What are the odds of a family murderer being named Killins? This is a well written look at the story of a rural Canadian mass murderer. A chilling true crime read. He tormented and murdered his long-estranged wife Florence and his daughter Pearl, who were both pregnant at the time. Pearl was his only child, now grown and expecting her first baby. Florence had been trying to get a divorce for twenty plus years, but Killins refused to give her one. She went on to have more children with her next life partner, A.D. Hall, they were Brian, 10, Margaret, 12 and Patsy, 6. Killins’ hatred filled rampage included murdering his only sister, Gladys. He also managed to kill his wife’s youngest child by A.D. Hall, Patsy. The other two children by Hall managed to survive.

There were several others who were injured while trying to intervene, among them were Florence’s current beau, Tom Major; and Killins’ son-in-law Fred Campbell. The most badly injured man was Peter Miller, a twenty year old teacher. This happened in the early 1960s when men were not held accountable for many cases of domestic violence. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book offers more than a case study of a terrible crime. It explores the culture and times which allow such behaviour as led up to the crimes to occur without punishment. Deeply moving, the book is a personal account without being at all sentimental in approach. Rather, the sense the reader gets is one of deep respect and a desire to understand and give legacy to the victims and survivors. The book concludes by going beyond the crime to consider such contributing factors as the legislative framework and accessibility to firearms as well as related issues such as the treatment of trauma in children.

It’s incredible that a mass murder of this magnitude within one family isn’t better known, I had certainly never heard of it prior to reading this book.
Well written and informative, this is a great story although extremely sad.

This book will absolutely ruin your day, but not because it isn't well written. The story of a femicide in 1963 by a former preacher, The Castleton Massacre is both a memoir and a heart wrenching true crime drama. In reading the description, I was prepared for more true crime than memoir but was pleasantly surprised to find it was the opposite.

Written by family members, this book looks at the lives of everyone involved, not just the killer. There is a long overdue push in true crime writing to focus more on victims than to glorify the killers and this work gets the balance perfectly. I was fascinated about how everyone came together from various walks of life before the massacre and found myself equally riveted about the lives of the survivors afterward.

If you are someone who just wants the blood and guts of a true crime novel then you may be put off by the portions of the book which chronicle the lives of the family. However, for someone who wants a full accounting of a tragedy, this book will meet and exceed your expectations.

(This book was provided to me as an advance copy by Netgalley and Dundurn Press. The full review will be posted to HistoryNerdsUnited.com on 8/23/2022.)

It is difficult to know how to rate a book such as this where it is a true crime reality being told to the reader.

I think it is always interesting to understand how someone ends up committing the crime of murder which occurred in this story. The writers take you through the story with graphic aids to help the reader understand and visual the names to faces.

It is always important to give the victims a voice and in this tragic case I think the writer has told their story quite well.

I did not know if this case until requesting the book but it is one filled with so much tragedy it made my heart ache and cry as I read the chapter where the massacre took place. Unfortunately innocent lives where taken away from a man who thought he had the right to.

Before I requested this book I had never heard of the massacres that feature in this book but I was intrigued. After finishing the book I am even more intrigued so I am now researching it some more. This book is as good as any thriller novel except that it is non fiction and these murders all took place.
It was well written with an exceptional level of research gone into it, it is a compelling read and I whizzed through it.