Dear listeners,

The new episode that you can hear today is all about villages in the work of Agatha Christie and why this setting lends itself so well to the structure of her murder mysteries. The evolving nature of Miss Marple's home, St Mary Mead, is crucial to this. Perhaps because of the television and film adaptations (especially the 1980s version starring Joan Hickson) we tend to think of this, the village of all villages, as a desirable place to be. We think of it fondly and day-dream about living somewhere like it one day. Estate agents often reference Christie in house listings. Thinking about some key Marple adventures while recording this episode, I started to have my doubts. Would I really want to share a village with the spinster sleuth?

The Village Murder episode is also something a bit new for me and Shedunnit. It doesn't sound like it — it's still an essay in audio form that I read — but the crucial difference is that I didn't write it. As readers of my personal newsletter might know, I've been dealing with some health challenges over the past few months that have cut into my available working time. I've been trying to keep the podcast going uninterrupted, but it's not always been easy. My husband Guy has been doing his best to help me on top of doing his own job: you heard him back in April narrating the Lady Chatterley vs Miss Marple episode, for instance. Now, he's written this new episode, Village Murder, which gave me extra time to work on what's coming up over the next couple of months. We've collaborated before on other episodes in various ways (Peace At Last, At Home With Shedunnit, and our Box of Delights discussion being other examples) but this is the first time we've tried it this way. I hope you like it.

I've just finished reading the Shedunnit Book Club's chosen book for August, Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert.

Or re-reading, to be more precise, because I first read this 1952 murder mystery set in a WW2 prisoner of war camp when it was first republished by British Library Crime Classics in 2019. I remember enjoying it the first time while feeling a bit adrift at the barrage of names and ranks — there are 400 prisoners in the camp, plus guards, and Gilbert doesn't just zoom in on a small handful of them. Perhaps because I was reading with greater purpose this time, thinking about how I wanted to talk about the book's setting and structure on the bonus episode I've just recorded with Leandra, I didn't find this to be a problem second time around. I'm still not entirely convinced Death in Captivity is fully a detective novel, for all that it contains an impossible crime and an amateur sleuth. It's a great thriller-mystery hybrid, though, and I do recommend it. I'm looking forward to seeing what the book club members make of it when we discuss it at the end of next month.

It's interesting to me, by the way, that Death in Captivity was selected for our "previous runner-up" month. It was shortlisted four times before eventually winning the vote for August. I'm glad it finally got its moment!

Three new reprints have dropped onto the mat recently, courtesy of British Library Crime Classics and Penzler Publishers.

The Magic-Lantern Murders, also sometimes found as The Punch and Judy Murders, was the fifth novel by Carter Dickson, aka John Dickson Carr and once again features his recurring sleuth Sir Henry Merrivale. Now, I'm on the record as being a bit of a dunce when it comes to Carr (I've read a few, and the attraction has yet to grip me). The fact that this one is set partly in Torquay does intrigue me, though. What does Carr make of Christie country?

Martin Edwards has edited another short story anthology for the British Library too, Puzzles of the Parish: Short Tales of Ministers, Murder and Mystery. Rather a relevant theme to the Village Murder episode, actually. I'm keen on the subject of clerics in crime fiction — I made an episode about it, Clerical Crimes, back in 2022 and just recently I gave a talk to a college of vicars on the various appearances of their brethren in whodunnits. I know some of Martin's choices very well and others not at all, so I shall enjoy dipping into this one, I think.

Lastly, we have Sandbar Sinister by Phoebe Atwood Taylor, one of her 24 novels about amateur detective Asey Mayo, also known as "the Codfish Sherlock" because so many of his cases take place in coastal Maine. We recommended another of hers, Deathblow Hill, last year in a Murder Mystery Hotline episode when a listener wanted mysteries set in lighthouses. I've actually yet to read an Asey Mayo, although I did enjoy Taylor's Boston-set bookshop caper Beginning with a Bash when I was making the Murder at the Bookshop episode. Maybe this is the summer I finally get to know him? There is something alluring to me about reading books concerned with summer holidays while it is summer...

