Dear listeners,

It's no secret that I don't read a lot of contemporary crime fiction. My passion has always been for mysteries from a century ago and now that I have 25 episodes of Shedunnit to make a year, there just isn't that much space in my personal reading schedule for anything that wasn't published during the interwar years. I feel fairly guilty about this, though, because I know there are many excellent writers working today who are doing interesting things with the genre and I'm just completely unaware.

And so, every so often, I make a foray into something that was published more recently. I tend to be fairly impatient with books that are too explicitly trying to reproduce the effects of Agatha Christie (as those blurbs love to trumpet) and I don't always get on with the greats of later twentieth century crime writing (I very much enjoyed all of your sympathetic emails in response to my recent dispatch that mentioned my inability to "get" the work of P.D. James, for instance).

These efforts to be a little up to date in my reading are not always unsuccessful, though, and I want to share with you today three (relatively) recently published crime novels that I really enjoyed.

The Botanist's Assistant by Peggy Townsend

I picked this book on a whim from the many, many press releases I get sent by publishers, because there was something about the description of the protagonist — a talented, middle-aged botanist who lives alone in a small cabin in the woods and ends up solving her boss's murder — that spoke to me. I'm very glad I did, because I devoured this book within 24 hours and found it to be very well written and plotted. I did get an advance copy of it, though, and I'm afraid it's not on general release until 18th November. If you are curious, do consider giving the book a pre-order, adding it to your wishlist on your reading-tracking platform of choice, or requesting it at your library (all are good ways of supporting writers you would like to see keep on writing).

Margaret Finch is an oddball and a misfit who lives entirely according to her own habits, drives an ancient truck, and makes her own soap. She likes things just so, in a way that might be interpreted as being neurodiverse-adjacent, but which plays out via character description rather than a diagnosis being part of the plot. Margaret works as a research assistant in a lab where plant extracts are being used to make medical breakthroughs, until one day her boss, a charismatic and well-known scientist, is found dead in his office. Considered a suspect by the police and determined to carry on their research, Margaret teams up with the building's new janitor (a former investigative journalist) to solve the case. Her awkward personality traits, for which she has often been teased or bullied, turn out to be an asset when it comes to tracking down a murderer.

Publishing loves to describe books in the format X + Y = Z, and for this one I think that equation would be Lessons in Chemistry + the Ruth Galloway series = The Botanist's Assistant.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

This 2022 thriller is in some ways quite a conventional work of domestic noir, set in northern England with the mother of a teenage son as the protagonist. Right at the beginning, events come to a head when her son stabs a man one night outside their house — an act that is completely at odds with her previous knowledge of her child. After an exhausting night at the police station, she wakes up the next morning and finds that it is... the day before the crime. And this keeps happening, with her skipping backwards through time. She decides that this is happening so that she can solve her son's crime before he commits it, and it turns into quite an interesting reflection on cause and effect.

I like how many authors these days seem to be asking the question "but what if I added time travel?" and then running with the answer. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton does this with a mashup of historical crime fiction and science fiction, and One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston plays with it for romance. Genre is a construct anyway, so I'm glad we're seeing more mainstream experimentation around it.

The Secret Place by Tana French

This is the book that the Shedunnit Book Club read last November, for the one month a year where we read a work of contemporary (as opposed to classic or golden age) crime fiction. Members can listen to a two part podcast episode about this book now, if they haven't already heard it. This is an Irish crime novel from 2015 about a group of teenage girls at an upscale Dublin boarding school and how they fare after a lad from the corresponding boys' school is found dead in their grounds.

The overlapping chronologies, the highly specific noughties fashion and slang, the hint of the unexplained, the clique-y friendships... It feels wrong to say that a book with some dark elements was a "joy" to read, but it was. To my mind, this is Miss Pym Disposes for the twenty-first century. Given that I have had Tana on Shedunnit to talk about how much she loves Josephine Tey, that comparison feels especially apt. This was a divisive read among book club members, many of whom did not enjoy this book's deviation from strict crime fiction conventions. That was what I liked best about it, though, and I'm certainly planning to read more Tana French next time I have the time and appetite for a book from the 2020s rather than the 1920s.

I hope that gives you a little insight into my reading taste beyond the chronological boundaries of Shedunnit. If you would like more regular updates on everything I read, that is available via my personal newsletter. You can also follow me on the Storygraph if that's your sort of thing.

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).

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 books that bring out my competitive edge and others that I like to revel in without constantly thinking about clues and red herrings. I'm also an enthusiastic re-reader of mysteries, because finding out whodunnit is only one part of the pleasure this genre gives me.

