I absolutely understand why many previous readers found this book to be dry, but as a true crime enthusiast who also reads a significant amount of heavy non-fiction, I found it thorough, detailed, and gripping. It will certainly be a bit much for newer or more mainstream true crime fans, but that's not to say there's anything wrong with that. It's simply a different kind of crime book. I think this would be an excellent choice for anyone with an in depth interest in crime content, or a book club looking for a very lengthy discussion.

I very much enjoyed this book. Highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Sword for this advance copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I want to tell everyone that I stopped reading the book at the first case. I also skipped some parts of the introduction because I got dizzy reading it and I want to see if I can get interested if I read the first case. I commend the author for the detailed research for this and I understand that it was tedious job. I just can't get myself interested in it. Maybe it's something personal or maybe I was looking for something or expected something from it but I did not have it.

Unsolved London Murders is a compendium of 20 true crime stories of ALL unsolved murders across London in the 20s and 30s in all of their macabre horror, mystery and real-life barbarism.

Meticulously researched, the prose is strong, readable, and incredibly descriptive. All cases are unsolved and the murders described vary in modus operandi, reasoning, and at times, brutality. From prostitutes, a heinous child murderer, the murder of London landlady, and a potential serial killer, the 20 cases featured also include post mortems, witness statements, police procedurals of the time, and a selection of location images. Overall this is an enjoyable look at murders committed during those brief intermittent war years.

Often delving into London’s seedy underbelly it is interesting to note that crimes of this nature did happen during the (often professed) more innocent times, and it’s an easy and fascinating read overall.

I had to really hunt for the interesting bits, it covers a lot of murders I never herd off but still scary. This did have a few good cases.

This is a very interesting read. Really good opening of discussing how the Police were set up and how it all started, then leads you nicely into the crimes during this time.
Each chapter is talking about a different crime. Reading them it all seems very odd. I think thought that if these crimes took place in this day and age, they would have been solved, but not having the resources then would have made it difficult. So reading these crimes would have been mysterious at the time, but in this day and age it wouldn't, people are clearly getting away with lying!

Interesting read

A short introduction into policing in the 1920s and 1930s is followed by a chapter on crime between the wars. We are next treated to a nice little selection of vignettes of some of the unsolved cases from 1920s and 1930s London. They are not overly long - covering the who (victim), what (the murder), how (was it committed), and though some credible suspects lurk just off page and potential reasons given for the crimes, no-one has yet been brought to justice.

Definitely one for the fans of true crime - easily readable, and very accessible for a broader range of reader.

I read this book after receiving a free copy from the publisher in return for an honest review. Thanks go to the author and the publisher.

I am oddly fascinated with murder cases, both in the form f murder mysteries and true crime and so a book on unsolved murders seemed right up my street. I am also really into war literature, and being pitched at the 1920s to 1930s which is right between the two World Wars, this seemed a fascinating insight for me into the crimes inspired by the culture of the times.

I sadly found the book quite difficult to read and get into. The author himself at the beginning explains that the period between the 20s and the 30s was an unusually safe decade for London, and not many violent crimes occurred in relation to other decades. Strange then that the author chose this time frame to explore murders for his book. Also, by nature of an unsolved crime, there is no solution or satisfaction at the end of each story which is disappointing. The stories contained within read like police statements, overly factual and boring in places. There was not a habit of exploring the excitement in the murders and the narrative felt stilted and juddery. So and so said this, then so and so said the other, mr so and so was here and said so and so. Etc. The grammar was poor, with sentences flipping tense mid way which was also annoying.

However, I liked that each story was short and in some of them there was an element of intrigue. I liked the introduction which explained the policing of the time, and I liked the stats at the end.

This book is exactly as described.

The author takes you through 20 unsolved murders in London, talking you through what happened, who the victim was, and the suspects. Then they explain what the police did to try and catch the killer, and what made the cases unsolvable.

I enjoyed this book, learning about what happened back then and how some of the murders shaped London as we know it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the Advanced Release Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of true crime but I just couldn't get into this one. There were a lot of facts but unfortunately that was it. It really felt, at times, like I was reading a police report instead of a novel. Sadly, I don't think this author is for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this book for my honest review.