This is my first time writing a Shedunnit newsletter in a while, for which I apologise. While I've been ill, I had to prioritise keeping the episodes coming out on time. For some reason, the notion of coming up with something else to say about each topic to send as the email became a mammoth task in my mind. That's why I'm experimenting with this new format where I just update you on my Shedunnit-related activities. It feels more obtainable for me and is hopefully still readable to you! If you have suggestions for future items you'd like me to cover, just hit reply and let me know.

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.

 Dear listeners,

I wouldn't say that the work of John Rhode (one of several pen names used by writer and engineer Cecil Street) is a blind spot of mine, exactly. I'm very aware of how involved he was in the golden age of detective fiction: a founding member of the Detection Club, a collaborator with Dorothy L. Sayers on Have His Carcase, and a prolific novelist in his own right with multiple recurring detective characters. I just haven't explored his oeuvre nearly as much as some of that of his contemporaries, for one simple reason. It's enormous.

In his 80 years of life, Street published over 140 novels. Over 70 of them, those that appeared under the name of John Rhode, feature his main sleuthing character, Dr Lancelot Priestley. Then there are another 60 or so that were published as Miles Burton, about a retired naval officer named Desmond Merrion, as well other books published Cecil Waye. Until recently, when Street's work started coming out of copyright in the US and a few other titles attracted the attention of republishing imprints, the only way to read any of these books was by securing an often-pricey secondhand copy. I'm sure you see the difficulty. On the one hand, Street was a major golden age author and has fans who advocate for greater prominence for his mystery writing. On the other, trying him out was very difficult, without a major investment of time and money. And so, largely, I didn't bother.

That changed last year, when the Shedunnit Book Club read the first Priestley novel, The Paddington Mystery, together for our annual "Centenary" read that celebrates a book published a hundred years earlier. I wasn't fully enamoured, but there were enough points of interest to make me curious. Then a couple of months ago, I realised that another John Rhode title was coming up in the Green Penguin Book Club schedule: The Murders in Praed Street. Luckily, I knew just who I wanted to discuss it with me — Ronaldo Fagarazzi, writer of the Witness to a Crime blog, and probably the only person I know who has actually read every Cecil Street novel. You can hear our conversation all about Rhode, Priestly, and this enjoyable early serial killer novel now.

Ronaldo and I had a lot to talk about. Street's many books provide a lot of material. There's also a fascinating yet lost film adaptation of The Murders in Praed Street, so we had to cover that as well (since Ronaldo works in film production and is also very knowledgeable about screen adaptations of golden age detective fiction). And there was one topic that we covered in some detail that just wouldn't fit in the final episode, so I decided to move it to the newsletter — after reading this novel, where should we go next in the John Rhode/Miles Burton canon?

Ronaldo had a few recommendations for us. Considerately, he started with two John Rhode options that are relatively affordable and available as secondhand paperbacks.

Both are from 1933, so five years after The Murders in Praed Street. First, he suggests looking out for The Claverton Mystery, which is a poisoning mystery with slightly Gothic overtones, which Ronaldo singles out because of Priestley's relative rare use of psychology to solve the case. And then, from the same year, he also recommends The Venner Crime, which is sort of a sequel to Claverton and likewise deals with a poisoning that is initially suspected to be an accident rather than a murder. Both books were published or republished in mass market editions earlier in the 20th century, so are easier to find than some of the other more limited edition Rhodes.

For the more dedicated book hunter, Ronaldo suggests trying to track down three titles that came out of Street's "purple patch" of top quality fiction at the end of WW2. The brilliantly titled Vegetable Duck from 1944 concerns a poisoned supper of vegetable marrow (my grandmother used to make this dish, and... yuck). The Lake House and Death in Harley Street, both from 1946, are also worth looking out for. The former, I believe, has a courtroom drama element, while the latter, as the title implies, is about the murder of a doctor.

