remember sitting in my writing study, surrounded by notes, feeling the weight of each case. There were moments I had to step away. It’s one thing to read about a crime. It’s another to immerse yourself in it, try to understand the mind behind it, and then get those insights down on paper.
By the end, every case pointed to the same uncomfortable question. It became the book’s final chapter: Could any of us kill?
Each case draws on real case histories, and each is followed by a chapter that turns a psychologist’s lens on it. Why do women kill? How do hitmen kill without emotion? How does criminal profiling work? What goes through the mind of someone trying to hide a body?
At one of my author talks, someone asked me, “Don’t you worry that true crime stories feed our obsession with murder?”
Fair question. I paused and thought about it, and then said, “People don’t read these stories because they love murder. They read them because they want to understand it.”
I stand by that. The more we understand criminal psychology, the better we can protect ourselves and our communities, and perhaps even prevent future tragedies. That’s what understanding gives us: hope.
If you’re curious about the craft behind books like this, read my guest post How to Write True Crime: A Guide to Murder from Dahlia Cross.
Who is this Scottish true crime book for?
Scottish Killers suits readers who want to understand why people kill, not just how. If you enjoy criminal psychology, Scottish history or true crime podcasts that dig into motive, start here. If you want graphic forensic detail, or one case told at full length, a book devoted to a single case will suit you better.
It’s also not for the faint-hearted. The stories are raw, unfiltered and at times deeply unsettling. But they’re real, they happened, and I believe they deserve to be told with honesty and respect.
And if you prefer your Scottish crime made up, Ayrshire Stories is my collection of crime, ghost and mystery fiction set on the west coast.
Press and reader response
Readers sent Scottish Killers to the top of the Amazon bestseller charts in its launch week in May 2025, as the John O’Groat Journal reported in its feature on how the book explains why ordinary people kill.
More Scottish true crime books to read next
No single book covers all of Scotland’s dark history. Each of these does something mine doesn’t.
- Blood on the Thistle by Douglas Skelton. A casebook of 20 twentieth-century Scottish murders by a Glasgow journalist, including Peter Manuel and Bible John. Read it for a reporter’s eye on how each killer was caught, not just what they did.
- Scottish Murder Stories by Molly Whittington-Egan. It deliberately avoids serial and psychopathic killers in favour of Gothic whodunnits from the 1740s to the 1960s. Read it for atmosphere: the perfect contrast to my book.
- The World’s End Murders: The Inside Story by Tom Wood. An inside account of the 1977 Edinburgh killings of Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, for which Angus Sinclair was finally convicted in 2014. Read it to see how a case that stayed open for 37 years was finally closed.
- Signs of Murder by David Wilson. A small Scottish town, a miscarriage of justice and the search for the truth. Read it for what happens when the justice system gets it wrong.
- Peter Manuel, Serial Killer by Hector MacLeod and Malcolm McLeod. The full-length book on Manuel, if his chapter leaves you wanting more. Read it for the whole story of the Beast of Birkenshaw.
Even in the darkest moments, we must strive to understand, to heal and to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Scottish True Crime Stories FAQ
Are the stories in Scottish Killers true?
Yes. All 25 stories in Scottish Killers are real cases with Scottish roots or Scottish links. Each is drawn from real case histories. Where facts are disputed, such as victim counts or motives, the book says so rather than picking the most dramatic version.
Is Scottish Killers graphic?
Scottish Killers is honest rather than gory. It describes what happened clearly enough to understand each crime, but it focuses on motive, psychology and justice rather than on lingering over violence. Some cases involve children and sexual violence, so readers sensitive to those themes should take care.
Was Dennis Nilsen Scottish?
Yes. Dennis Nilsen was born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, though he committed his murders in north London. He’s believed to have killed as many as 15 young men in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was jailed for life in 1983, and died in prison in 2018.
Who was Scotland’s first serial killer?
Peter Manuel is often called Scotland’s first known serial killer, for murders committed between 1956 and 1958. Burke and Hare came long before him, though, committing at least 17 murders in Edinburgh in 1828 to sell bodies for dissection. Which name you give depends on how you define a serial killer.
What did “not proven” mean in Scottish murder trials?
“Not proven” was Scotland’s third verdict, an acquittal with the same legal effect as not guilty. It was abolished for all new criminal trials from 1 January 2026 under the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. Many historic Scottish true crime cases were decided while it still existed.
Scottish True Crime Stories
Scottish Killers: 25 True Crime Stories is out now. I hope it grabs you, disturbs you and maybe, just maybe, makes you think differently about the people around you. Because here’s the truth I came back to over and over:
Given enough pressure, loss or rage, any one of us could be capable of something awful.
And if that doesn’t send a chill down your spine, maybe you’re the one I should be writing about next.
Stay safe,
Aaron
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