I love true crime books. I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately I had a hard time getting into this book. There was a lot of information but each unsolved crime read like a police report. Maybe I had too high of expectations.
Even though I had a hard time with this book I am interested in trying some other books by this author. Like I said earlier there was a lot of information so they are very thorough with their research. Maybe with the kind of book it was it was hard to put the information together any other way.

This book was a tough read for me. Though I am very interested in true crime novels, and have a love of history, I found this book to be a little dry. The topic of unsolved murders in London in the 1920s and 30s seems rather specific and it’s definitely not something a casual reader would pick up. This book reads more like a textbook, and maybe that is on purpose. Even so, I felt the author could have spiced up his writing style a little. He was definitely thorough in his research but again just a bit dry in writing style.

Unsolved London Murders
The author begins this book by discussing the feelings of horror and mystery that unsolved murders engender in those who explore them. We’re horrified by what happened and by the idea that the one who committed the act is still out there. The mystery created by the unknown is haunting. More than that, however, is the fact that people are becoming addicted to the mystery - we might have to look away, but we want the gruesome details. We may be horrified, but we want to see the clues and the suspects. I’m of the firm belief that unsolved murders capture the imagination because we all want to be the one to solve them.

This book presents a collection of unsolved murders in London from the 1920s - 1930s. Each is different, but each still combines the horror and mystery discussed. To be 100% transparent, I did not read every selection (I’m sensitive to anything involving children, so I skipped that one). Even so, this collection was an interesting read. I struggle to find the right word to describe the experience, because those like entertaining, difficult, or even interesting don’t quite fit. Intriguing, perhaps, comes closest. The details are abundant - you’re provided the evidence in the form of press reports, sourced material, and the actual murder files. The execution was not as well done as I’d hoped, however.

I have to note that, despite the discussion of horror and mystery and all that entails, this book was a bit dry. I struggled with the writing, which read like a report. To be fair, the description of this book states that the author uses “precise forensic detail” as he describes each unsolved murder. In doing so, however, it completely lacks more of the vivid description and narrative flow that would have increased engagement. This isn’t, after all, a topic that should ever be boring, and the writing came very close to that at times. Precise detail does not need to equal dull.

One point of immense dissatisfaction that needs to be pointed out is the formatting of this ebook. Please, get this fixed. Typically, when I come across a book with these formatting issues, I refuse to read it. I’m glad I stuck with this book, but the issues seriously impacted my reading enjoyment.

I also believe that the introductory sections on the police and the discussion of crime in London during this time period could have been shorter. While full of information, they begin to overwhelm (the term information dump would not be amiss here) and a condensing of this information would be beneficial.

This book is a narrative, boring mess. I could not get through it and the fact it had been published previously and the reviews already on it were not favorable should have taught me a lesson.

Honestly, I think the writing was the worst bit about it. Unsolved Mysteries this book should have been, instead it was a boring tread through history.

I wish the author had done diligent research into more interesting, unsolved crimes committed in London. The 1920s, 1930s time limitation is not important. He could have made the time limit wider if that was an issue he was attached to. The reason for saying this is thus: the quality of the writing is good. For s0meone like me, who is fairly well familiar with London's neighborhoods, it's very interesting to compare the London of 90 years ago with the London we visit now. But the problem with this book is that the murders he covers are bland, not very interesting at all. Some bar owner gets killed in her bar. What is so interesting about that? A young guy shot on a golf course. What's so interesting about that?THE POISONED EGG MERCHANT is a welcome exception. It's different, it's strange and it's mysterious. But the boring ones outweigh the interesting ones by a long shot.

Sometimes the only way to deal with something as hideous as murder is to face it full-on and examine it closely so that the fear and revulsion are taken away and only the facts remain. This book does just that.

Inside this non-fiction piece, we are taken through twenty different murders that would leave the blood run cold in the veins except they are discussed so clinically as to take away the emotional impact of the events. So many different scenarios, so many potential criminals. There were simple crimes (if there be such a thing) as a publican killed potentially for her considerable takings from her pub to the truly heinous crime of a little girl being sexually abused and killed. All evidence available is given to the reader and makes for dull reading except the knowledge that there were real flesh and blood people attached to these reports and their deaths were never solved, the guilty never paying for their crimes.

