Note: Thank you to NetGalley, White Owl Publishing, Charlotte Booth, and Brian Billington for the advanced reader copy of the book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.
London is one of my favorite places to travel to. In the past few years, I’ve been there about five times and still feel there is so much more there to see. I’ve ridden the hop-on, hop-off bus a number of times and love hearing the stories behind many of the places around the city. With that in mind, I approached The True Crime Lover’s Guide to London as a possible tool to use the next time I’m in the city.
Upon reading it, I could see the book being used from two perspectives. The first half of the book is a guide to locations based on crimes. Trying to be sensitive, the authors did not focus on any murders after 1975. There were plenty of other crimes to highlight, though. Some of the infamous robberies that took place I had never heard of and it was a bit humorous to read about the female gangs that were present in the mid-20th century.
The second half of the book was the crimes by location. It was really just a different sorting order with the same information as the other half. I found this part to be the one I would pay attention to if I were a true crime lover in London. I have been to some of the locations they highlight. I can’t remember if I was told any information that’s in this book, though. It does honestly portray the connections to various crimes, even clearing up rumors about one of the pubs I’ve been to several times.
This last section also helps people interested in creating their own tours of true crime locations in London. There are pub crawls and walking tours highlighted making it easy for readers to plan their day based on what interests them. There’s some overlap with churches, cemeteries, former prisons, and the like.
I liked The True Crime Lover’s Guide to London for what it was. At 200 pages, you’re actually only getting 100 pages (or less) of information and the rest is a repetition of the information being sorted a different way. There are also pictures of many of the locations, making it easy to find the place a reader might be looking for. Far from complete, it’s still interesting for people who are true crime fans.
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Categories: Book Reviews
Why did I think you were coming to London this summer? Have you been? or is it stull in the future?
I was there for the baseball games in June. Didn’t really have any extra time, just for the games and back home.
Thanks for the review. I actually saw this book come up on amazon recently and wondered about it. Thanks for the heads-up that the content is effectively halved. Still sounds interesting though 🙂
It is very interesting. Just have to be aware of what you’re actually getting. There’s some great information for people who want to tour these places without a guide.