This was a hard read, the events of the day still very much in the family’s mind as they delve into where they came from and why it ended in a massacre.

It’s a raw and heartbreaking look into a story that could have had such a different ending if someone had been willing to help the family before it was too late.

Thank you Sharon Cook and Margaret Carson for allowing a side that was neglected for so long to be known finally.

This review discusses a gripping true account of a mass murder that occurred in Ontario in 1963. Written by the killer's niece, Sharon, and survivor Margaret, who witnessed the brutal attack, the book provides a meticulous reconstruction of the events based on their memories and interviews with family members and witnesses.

The narrative delves into the disturbing history of dysfunctional families and tackles significant issues such as violence against women, the urgent need for better management of domestic abuse, and the underlying causes of mass murder, femicide, depression, and gun ownership. The authors shed light on the ongoing lack of support and rehabilitation for victims of violence, particularly women and children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emphasizing the need for further progress in addressing these challenges.

Robert Killin, the murderer, is portrayed as an enigmatic figure—an intelligent and scholarly man with peculiarities. Graduating from Queens University and becoming a United Church Minister, he lacked a genuine religious calling and struggled to connect with his congregation. His marriage to Florence, a young girl, was marred by suspicion of abuse, leading her to leave him and seek refuge with A. D. Hall, an older lawyer. However, Robert's relentless stalking and terrorizing of the family persisted for nearly two decades, despite their efforts to escape his reach. His deteriorating appearance and behavior, including carrying a gun and using profane language, raised concerns within the community about his mental instability and potential danger. Nevertheless, some still regarded him as a righteous man due to his past as a minister, associating Florence's actions with deserving his wrath.

The night of the massacre proved to be a horrifying ordeal, as Robert murdered his sister Gladys, his estranged wife Florence, and her youngest child, Patsy, who was just six years old. He then turned his violence towards his daughter, Pearl, who was also pregnant at the time. Margaret and her brother Brian managed to escape and seek help from neighbors, who promptly alerted the police. Several individuals, including Florence's new partner Tom Major, Pearl's husband Fred Campbell, and a teacher named Peter Miller, attempted to intervene and suffered severe injuries in the process. Margaret and Brian, both traumatized and with minor wounds, were taken to the hospital that same night.

The aftermath of the tragedy was a lengthy and arduous process of recovery for Margaret and Brian, who found support and refuge with Robert's compassionate brother and his wife. Throughout the book, crucial social, health, and legal issues are examined, shedding light on their complexities and the need for greater understanding and resolution.

Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review

I received this book for free for an honest review from Netgalley.

Who doesn't love a great mystery I know I sure do. This one kept me on my toes throughout the entire book. A great truth crying of a massacre that I didn't even know happened.

This was such a well research book. I thought the pacing was a little slow at beginning of book, but that is something that I typically expect when reading non fiction.

A fascinating case I have never heard of before . A little slow pace in the beginning but it got batter after we got through the family back ground .
Thank you for the chance to read and review the book

I really enjoyed this book. It was very insightful and an interesting read. Very well written and clearly researched.

This was a very interesting case that I have never heard of before. You can tell that the writers have done a lot of research. As they stated in the beginning this is more of a family memoir than a true crime book, but still it talked enough about the crime that it kept this true crime addict interested the whole way through.

This was an extremely harrowing tale of a father gone mad. It is very tragic what happened to this family. At times I was a bit confused as there are many, many characters that play a role in the events that took place. Also at times I felt the timeline jumped around and was a bit confusing. Overall a very sad and informative book about a horrible tragedy. I hope the authors were able to find peace.

As an in-depth and harrowing exploration of a little-known Canadian crime, The Castleton Massacre: Survivors’ Stories of the Killins Femicide by Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson is one of the best true crime texts published this year and is not to be missed by readers.

Authored by Margaret Carson, who miraculously survived the Castleton massacre, and her first cousin, Sharon, The Castleton Massacre provides a first-hand account of the crimes, and is part family history, memoir, and social critique. The book recounts the history of the Killins family, a history that leads to the events of May 2, 1963, when Robert Killins, a Queen’s University alumni and former United Church minister, went on a killing spree on the property that housed all of his family members. Over the course of one night, Killins killed every woman in his family but one, and unsuccessfully attempted to kill the men in his family as well. Margaret, the one female survivor, and her brother Brian, lived to recount the details of that terrible night, and to speculate as to why a man who was once so revered in his community began to terrorize and stalk the women in his family before murdering them one by one.

This book was a fascinating example of Canadian true crime. Cook and Carson weave a narrative around this crime that takes into account the family history of the Killins, as well as the social implications around trauma and domestic violence that both led to this crime and the emotional turmoil in the aftermath of such violence. Rather than beginning on the night of the massacre, the book rewinds, beginning in the nineteenth century and recounting the family histories of those involved in the crime. Margaret herself, who is not the child of Robert Killins but rather the child of his ex-wife Florence, murdered on the night of the attack, carefully emphasises the many different threads that brought the people on the property together that night. More than the biography of one single killer, the book is a family history and a memoir designed to highlight the important lives of every victim in the killing.