It's hard to assess who think the book might make exciting reading for. Indeed, this reviewers opinion of it making the stuff of a crime writers dreams to have access to these murders was confirmed that real-life crime is often the fodder of inspiration for crime writers, with examples of similar crime ideas being used by the likes of Agatha Christie. If one wanted to find a muse for a crime novel, here are twenty true crimes that could be written about in any manner of ways, because in real life they remained unsolved.

Perhaps the greatest failing of this book is that the author fails to create a connection between the victim and the reader, making it lack the emotive impact that could have made this book a powerhouse. It became tedious that each crime was spoken of so dispassionately, with facts and figures but no feeling. It felt like a laundry list of crimes, with one example after another written down. This person found dead. These facts and clues found by a police force that was woefully lacking in numbers to protect the people of London. All too often the poor and working-class are subject to unsolved crimes, but no exploration in this book as to why that may be so is given though to. Of course, this book is going to be emotionally unfulfilling because the crimes were never solved, making closure for each chapter impossible.

If you are an author looking for inspiration for a crime story to write this is perfect research to get you going. But as interest for an armchair sleuth, it was fairly dry.

I was fortunate to have been chosen by Netgalley to be given a copy of this book in exchanges for an honest review.

I love reading about true crime, but I have to admit, my focus and reading has mostly been around the serial killers of the more modern era (1970s onwards).
This book appealed to me for two reasons;
1) it was of an era that I hadn’t really ever focused on much other than to admire the aesthetics of the flapper girls.. very superficial I know!
2) The crimes and cases discussed still remain unsolved.
The book begins with a brief background of policing in that era, mostly focused around the metropolitan force in London, and how the force was very unevenly spread out.
Within this introduction, I found it very disjointed and at times hard to follow. There was no clear timeline; some paragraphs are disorganised: jump back and forth between dates creating some confusion. A steady timeline in this instance would have been more simple and easy to follow.
There were also some references to fictional books and characters such as Agatha Christie etc, which were not really relevant and doesn’t add anything to the book. I didn’t feel any better for having read those sections.

Now, the body of the book is made up of actual cases where the author brings our attention to unsolved murder cases of the era.
The author uses old case files as his sources, and references several resources in order to build each story and case for us.
We get a fairly good sense of who each person was before they were victims, and I feel that the author has tried to maintain a sense of humanity rather than just presenting the victims as statistics.
The cases are discussed with as much detail as the era allows, various ‘persons of interest’ are also discussed and quite often there is a fairly likely candidate of the person most likely to have committed the crimes, but there was not sufficient evidence to bring charges against them.

Overall, once got past the awkward introduction, I enjoyed this book, I discovered lesser known cases that I’d never previously heard of, made all the more tragic that a killer was never caught, and that the victims to this day have no justice.
We are left to ponder on the idea that we have so many resources to hand now; forensics and sciences, not to mention criminal psychology play such a part in our modern policing and investigations, 100 years on we are in a much better position to bring murderers to justice.

I will definitely be looking at this author more in the future, and I’m very grateful to have been introduced to his work.

An interesting true crime book. The stories are interesting, but unsensational. The author does a good job of presenting the event and facts, as well as any conclusions.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unsolved murders are nothing new in the world. There are some that boggle the imagination, and one wonders how some managed to remain unsolved. In the Unsolved London Murders by Dr. Jonathan Oates, there are twenty cases that have remained unsolved. Although these have happened over 100 years ago, there are some that could be solvable today, if Scotland Yard would reopen the cases.

I was intrigued with this book, as unsolved crimes always peak my interest. I was not disappointed! It was amazing and once I started, I could not put the book down! I read it in one sitting!

Put this book on your watch list, and get ready for a journey through some of the most puzzling and horrific unsolved murders in London!

I liked this as it focused on such a precise time period. The range of deaths were varied and the writing style was interesting and I was hooked the whole way through this. This was an interesting look at crime of that period. A must for any true crime fans who want something a bit niche.