The Shankill Butchers

The bestselling non-fiction book from the definitive writer on Ireland's tumultuous past. A gruesome investigation into one of Britain's most brutal and horrifying murder cases, perpetuated by the infamous serial killers Murphy's gang.

The bestselling investigation of one of Northern Ireland's most brutal and infamous murder cases.

'Makes for gripping but altogether terrifying reading' Washington Times

'Dillon is recommended reading for anyone wishing to understand the complexities of British-Irish politics. He stands alone as one of the most creative writers of our time' Irish Times

'This was the ultimate way to kill a man.'

In the 1970s, during some of the most violent days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a group of Protestant paramilitaries embarked on a spree of indiscriminate murder in the Shankill area of Belfast, leaving thirty Catholics dead. Their leader was Lenny Murphy: a fanatical Unionist whose childhood was marked by sectarian violence, Murphy swore revenge on all Catholics, and with his gang wreaked havoc onto an already fractured city.

Not for the squeamish, The Shankill Butchers is a horrifying and detailed account of one of the most brutal series of murders in the history of Northern Ireland - a phenomenon whose real nature has been obscured by the troubled and violent context from which it sprang.