In addition to the book’s enormously detailed historical research, The Castleton Massacre also grounds its narrative in contemporary discourses around domestic violence and trauma, including psychological and medical language, statistics, and linguistic definitions that contextualize the crime for contemporary readers. Furthermore, the authors frame the crime alongside similar Canadian crimes that have galvanized the public and revealed a great deal about gender and social relations in this country, as well as the lack of resources for victims of domestic abuse and trauma.

Finally, this book taught me a lot about a crime I had never heard of. When The Castleton Massacre does narrate the events of the killings, the account is truly harrowing. Pieced together from survivors’ memories of that night and other oral histories/archival records, Cook and Carson carefully reconstruct the events of that night and it is truly rare to read such a terrible tale of violence. I was absolutely enraptured by the structure of this novel and the writing demonstrated a careful attention to detail and a strong narrative voice.

I highly recommend The Castleton Massacre to readers interested in Canadian true crime and history. This book was truly excellent.

Please add The Castleton Massacre to your Goodreads shelf.

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About the Writer:

Rachel M. Friars (she/her) is a PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. She holds a BA and an MA in English Literature with a focus on neo-Victorianism and adaptations of Jane Eyre. Her current work centers on neo-Victorianism and nineteenth-century lesbian literature and history, with secondary research interests in life writing, historical fiction, true crime, popular culture, and the Gothic. Find her on Twitter and Goodreads.

When eighteen-year-old Florence married thirty-one-year-old Robert Killins, she could never have dreamed that it would lead to murder. Although Florence gave birth to a daughter, Pearl, five years into the marriage, the relationship was not a happy one. Robert had always been an odd sort of person, once a United Church minister but unable to settle down in a congregation, he began to behave more & more erratically, including domestic abuse. When Florence eventually fled with Pearl, she met someone else, but Robert refused to grant a divorce. Florence went on to have three children with her new partner, but Robert was always in the picture. He became a relentless stalker of both Florence & their daughter, Pearl.

After almost twenty years, on May 2 1963, Robert's behaviour culminated in the deaths of every female in the family but one. Back then, domestic violence wasn't taken seriously & there were few avenues of escape for women trapped in violent marriages. Even following her death, Florence was initially blamed for provoking her estranged husband by leaving him & starting a new relationship. There were several survivors of that night, including two traumatised children from Florence's second relationship, Brian & Margaret. Through their accounts & those of others who knew the family, the events leading up to that night are recreated in this book.

I thought this was a moving account of a tragic story. Starting with the lives of Robert's parents, the authors take the reader through the early history of the family, to the events of that night, & the aftermath. It was sensitively done, keeping the shocking nature of the murders but not sensationalising them. The authors also look at the wider issues of domestic abuse & divorce in 1960s Canada, & how so many women were trapped, & also the rise of the later term 'femicide' for murders due to misogyny. The fact that the first time the issue of domestic violence was raised in Parliament by a female MP, many of the male MPs hooted & jeered is sickening. Things have improved slightly but women & children around the world still die every day at the hands of those who should care for them.

TW: stalking, violence, domestic abuse, death of a child, death of pregnant women, death of a pet.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Dundurn Press, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

The Castleton Massacre is a true crime novel, but seems to read more like a family memoir.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Dundurn Press and of course the authors, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:
On May 2, 1963 Robert Killins, a former United Church minister and graduate from Queen's University, killed his sister Gladys, his estranged wife Florence and her unborn child, his daughter Pearl and her unborn child, and Florence's youngest child Patsy.  Others were seriously injured.

Daughter Margaret (Peggy) and son Brian survived.  

Robert Killins had stalked and terrorized Florence, Pearl and the entire family for almost 20 years.  Then he murdered them.


My Opinions:
First, this is a really sad tale of a woman who could not escape her abusive husband.  Florence tried to move on, but Robert had so many rights in this time period, that escape was almost impossible. 

Unfortunately, this book didn't do much for me.   There was so much information that I felt was unnecessary to the narrative.  I often felt like I was reading a history textbook (and there were a lot of statistics quoted).  While trying to set the stage for the crime,  so much time was spent on the past, that it ended up being quite boring. Topics that seemed extensive, and didn't really relate to the murder included: farm-steading in Alberta,  the United Church of Canada,  the art scene in Ontario, Passchendaele.  There was also a lot of information on Gladys and Harold that was unnecessary.  I felt that there was just so much "filler" in the book, that I often wanted to quit reading.

I also felt that although only women were killed, it wasn't really a femicide, because he tried to kill the men as well.  I definitely agree with the term massacre.  I also agree that Robert was obsessed with Florence and Pearl, and that stalking to the point of building shacks on their property was over-the-top.  The authors tried to explain how "stalking" wasn't even in our vocabulary in that era, and the police could do nothing....not that they were ever consulted.

