Dear listeners, Welcome to the first reading recommendations newsletter of 2026! Once a month, I pop into your inbox to share what the Shedunnit team — that is, me and my production assistant Leandra — have been reading while we are making the show. Perhaps you will find some inspiration for what
This is the Shedunnit Book Club Fact File episode for January 2026.
This is the Shedunnit Book Club Conversation episode for January 2026.
Putting Agatha Christie's alter ego in the spotlight.
Caroline: We spend a lot of time alone with our favourite writers, just them and us. With nothing but the page separating us, a close connection develops. Even though we only actually know what they have chosen to put in their work, a sense of familiarity and camaraderie often develops.
Was this Agatha Christie's greatest piece of misdirection?
Published: 1972 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 7 Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver investigate a decades-old tragedy to determine whether a young woman's parents died in a murder-suicide or double murder. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a British author who became the best-selling novelist of all time. She
Published: 1969 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 6 A teenage girl is drowned in an apple-bobbing tub at a Halloween party after boasting she once witnessed a murder, prompting Hercule Poirot to investigate her claim. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a British author who became the best-selling novelist of all
Published: 1966 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 5 Hercule Poirot helps a young woman who claims to think she may have committed murder while sharing a London flat with two other girls. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a British author who became the best-selling novelist of all time. She wrote
Published: 1961 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 4 A dying woman's list of names leads Mark Easterbrook to investigate a sinister trio of women in a village who may be connected to a series of convenient deaths. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a British author who became the
Published: 1956 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 3 Hercule Poirot investigates a mock murder hunt at a fête that turns deadly when a real body is discovered on the grounds of a country estate. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a British author who became the best-selling novelist of all time.
Published: 1952 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 2 This novel follows Hercule Poirot as he investigates the murder of an elderly charwoman to save a wrongly convicted man from hanging, uncovering secrets from the past that connect to present-day crimes. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was a British author who became
Published: 1936 | Series: Ariadne Oliver 1 Cards on the Table is a clever mystery where Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver Colonel Race and Superintendent Battle investigate the murder of a man killed during a bridge game, with only four suspects who were all playing at his table. About Agatha Christie Agatha
Was this Agatha Christie's greatest piece of misdirection?
This is your audiobook for January 2026.
Published: 1934 | Series: Parker Pyne A collection of short stories about Christie's lesser known sleuth Parker Pyne, a retired government employee who considers himself to be a "detective of the heart". It also contains the first appearances of Miss Lemon and Mrs Oliver, two characters who
Dear listeners, For the final Shedunnit episode of 2025, I am asking all six of the guests who joined me for Green Penguin Book Club episodes this year to take a nostalgic look at the place the series has in their own lives. In particular, I asked them to remember
We’ve got puffins, peacocks and penguins galore!
We’ve got puffins, peacocks and penguins galore!
We’ve got puffins, peacocks and penguins galore!
Dear listeners, We have arrived at our final reading update of 2025! I hope you have enjoyed getting this monthly peek into what Leandra and I are reading while we are working on Shedunnit, and have been inspired to pick up a book or two yourself as a result. We&
Published: 1930 | Series: Standalone This 1930 mystery novel is told entirely through letters, diary entries, and documents. When a man dies from apparent mushroom poisoning, the evidence seems clear, until a brilliant discovery reveals it might be murder, launching an intricate investigation into whether his death was accidental or carefully
Published: 1892 | Series: Sherlock Holmes Short Stories Collection 1 This is the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, containing twelve tales that were published in the Strand Magazine between July 1891 and June 1892. It includes such classics as "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Adventure
Leandra and I discuss a complete breakdown of the trends and statistics involving the book club's voting polls and short list results.
Published: 2024 | Series: British Library Crime Classics This anthology of short stories includes cases from some of London's finest fictional detectives, including Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, John Dickson Carr’s Dr Gideon Fell and Anthony Gilbert's Inspector Field. The Shedunnit Book Club's
Dear listeners, This is seventh time December has rolled around during the time I've been making Shedunnit, which means that I've had plenty of opportunity to think about festive and wintry themes in murder mysteries. And, with the exception of 2022 (when I lost my voice
Make sure nobody has tampered with your turkey…
Make sure nobody has tampered with your turkey…
Make sure nobody has tampered with your turkey…
A closer look at the Detection Club co-founder.
