Murder at No. 4 Easton Square by Sinclair Mckay

 True crime is a genre that has become very popular over the past few years, but it is a genre that I as a reader and reviewer can struggle with investing in and reading it. There has been a lot of discussion around the genre of true crime and the spotlight that it puts on the perpetrators/instigators versus the victims and others that were affected by the event. 

There have been some interesting articles written about true crime, why people are so interested in it and why it can be really problematic. I will link some of these articles below. I don't think that all stories/books or anything else about true crime is always exploitative and problematic, but I also think that it is a case by case basis and about whether the audience can critically review and think of the genre. 

https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/true-crime-ethics.html - article about the ethics of true crime

https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/podcasts/true-crime-podcasts-why-are-we-all-obsessed/412453 - why are people obsessed with true crime? 

https://theappeal.org/whiteness-of-true-crime/ - the racial disparities in the publicity of true crime

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/aug/20/rachel-monroe-savage-appetites-true-crime-book-interview - this article has an interesting perspective on true crime from an author who has written a true crime book. 

As for this book, I found the idea of a true crime story based on something from the 19th century (1867) to be an interesting concept. However, I think that it also limited the book in some ways as well. But first lets mention some good things. 

-the author did a good job on writing impartially and casting suspicion on everyone involved in the story which as the case was never solved - it let the readers make their own decisions about each persons guilt. 

-there is a section towards the middle of the book that the author included newspaper clippings, photographs and other historical bits from that time

-the discussion of what happened to each of the participants of the case afterwards or at least what could be found on each of them. The book also showed the toll that crime and the press surroinding it can take on the people involved that led to a very sad ending for one of the people involved in the case - regardless of whether they might have been involved in the crime. 

Some things that I did not enjoy - 

-I found the writing style a little hard to get into in parts of the book. There were some parts that really drew me in and I couldn't put it down and other parts where I really struggled to get through. 

-I felt like the story did somewhat jump from person to person and area to area without much connectivity. It is more of a personal tick of mine that I don't enjoy that very much. 

I would recommend this book if you like true crime and want to try another style of true crime. This is good for any crossover of history and true crime fans.

I received this book free from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group to review and this is my unbiased review. 

Four out of five stars