A fascinating read that I can't wait to use next time I visit London. Full of facts this is A must read for anyone heading to England

'Bloody London: 20 Walks in London, Taking in its Gruesome and Horrific History' by David Fathers is a book of gruesome walks through London.

London is an old city and has seen it's share of macabre events from the plague to IRA bombings and the horrific murders of Jack the Ripper. This illustrated book takes the reader on walks through neighborhoods pointing out grisly events like bombings, fires, and ghastly murders.

I like true crime, so the idea of tourism based around it is appealing. Since we can't travel at the current time, it's fun to have at least an armchair visit to places. I wish book had had some photos instead of illustrations, but that is a minor quibble.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

An excellent reference book for fun walks around London.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

As much as I love London. I couldn't read this book, because of my bad connection, but what I saw was good drawings that spark the imagination..

Overall I enjoyed reading this book. Since travel is difficult now I have been armchair traveling. This book includes maps and brief descriptions of prisons and places where crimes too place. There are no recent crimes includes so these are all historical crimes. Many of the crimes are domestic crimes not headline grabbing. I did learn a lot about crime and punishment in London. Unfortunately many of the places are no longer standing so I am not sure what there is to see on the walking tour. Only a few places are marked with historical plaques. Enjoy this fun guidebook

This book looked interesting. I was hoping to ge some walking tour maps with murder sites plugged in along the way. I was hoping for some big blockbuster stories but it’s been all low-level prostitute killings. It’s not sensational and it gets old quick
.It was a DNF for me. It just dragged on with too many boring stories about prostitutes and their lovers.

Now, this is a charming little book if you like murder and mayhem that is. Also good if you enjoy a bit of London history. This book takes you on various walking tours through London and points out where various crimes took place. Some of the buildings are there anymore but you get the idea. The section has a map and the loveliest little drawings. At first, I thought I would not like the drawings but I grew to like them and I think they added rather than subtracted from the book. The book was packed full of every kind of murder and law-breaking from the murder of the first police officer to gangland murders. The saddest to me was the beating and starving to death of a little girl named Frances in 1829, a workhouse orphan, who was apprenticed out to a lacemaker. I guess the abuse of these children was commonplace. This book was great because the entries were short, perfect to read between chores. Also great to read in quarantine when I was feeling restless and could not concentrate. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a chance to read this interesting book.

A map and a brief explanation of the 3 to 5 spots. Nice that a lot of the places on the routes are close together. The map is basic but get the idea of what street or train station is nearby. Its okay.

Good book for a walking tour through London. The maps were okay, and electronic formatting was off for illustrations and maps. I have seen better formats of walking tour books of London, but I am not sure how many of them are specific to this subject. It was okay, but not great.

Overall, I enjoyed this guide book. For those who are fans of true crime and want something a little different when exploring London than your typical tourist guidebook, I would highly recommend this. Also, those who live in London might enjoy getting to take a different look at their city with these walks that range from 0.8 km to 20 km which is accessible to a wide range of people.

I really enjoyed the maps and found them to be very easy to understand. The addition of underground and aboveground stations is helpful for orientation if you aren't familiar with the area and everything on the maps is legible and easy to discern.

The writing was well-done and interesting. I like the short and succinct descriptions; it makes it easier to read a little as you walk so you can get a feel for where you're standing. They're nice introductions to the locations and allow you to do a little more research on specific events that you're interested in. Not sure if this is because of the e-book copy but I did find the font a little difficult to read. It appeared so small in comparison to the illustrations and maps that I felt I needed to squint to read it which wouldn't be very helpful if I was planning on carrying the book with me while walking.

I was a bit disappointed by the illustrations. I don't think aesthetically they agreed with the dark and twisty stories that were being discussed. I think something a little darker and less cartoonish might have been better.

Received an ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher Bloomsbury USA for an advance readers copy of this book for an honest review.

Are you a fan of true crime ? Do you like to explore cities with that leans? Then this is the London guide for you, included are background information on the crimes and walking routes ( with little maps and all!)

While we may not be able to travel right now, we can all still dream of future travels while reading guidebooks. This is not a typical guide, as it’s geared toward those with an interest in true crime. Should I ever make it to London, I look forward to using some of the suggestions.

Each David Fathers book is a treasure. I have all of his past books and they have a permanent space in my collection of London guidebooks. His wonderful illustrations are the first thing that draw you in, and then once you actually get around to reading the accompanying text, you realize how interesting and well-researched his books actually are. This one is a bit different from the others, which had waterway themes, although he cheekily sticks to the liquid theme with "Bloody London". Laid out in a series of walks over many neighborhoods in London, it's really quite a testament to that city's history. You walk through an ancient field of battle where Roman legionnaires warred with Celtic natives, stroll a few feet away to former homes of Elizabethan fraudsters, and then finish at a pub where a Satanist aristocrat killed his former nanny in the Swinging 60s...or something like that. Though darker and much more macabre than Fathers's previous works gently leading to strolls down the Regent Canal or the Thames riverbank, it doesn' matter. I'll be hanging on to this one too.

This is the perfect book for true crime fans who will be traveling to Great Britain. Each section contains an easy to follow map for walks of different lengths with "stops" marked on each tour. There is an accompanying paragraph about crimes that happened at that location. Most of these crimes were unknown to me. While there isn't a lot of information about the crimes, Fathers gives plenty of facts that you can easily research on your own. I am looking forward to going on these walks in the COVID-19 free future.

This book solicits to the crime enthusiast. It contains short walks along routes where murders have occurred with stop-points for each story. While the maps and stories were good, there was something lacking--be it the layout of the free ebook edition I received, or the lack of overall depth, content, external resources. If you like bare-bones, or are bored in London (?!), check this out. It may not be my first walk-through London tour book I'd pick up.

AUTHOR

David Fathers is the author of Bloody London and several other publications on Great Britain’s capital city. You can find more about him here: https://londonist.com/london/uncategorized/david-fathers

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

Those who want a crime magazine experience may consider this title.

SYNOPSIS

Bloody London is sort of a travel-log of London locations where true crimes took place. Included are suggested routes to aid the reader on any self guided tour.

I was excited to get a copy of Bloody London, by David Fathers and when the opportunity arose, I jumped at it. What started as anticipation filled joy quickly turned into a serious disappointment. It’s instantly apparent that the books concept was poorly executed. The illustrations were ill matched to the body of the text. The maps were less than useless. In addition, the narrative was simple to the point of being insulting to the reader. Rather than a roundly described crime with context and characters, almost all the crimes were a sentence or two long. It’s frustrating how little information there was to get my teeth into. This lack of substance continued for page after page and quickly became tedious.

I rarely receive my favorite type of subject – true crime. Writing about true crime is a time consuming task due to the twists and turns of the average investigation. Books on this subject require long and arduous research, extensive lists of citations, endnotes, and a bibliography. Fact checking an actual investigation or story is an essential prerequisite. Bloody London by David Fathers was found wanting.

CONCLUSION

Bloody London did not live up to my expectations. The book felt as though it had been cut and pasted rather than being well researched and thought through. The whole work felt weak, as though it was not even first draft ready. Usually when an author reference a specific item used in an actual crime or a location they will include photographs. This work used cartoon drawings. Overall, I felt there was potential had the author done his own research rather than relying on the limited list in his bibliography. I wanted this book to be great, but sadly I was disappointed. I sincerely hope that the author or the publisher consider a rewrite prior to public release.

My recommendation is: if you want a compelling read on London’s crime locations read Bloody London: Shocking Tales from London’s Gruesome Past and Present, by Declan McHugh.

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