Confessions of a Gentleman Killer by Johnny Payne

Book Review

Title: Confessions of a Gentleman Killer by Johnny Payne

Genre: Historical, Crime

Rating: 5 Stars

All I knew about this novel was that it follows Kilcairn who led a double life as a gentleman in high society and a killer who was known as the Gentleman Killer and this book is his confessions. Kilcairn doesn’t seem like someone that dangerous when we first meet him but we quickly learn he is. Not only does he grow through a heinous divorce after being caught sleeping with his mother in law, it is around this time he begins killing but the feelings have always been there as he explains about his teenage years and how even then he felt the urge to kill women while he slept with them. After the divorce he continued wooing women in order to kill them and he does it in a gentle manner compared to someone like Jack the Ripper who is to follow Kilcairn who was vicious in his killings. Kilcairn is basically just talking us through his life and how he came to being killing and the first few women he murdered which was interesting and I am excited to see where this novel goes.

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As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Kilcairn goes into great detail about his childhood and his relationship with a girl named Peggy, they had been friends and both worked on their parent’s farms. As they grew older this friendship naturally developed into a sexual relationship but there is an edge to violence in this and it dictates where his life is going to go. We learn that his now wife, Cecilia once had a fiancé before Kilcairn, who got her pregnant and abandoned her so she had to have an abortion and during this time abortion were very dangerous to perform and it has left psychological scars on Cecilia that makes them known in the form on night terrors. Her parents are treating this with opium but Kilcairn finds it strange that they are given separates bed and encourage not to engage in acts that husband and wife should. During this time Cecilia’s mother begins making moves on Kilcairn and he gives into her but there relationship is all about violence and has a hard BDSM edge to it. However, as time passes, Kilcairn doesn’t want any part in this relationship any longer and decides to move out with his wife. She ends up coming clean to him about her past and he isn’t angry with her and even helps her get off the opium and for a time they are happy but they can’t conceive a child possibly due to the damage done to Cecilia during her abortion but we know this happy marriage comes to an end sooner or later.

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, I was really enjoying learning about Kilcairn and the way he thinks but I did want to see more of his killing and how that impacted on him and possibly how it related to the opening scene of the novel. Just when Kilcairn’s life seems settled everything begins to unravel, at first this is just small things like the stock of his company for a railroad begins to drop before it plummets. Obviously, Kilcairn, Kip (His father in law) and any friends withdraw their stock before it crashes but as the railroad hasn’t even broken ground in two years, Kilcairn is now in deep water. He learns too late that Kip set him up to take the fall as the company was illegal as it was only a way for them to make money without doing any real work but lots of investors are suing Kilcairn for their money. IN addition to this he was also planning to stand for a seat in the House of Commons but he has to withdraw because of this as he is looking at either major debt or prison time. Kip has used him in order to blackmail Kilcairn into moving back in with them as he won’t be able to afford the house he has been renting and he won’t have enough money to buy it when he has compensated the investors. However, Kip is also aware of the affair taking place between Kilcairn and his mother in law, Kip’s wife which didn’t stop in fact, they met more frequently because Cecilia couldn’t give Kilcairn what he needed but at times he beats Priscila so badly it looks like she has been attacked and this is just another thing Kip can use against him leaving him in a very dangerous position.

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, I was eager to see what Kilcairn would do next and how he would transition from rough sex to murder. After moving into another property owned by Kip, Cecilia and Kilcairn are planning on moving to Ireland where they can be free of her parent’s influence once and for all. Kilcairn makes the first time alone to see if his parent’s are receptive and while his mother is, his father isn’t as he feels that Kilcairn has forgotten his roots which he has in a way. By the time he returns to London everything has fallen apart as Priscila has told her husband and daughter that Kilcairn slept with her and Kip tells him unless he takes the money offers and agrees to a smooth divorce he is going to ruin Kilcairn by claiming he raped his wife making it impossible for him to have a good life but Kilcairn refuses. Despite this he is able toe stablish his own solicitor’s practice and this is how he meets Deirdre after his first murder of a flower girl. Dierdre is looking for someone to help her over the will of her late husband and Kilcairn wins the case for her. Afterwards she invites him for dinner and he accepts despite knowing he shouldn’t, he sleeps with Deirdre and he senses in her that she might not be unresponsive to his rougher attentions that he used to act out with Priscila and she isn’t but he doesn’t ask for her consent and takes her in the way he wants. He leaves during the night contemplating this encounter and what it means especially after committing an act of murder not long before but we can see it has set Kilcairn on a new path.

As we cross into the second half of the novel, Kilcairn contemplates seeing Deirdre again but the day he decides to visit her, he realises that she has already taken another lover but has no way to prove it. She says she was coming to visit him as she is being sued and they discuss it there but the conversation eventually turns to the night they spent together and Kilcairn’s desire to repeat that night despite Deirdre’s protests. Eventually he snaps dragging her into the kitchen where she falls and bangs her head against the table. Kilcairn treats the bump with an ice pack and puts her into bed unconscious where he discovers that she had recently been with another man and he leaves returning to his office. He is awoken the following morning by a police officer informing him that Deirdre is dead and Kilcairn doesn’t react to this at all even when he is brought in for questioning as someone has claimed they saw him leaving Deirdre’s home at an inappropriate hour. Kilcairn without missing a beat claims that Deirdre told him that she has a lover that she was afraid of and urged the police to look for semen. The semen of Mr. Fisher is found and he is arrested however the case is thrown out of court and both Mr. Fisher and Kilcairn are free but he leaves London and he knows he will kill someone if he doesn’t. He finds himself in Cornwall where he is offered the chance to work on the railroads once more as a chance to get revenge on Kip and he takes it. However, a letter from Cecilia urging him not to go up against her father stops him in his tracks and he withdraws. From the outside he witnesses how close he came to being used once more and mentally thanks Cecilia for her advice which has always been sound.

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Kilcairn is struggling to find employment that holds his interest and his efforts in the romantic area are just as bad. While he beds many women and kills several more it seems that life has lost all meaning for him and nothing holds any pleasure for him anymore. That is until he meets Valerie, she likes the depraved side of Kilcairn and even encourages it often teasing him into a frenzy where his only option is to tie her up and have his way with her. Life seems to have some meaning again for him and even when the pair encounter Kip and Priscila for the first time since they threatened him, he isn’t worried about it because Valerie is at his side. She even teaches him how to please a woman and asks him to do things to her that he wouldn’t consider doing unless that woman was a prostitute or he was planning to kill. One thing to note is that during this time Kilcairn is questioned by the police more than once but his connection to William Gladstone saves him even if the man himself is unaware of it. The public have also taken to calling Kilcairn “The Gentleman Killer” even if they are unaware of who he really is and it is interesting the think that less than 30 years later London would be plagued by another serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

As we cross into the final section of the novel, I honestly had no idea how Confessions of a Gentleman Killer was going to end. I honestly think I would be satisfied either way, if Kilcairn is caught or if he isn’t. Seeing Kilcairn’s story come full circle and seeing what became of the Gentleman Killer was interesting and I really didn’t expect the role Valerie played in it all. Overall, I have to say Confessions of a Gentleman Killer was one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time and it really makes you think about the information being presented to you as a reader. I really liked how the focus was primarily only on one character but it didn’t feel boring or slow paced and I read it in one sitting. Highly recommended!

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Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com

I received this review copy from Edelweiss