A Crime Writer Goes To Hollywood...
Dear listeners,
For the newest instalment in the Green Penguin Book Club series, I got to venture a little into a new sphere: the golden age of Hollywood. The book I look at in this episode, The Rasp by Philip MacDonald, set its British author on a path that resulted in a move to Los Angeles and a successful career in the movie business. It felt right, then, to have as my guest to consider The Rasp the film historian Sergio Angelini, who makes his own podcast about all things film noir and crime fiction.
The Rasp was first published in 1924 and then joined the Penguin series in January 1937 as Penguin 79. It was Philip MacDonald's first solo novel (he had previously written two books with his father under the collective pseudonym "Oliver Fleming"). The Rasp also marks the first appearance of Colonel Anthony Gethryn, an ex-intelligence officer amateur detective about whom Philip would eventually write twelve books. Eleven of these appeared in the 1920s and 1930s and then he published one final Gethryn in 1959, The List of Adrian Messenger.
In 1931, MacDonald moved to Hollywood with his wife, the writer F. Ruth Howard. His fiction had been popular in Britain and he seems like an obvious candidate for membership of the Detection Club, but since he emigrated the year it really got going he was probably not included because of his absence. He continued to be an experimental and interesting crime writer, though, publishing books in the 1930s like X v. Rex, an early example of a serial killer whodunnit, and The Maze, which was his attempt to create a fully fair play epistolary mystery. Meanwhile, he was also writing film scripts for series like those starring Charlie Chan and Mr Moto, and occasionally adapting his own work for the screen too. As you'll hear towards the end of this episode from Sergio, MacDonald's film career is very interesting indeed, spanning quota quickies, science fiction, and films that drew cameos from actors like Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. I finished our conversation with a long list of films I wanted to watch and I hope you will too.
The Rasp definitely falls into the category of "book I would probably never have read if it weren't for the podcast" but I don't regret it for a second. I found Philip MacDonald's debut to be a fascinating blend of Sherlock Holmes/Dr Thorndyke meticulousness and a more dashing, adventurous style that reminded me of Margery Allingham. Anthony Gethryn's journalism connections and his knowledge of detective fiction put me strongly in mind of past Green Penguin read Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley and A.A. Milne's The Red House Mystery, but there's much better momentum in this book, such that you can read it like a real pageturner (I read it in one late night and one early morning!). Sergio said during our interview that several of the big climactic scenes feel very cinematic and I agree — even though MacDonald wasn't yet writing for the screen, he already had a good sense for atmosphere and pace. I certainly finished work on this episode keen to try another of his novels. Perhaps I'll skip to the end next and try The List of Adrian Messenger, since the film adaptation sounds incredible.
This was my last Green Penguin read of 2025, but there will be one more episode coming about the series before the end of the year, before I get stuck into another batch of books with new guests in 2026. There's a really interesting mixture of titles coming up in the sequence, with a couple of truly famous titles (by Dorothy L. Sayers and Arthur Conan Doyle respectively) as well as several that I'd never even heard of before. Also, I think next year is the year that I will finally make it into triple figures in terms of the book's numbering — one of my reads will be Penguin 101! You can browse the full Penguin series and see what's coming up next on this handy list.
Until next time,
Caroline
You can listen to every episode of Shedunnit at shedunnitshow.com or on all major podcast apps. Selected episodes are available on BBC Sounds. There are also transcripts of all episodes on the website. The podcast is now newsletter-only — we're not updating social media — so if you'd like to spread the word about the show consider forwarding this email to a mystery-loving friend with the addition of a personal recommendation. Links to Blackwell’s are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you).