Published: 1938 | Series: Standalone The apparently natural death of a village squire in Dorsetshire turns out to be a nasty case of arsenic poisoning that sets tongues wagging. About Anthony Berkeley Anthony Berkeley (1893-1971) was an influential British crime writer who revolutionized detective fiction through psychological complexity and unreliable narration.
This is the Shedunnit Book Club Conversation episode for December 2025.
This is the Shedunnit Book Club Fact File episode for December 2025.
This is your audiobook for December 2025.
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
Film historian Sergio Angelini joins Caroline to discuss a rather cinematic whodunnit.
Green Penguin Music Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. And welcome back to Green Penguin Book Club, a series within Shedunnit that documents my journey of reading and discussing every crime or green title from the main Penguin series, in order. Our book today is The Rasp by
Film historian Sergio Angelini joins Caroline to discuss a rather cinematic whodunnit.
Published: 1924 | Series: Anthony Gethryn #1 Philip MacDonald's first detective novel introduces amateur detective Anthony Gethryn and follows him as he investigates the murder of a cabinet minister bludgeoned to death with a wood-rasp at his English country house where everyone seems to have an alibi. About Philip
Published: 1926 | Series: Hercule Poirot 4 Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy widower, is found stabbed to death in his locked study. The victim's friend Dr. Sheppard narrates as the brilliant detective Hercule Poirot, newly retired to their village, investigates the murder. Multiple suspects emerge, each with secrets and motives,
Published: 1934 | Series: Lord Peter Wimsey 10 A car accident strands Lord Peter Wimsey and his manservant Bunter in the Lincolnshire fens on New Year's Eve. Taken in by the vicar of nearby village Fenchurch St Paul, Lord Peter ends up assisting with a record-breaking bell-ringing attempt, and
Published: 1941 | Series: Hannasyde & Hemingway 6 | Also found under the title A Christmas Party Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard investigates when wealthy Nathaniel Herriard is stabbed to death in his locked bedroom during a tension-filled Christmas house party at Lexham Manor. About Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (1902–1974) is
Published: 1942 | Series: Francis Pettigrew 1 A legal mystery in which High Court judge Mr Justice Barber receives anonymous death threats while traveling England's Southern Circuit, prompting barrister Francis Pettigrew to investigate before the threats become reality. About Cyril Hare Cyril Hare was the pseudonym of Alfred Alexander
Published: 1949 | Series: Inspector Cam, Book 1 In Joan Cockin's 1949 mystery novel, Inspector Cam investigates the murder of a nosy civil servant in the village of Little Biggling, where postwar tensions simmer between locals and the Ministry of Scientific Research staff who have overstayed their wartime occupation.
Dear listeners, This is the annual period where I begin to feel like I'm racing towards the end of the year, trying to get all the podcasting done before taking a break over Christmas. As such, my reading becomes very functional for a while — if it's
Published: 1944 | Series: Standalone, one of Agatha Christie's six novels written under her "Mary Westmacott" pseudonym. Stranded between trains on a journey back from the Middle East to England, smug, self-satisfied Joan Scudamore finds herself reflecting upon her life, her family, and finally coming to grips
Dear listeners, I know exactly when I started work on today's new episode of Shedunnit. It was 22nd January 2025 when I cracked open Georgette Heyer's first work of crime fiction, Footsteps in the Dark. (I do love to document what I read and when.) Since
Published: 1932 | Series: Standalone A brother and sister inherit a country house built on the foundations of an ancient abbey, and soon discover it harbours a mysterious and violent past. Is the house merely haunted, or is a murderer at work? About Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (1902–1974) is best
Why aren’t her dozen detective novels better known?
If I say the name Georgette Heyer, it immediately conjures a certain set of images, doesn't it? Debutantes in ballgowns designed to have the Empire silhouette, dashing men in flawless Regency evening dress, or else the military uniforms of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries. Opulent Mayfair townhouses, beautiful
Why aren’t her dozen detective novels better known?