Although in a convoluted way, we did learn a lot about Robert, and it was interesting.  Robert had struggled with university, partly due to his inability to exercise self-discipline, lack of social skills, and strong biases.  He hated Germans, Roman Catholics, and people of colour (he even joined the Ku Klux Klan). His anger often exploded into screaming and temper tantrums, even as he grew older.  He was unwilling and unable to interact with others, intolerant, combative, and his ego knew no bounds.   He could, however, be loyal and kind to his family.  I'm still not sure if mental illness was the sole reason behind the murders.

I definitely enjoyed reading about Margaret and Brian, and how they survived.

So, overall, I will probably be in the minority on this one, and it was because I was expecting a true crime novel, and ended up reading a family memoir.  No doubt, It was a sad tale, but I found it boring.  Sorry.

4.5 stars

In May 1963, Robert Killins, a very intelligent man and a former United Church minister, murdered his (estranged) wife, his daughter, his sister, and his wife’s youngest daughter. He’d been stalking his wife and daughter for years since wife Florence tried to leave and travelled across the country from B.C. to Ontario to get away. His wife and daughter were both pregnant at the time of the murders. Two more of Florence’s children watched in horror as the murders happened, and were able to get away. They were 12- (Margaret) and 10-years (Brian) old at the time.

The book backs up in time to give a biography of both families – beginning with Robert’s and Florence’s parents, then Robert and Florence and their siblings and everything leading to 1963. It also included a section after the murders where Margaret and Brian came to live with their Uncle Harold and his wife and their youngest daughter (a teenager, the only child still living at home), Sharon, and the two tried to come to terms with what had happened and what they’d witnessed. The last bit of the book also talks about domestic abuse in Canada, in general. Margaret and Sharon are the authors of the book. They undertook a lot of research and got oral histories from many of the people still alive who remember it.

Wow! First a bit of advice – don’t read the chapter that describes the murders close to bedtime! It was terrifying and violent. With one of the authors having been there and the oral histories given by her brother who was also there and a couple of other people who tried to help, all put together, you get an awful feeling of being hunted (as I’m sure both Margaret and Brian felt)! That being said, I am a fan of true crime, and I do like biographies, so all put together, a very very good book. And murders I had never heard of before this.

Wow what a horribly sad book. I have never heard about the story before and I applaud Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson for telling the tale of The Castleton Massacre.

I had never heard of this case before but it was really fascinating. The copy itself was a formatted a bit strangely so it was tricky to read at times but on the whole it was engaging. I would like to find some documentaries on the case but there doesn't appear to be any.

I had an advance copy from NetGalley. This book was really interesting. To look at it with modern day eyes, one likes to think we have enough in place and enough helping agencies, but we never really do. You feel for this family, especially the kids back then it must have felt so awful to live with this situation and have people judge you.
This book gives insight into domestic violence, how you can’t just get away. It gives insight into mental illness and firearms. You read as Robert’s illness progresses and it’s scary.
It so shows the mindset at the time with church and divorce and women caught in the midst.
There is talk of trauma and reactions but because we didn’t know then what we know now, the family suffered, the survivors suffered. Those kids were living with trauma their whole lives. People could see it, but there were no resources or if there were it was limited.
I hated how after it happened Robert was portrayed in a different light and made to be pitied. But again we see that now, in various ways thanks to the media.
I feel like there’s parts missing. I kept wondering did Robert ever have a head injury as a child. The fact that his sister behaved as she did, and the mother and her disdain for her youngest. I feel like that family had genetic mental illness and wished there was more to that. The clinician in me, kept waiting for an aha moment, but that was not the focus of this book.
The only thing is it can be confusing, keeping two sides of very large families straight. I did struggle with that and had to go back to correct myself a few times.

I am so grateful to Sharon and Margaret for sharing this story. I had heard about the murders briefly before but having the story told from primary witnesses to the events made me sit and listen. Beautifully done and my heart just aches for the family and all they went through those many years ago.

Although the topic is horrifying, this book is fantastic. It is clear how thorough the research had been conducted in regards to the event itself but around the family involved also. Each segment is constructed differently (timeline for the murder events, per person in the background info) which makes it readable. The addition of images was great to form a connection to the story. In the eArc version, some formatting errors meant I was unable to see the floor plans from the victims houses but that would be an incredible detail to see.

I was impressed by the question segment at the end, to mop up any questions that didn’t direct fit into the timeline. Overall an interesting read although sad.

A terrific true crime investigation book and it's even more interesting by the time in history that this murderous crime happened. True crime buffs will love this and cringe at the events that happended.


I got this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In 1963, a disturbed man in Ontario, Canada, killed his estranged wife and several of his children in an unbelievably bloody scene.

The back story behind these murders shows a fascinating view of a truly dysfunctional family, as well as insight into a peculiar set of circumstances that allowed this violence to occur. Most of the book is based on personal interviews. It makes for good reading.

A very sad story of a familial massacre. The kind of stalking described in this book still persists in this day and age, and is quite horrifying to read. There is redemption though, with the surviving members taken in by family members, and living happy and fulfilling lives in the future, even though the trauma is not forgotten. Very interesting book.