I Could Murder A Podcast review

Rating –

This isn’t a podcast I found on Reddit, or even from the all knowing algorithm. I can thank my fellow commuter AJ for this one, so thanks for the tip. It seems like a fair swap for all the other shows I’ve bored you with over the weeks! That’s the good thing about what I do here. So many people like podcasts, and everyone likes different shows, so I can get a broad range quite easily. The trick is separating the wheat from the chaff.

It was only a few weeks ago that I reviewed Red Thread, a podcast that I just couldn’t get along with. How does this show compare though? Well, the :tldr answer is just above the opening paragraph, but who only wants that? Don’t you want to read my thoughts like some unethical secret government child experiment?

So what’s it about?

ICMAP (as I will be calling it from now on, what is it with shows with long titles anyway?) is a UK based true crime podcast. By that I mean that the hosts are based in the UK, not the crimes. well not all of them anyway. The world of murder and cruelty is vast, and the UK can pretty much hold its own here.

The crimes are mostly ones that have been covered elsewhere. The names, now standard issue for true crime podcasts the world over. Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgeway, Fred and Rose West, Lucy Letby. A true rogues gallery of the despicable and depraved.

There are over 150 episodes so far, so if you are craving some murder on your morning commute, then maybe you should give this a go. Or maybe not.

Is it any good?

The main comparison show I can think of is LPOTL, which covers a lot of the same ground, albeit from a more comedic standpoint. That’s a pretty high benchmark to meet.

Whilst I have a strong stomach when it comes to true crime podcasts, I do have to question the use of the sounds of an actual baby crying in the Beverly Allitt story. That was a bit much, even for me.

It is, however, quite refreshing to hear a show like this presented by British people. The US seems to have cornered the market here (at least as far as I’m aware). To be honest, While I do listen to shows like this, I prefer other styles. No matter who presents them.

My main problem with this show is that it seems a bit rushed. The episodes average only about an hour each, and there’s a real sense that after setting the scene, they just wrap it up to fit a time slot. By comparison, a lot of the same stories on LPOTL would be three or four hours, and they apologise for not going deeper. I don’t think there’s any harm in spreading stories out into multiple episodes, especially if there’s more to cover.

I will say this though. With an episode list as extensive as this, I only get to listen to a fraction of the episodes to make my mind up. This isn’t a terrible show by any means, and I’ll keep it in my list to revisit now and again. Who knows? Maybe I’ll re-review it like I did with Disgraceland!

Final thoughts

I have read that a lot of people get turned off true crime podcasts because of the hosts’ ghoulish love of depravity. They revel in describing all the heinous deeds in great detail in some effort to be edgy.

This podcast isn’t like that. The hosts actually say that they have left certain details out of some cases. By doing this you can learn about the cases, and there are certainly some parts that may upset you, but that is the nature of the beast unfortunately.

If you found LPOTL too much to handle (and I can’t blame you there), then this show is perfect to scratch your true crime itch. Ultimately though, LPOTL is still the best in this area.

You can get I Could Murder A Podcast here:

https://www.greatpods.co/podcasts/i-could-murder-a-podcast-1026396

For more great reviews, I recommend GreatPods

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