Crime fiction and the 5th November.
Dear listeners, One might assume that, with all of its emphasis on logical deduction and empirical evidence, classic detective fiction would give all things spooky and supernatural a wide berth. And yet right from the very start with Edgar Allen Poe's short stories from the 1840s, writers have
A murder mystery can be spooky, too.
Caroline: A good murder mystery has a lot in common with a good magic trick. Both art forms combine an emphasis on transparency with their audience while simultaneously trying their best to deceive. The writer of a fair play mystery has an obligation not to conceal clues from their reader,
A murder mystery can be spooky, too.
Dear listeners, Do you like to read seasonally, matching your crime fiction to your own calendar? Or does it not matter to you whether there's snow on the ground outside when snow is falling in your book? Autumn is in full swing where both Leandra and I live,
Dear listeners, Part of what makes reading classic murder mysteries so enjoyable is the glimpse it offers into a world that is so unlike the one we inhabit today. Nothing makes the interwar "golden age" of detective fiction feel more alien to me than the ubiquity of servants.
How the interwar servant shortage changed detective fiction.
Caroline: In the autumn of 1919, Agatha Christie left Torquay and travelled by train to London. She had given birth to her daughter, Rosalind, at Ashfield, her childhood home, just a few days before. But now she was on the brink of a new era in her life, and she
On Murder!, Suspicion and more.
Dear listeners, Inspiration comes from the most unlikely places. Given all of the time that I spend reading the words that are inside books, it slightly took me by surprise when it was the image on the front of this one that gave me the idea for this episode: This
Do secret societies have any place in murder mysteries?
Do secret societies have any place in murder mysteries?
Dear listeners, We're back with more reading updates! I hope this month has brought you some good crime fiction. This time, we have a fairly classic line up for you, with both Shedunnit production assistant Leandra and I revisiting some Agatha Christie. You can catch up with our
A closer look at Trent's Last Case.
Australian mystery reading duo Flex and Herds join Caroline to look at this influential whodunnit.
Australian mystery reading duo Flex and Herds join Caroline to look at this influential whodunnit.
Australian mystery reading duo Flex and Herds join Caroline to look at this influential whodunnit.
I do read things from the 2020s as well as the 1920s.
Dear listeners, Are you the kind of reader who likes to solve the mystery as you read, racing the detective to the solution, or do you prefer to spectate and allow the author to lay out the resolution for you? Personally, I flip between these two styles: there are some
A literary device from the golden age of detective fiction is making a comeback.
Caroline: The classic murder mystery is full of tropes. You will be familiar with lots of them: the closed circle of suspects, the automatic suspicion of the least likely perpetrator, the impossible crime, the locked room mystery, the final chapter reveal, the last minute twist. In addition to these, a
Dear listeners, Summer holidays are coming to an end at Shedunnit HQ and I'm excited about the planning I've been doing for the next few months of podcasting. I think there are some good episodes coming up between now and the end of the year. Meanwhile,
Reading Agatha Christie like it's 1930.
Getting back in touch with the foremost citizen of St Mary Mead.
Caroline: Some characters are so popular and recognisable that they can become detached from their point of origin. Miss Marple is such a one. There were elderly women sleuths before her, but every single village busybody who solves crimes since has existed in her shadow. Her stories and novels are
A trip into the Shedunnit archive.
Here are some bibliomysteries that you might want to try.
Death lurks among the shelves — in crime fiction, that is.
Caroline: Certain jobs and pastimes come with a higher degree of risk. This we know. I hope that everyone who decides to become a racing driver, or climb a mountain without ropes, or chase tornados, understands that their chosen activity comes with a heightened chance of injury or death. What
Dear listeners, The month of July has flown by and it's time for another book recommendation newsletter, in which I and Shedunnit production assistant Leandra offer you a peek into our personal reading experience while we are working on the podcast. You can catch up with the last
Dear listener, For today's new episode, I am venturing into the world of epistolary crime novels. This is the kind of mystery where the story is told through a series of letters or documents rather than a continuous prose narrative. There is a strong tradition of this format
