Murder Ballads
Illustrated Lyrics & Lore

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for the ARC. As someone who enjoys the spooky side of folk music, this dive into the historical sources of various murder ballads was very satisfying. It addressed the dark, complex, and often prejudiced ways that the stories of real people are transfo......more

This book is a brilliant combination of history, folklore, lyrics, and beautiful artwork that I absolutely loved. Murder ballads are not something I knew a lot about going into this book, but the concept was intriguing and the book cover is gorgeous - and before I even finished the foreword I was ho......more

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 4/29/2025. There is nothing quite so haunting as a good solid song that talks about murder and violence and wraps it all up with a near-mythic sense of The Other. I say this with a completely straight face becau......more

Murder ballads is an intriguing book that had me hooked from the start . Who knew that one of my favourite clash songs originated as a balled . You’ll find it in the book along with others that you somehow remember but don’t know where from . A magical masterpiece. I shared a post on Instagram of th......more

Loved the art, loved the history, loved that in some cases these songs were the only means of telling stories in the absence of social justice. Also fascinating- society’s (near always?) obsession with dead young women, and the ways songs traveled from country to country, genre to genre before techn......more