From the fictional to the all-too-real, London has established itself as a tourist centre for mystery and the macabre. ♦
When visiting many different bookstores all around London, I always found myself in the true crime section , though I rarely had to look for it too hard: the genre was always easily accessible and even promoted in some stores. With an increased interest in true crime over recent years due to documentaries, podcasts, and news coverage, there is no question as to why more and more people find themselves looking to buy something in the genre. Though it was a different experience for me to be able to step into another culture and learn about its history of true crime, which in many ways London puts front-and-center.
For instance, one of the events I took part in during my time in London was the Crime and Punishment walking tour, where we visited a number of famous sites like St. Paul’s Cathedral (once a site for public executions) as well as the Whitechapel district in the East End of London, where Jack the Ripper stalked his victims before killing them. We went to the site of the Old Newgate Prison, where Charles Dickens wrote one of his first pieces, "A Visit to Newgate," describing the experiences of the men, women, and children imprisoned there and the harsh conditions they lived in. Although it was one of Dickens' earlier works, "A Visit to Newgate" set the tone for many of his future novels.
Then there’s London’s influential history of crime fiction, including the works of Agatha Christie. Maybe it's because I read multiple stories of hers throughout my time in London, or maybe because she is the perfect crime fiction writer, but fiction writers nowadays would have to work hard to earn the title of a “modern day Christie.” Christie's books are famous around the world, but most prominent in her birthplace of England. She was first published in 1916, but her stories seem to only get more popular as the years go on, and her works are still being turned into movies and plays. I had the opportunity in London to see one such adaptation in the form of a live performance of Witness for the Prosecution. The performance on its own was spectacular, but what made it most interesting was the twist ending that was added for the play adaptation by Christie herself. This type of change, done by the author, is fascinating to me: it gave Christie a chance to alter the original story, so that even those familiar with the original would leave the theater surprised, but it allowed the audience to still watch the original ending unfold beforehand.
No discussion of London-based crime fiction would be complete without Sherlock Holmes, first introduced in 1887 and still perhaps the most famous detective to come out of London. The timeless adventures of Holmes and Watson are still told in many forms today, and aside from constant adaptation into media like television shows and movies, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective stories are also appreciated and homage’d throughout London’s pubs, museums, and even live performances. The stories of Sherlock Holmes might not have been the beginning of the detective fiction genre, but they cemented in the minds of readers and the public what detective fiction ought to be.
In many ways London has been the catalyst for how we see both true and fictional crime portrayed in the media. Whether it be through books, movies, museums, or performances, London has established itself as one of the most influential places in the world for lovers of the crime genre.