For the Miles Burton series, try 1944's Three Corpse Trick or Death of Mr. Gantley from 1932. Ronaldo also has a soft spot for Death at the Crossroads from 1933, which is a car accident mystery that he says is quite technical and compares favourably to Impact of Evidence by E.C.R. Lorac.

In terms of tracking these titles down, it's often the case with Cecil Street that you have better luck finding digital editions than physical ones. Public domain databases like archive.org sometimes even have versions that can be read for free. Or, you might get lucky and chance across a stray green penguin! If you find a John Rhode or a Miles Burton that you would particularly recommend, do get in touch and let me know. I still feel like I need all the help I can get to sift through his vast output and find the proper gems.

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.

Dear listeners,

A belated welcome back to our monthly book recommendations newsletter in which the Shedunnit team — that is, me and my production assistant Leandra — share what we have been reading while making the show. We missed April because I was unwell, but we're back now!

Caroline Has Read: The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths

Long-time listeners might remember that I like Elly Griffiths' crime fiction — especially her Ruth Galloway series. She's been a guest on the show a couple of times, too, most recently on the episode "A Detective's Farewell", which was about how an author says goodbye to a long-running character. I recently dived back into Elly's work with the audiobook of this recent novel that blends crime with science fiction. It follows a Scotland Yard cold case unit that uses time travel to go back and find the truth about unsolved crimes. I was intrigued by the premise (one of my favourite books ever is To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Connie Willis, which does something similar) and I found that the story lived up to its promise. It wasn't a particularly special audiobook reading, though, so if I decide to read the next one in this series I might seek out the physical book.

Caroline Will Read: The Final Problem by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

I came across this 2023 novel recently as I was scrolling on my library app (an activity I now do instead of looking at social media!) and decided to borrow it on a whim. It's recently been translated into English from Spanish and promises a murder mystery that is highly referential of both Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, which sounded like it might suit me rather well. I'm reading another mystery in translation for the Shedunnit Book Club at the moment — The Hotel of the Three Roses by Augusto De Angelis — and enjoying being out of my usual settings and modes.

Leandra Has Read: Yule Be Sorry by Kim M. Watt

Did I read a Christmas mystery in spring? Yes, absolutely. And I’d do it again!!

Last fall, I read Baking Bad, the first book in the Beaufort Scales fantasy mystery series, and had a riot of a time. I was in the mood for that same humorous chaos and feel-good cozy cast of characters, so Christmas-themed mystery be darned! And I have no regrets. In this cozy mystery, delivery drivers are disappearing, Christmas turkeys have been stolen, and holiday gifts are...exploding. The members of the Women's Institute and their friends, the Cloverly Dragons, once again find themselves meddling in police business, and their shenanigans are two-for-two in making me laugh aloud.

I highly recommend this mystery series for fans of cozy fantasy, magical creature POVs, elderly main characters, and mystery plots not unlike The Marlow Murder Club or The Thursday Murder Club; the two leading women, Alice and Miriam, have a similar dynamic to those found in TTMC in particular.

Leandra Will Read: The Case of the Murdered Muckraker by Rob Osler

This year, I am trying to be better about keeping up to date with ongoing series, so I will be reading book two in the Harriet Morrow historical mystery series. Set in 1898 Chicago, our protagonist is a bike-riding lesbian private investigator, inspired by a real-life Windy City detective. In the first book, The Case of the Missing Maid, Harriet is tasked with proving herself as a worthy addition to the Prescott Investigative Agency. Now that she has convinced Prescott himself that a woman operative strengthens his team, she must tackle her biggest case yet in this sequel: a muckraker is found murdered in a southside tenement building after obtaining evidence of a powerful politician’s corruption. I'm looking forward to seeing how Harriet continues to grow, not only as a junior detective but as a queer woman about to enter the 21st century.

That's what we'll be reading this month — how about you? You can let us know by replying directly to this email or by leaving a comment to join the conversation with other readers. 

Until next time,

Caroline