When I am reading in the former mode, I do like to know that my reasoning was right when I reach the end. Of course this can be achieved by going through the book again — and I have done this with Agatha Christie's novels in particular, trying to spot the moment when she successfully pulled the wool over my eyes — but some books contain footnotes or a special appendix that makes this checking easy. The latter can take the form of a "cluefinder": an index of clues with the page reference for where each one can be found so that the reader can verify their own hypothesis and see how the writer laid their traps. I can't show you a picture of one without completely spoiling the novel to which it belongs, but I hope my description is adequate to give you a general idea if you haven't encountered one in the wild yet.

The cluefinder was never a requirement for publishing a whodunnit during the golden age of detective fiction. Books that had them were in the minority, and the ones that did tended not to be the big hits by the likes of Christie or Sayers. But I've come across enough of them over the years to be curious about why they were included and how they are constructed. And so when Martin Edwards' new novel landed on my desk earlier this summer and I saw that, despite being a work of contemporary crime fiction due to be published in autumn 2025, it had a cluefinder, I had to know more.

Martin has been a frequent guest on Shedunnit over the years and had contributed greatly to the show with his deep historical knowledge of golden age detective fiction (you might like to check out his episodes about the Detection Club or The Poisoned Chocolates Case to name just two). It was a nice change, though, to talk about his own fiction-writing process and learn how he marries his interest in all things golden age with the demands of publishing novels for the twenty-first century reader.

The cluefinder proved to be the perfect motif for our discussion: it's a niche curiosity that is very much of the interwar period which has proved surprisingly popular with the modern reader as more people have become interested in the kind of novel that plays fair and allows them to play along. Martin's new book, Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife, is set now and is full of the trappings of modern life (including a very funny author character who, I'm told, might have been a little inspired by his creator's own experiences in the publishing industry) but it's also stuffed with tropes and ideas that seasoned readers of golden age detective fiction will recognise with glee. And don't worry, this episode doesn't spoil anything — you can listen to it and then still fully enjoy Miss Winter's twists.

If you would like to try a golden age novel that contains a cluefinder, I would recommend keeping an eye out for one of the following titles:

• The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson
• The Eye in the Museum by J.J. Connington
• The Hog’s Back Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts
• Obelists Fly High by C. Daly King
• She Had to Have Gas by Rupert Penny

Any one of those should scratch the itch! I wish you the best of luck in spotting the clues and then confirming that you were right all along.

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).

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, 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 behind the scenes on the show. You can catch up with the last edition here and share your own reading plans in the comments here.

Caroline Has Read: The Lighthouse by P.D. James

This is now the fourth P.D. James book I've read — I think — and I'm still yet to fall under her spell. Which is a shame, because I really want to! A lot of people I trust and admire speak very highly of her work, and she was such a major figure in late twentieth century crime fiction that I've always felt that I must be missing out. I picked up this 2005 mystery in a charity shop and was charmed by its setting on a fictional island off the coast of Cornwall. After being privately owned by the same family for centuries, the island is now operated by a trust as a completely private retreat for high profile politicians and other people for whom security issues mean they can never relax.

The discovery of a body amidst this secretive atmosphere requires Adam Dalgliesh and his team to be choppered in to solve the crime. It's all very dramatic, with lots of crashing waves and high cliffs. A promising premise indeed. But the mystery didn't play fair to my mind, nor were the motives or characters well established. The way the story was told felt very "of its time" in a moderately unpleasant way, as did some of the major plot elements, which is not something I usually find frustrating in a book published only twenty years ago. Unless I find a very compelling reason to do otherwise, I'm not sure I'll be picking up another P.D. James book.

Caroline Will Read: Penhallow by Georgette Heyer

My project of reading all Heyer's detective fiction in order for an episode coming later this year continues. I've now arrived at 1942's Penhallow and I'm excited to get stuck into this one because it appears to be one of her most polarising books. Some people I've discussed this reading project with grimaced when I mentioned it, while at least one other lit up and said that this was quite probably the only one worth rereading. I'm interested to see which side of the divide I end up falling on...

Leandra Has Read: A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith

Back in January, Caroline mentioned in the newsletter that one of her Christmas presents was A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith, and that she had finished the book by 26th December. Colour me intrigued! Unfortunately, the book wouldn't be published in the US until July 2025, so I was forced to have patience, but it was certainly worth the wait. 

I thoroughly enjoyed following our sleuth, Gabriel Ward, as he juggled his responsibilities as a barrister with the new task of investigating the murder of the Lord Chief Justice of England. Ward's demeanour and idiosyncrasies made him quite endearing, and I loved the relationship he built with the young, determined Constable Wright. Readers also get two mysteries for the price of one! Not only is Ward investigating a murder, but he finds that one of his own cases involving the authorship of a well-loved children's book, Millie The Temple Mouse, has a mystery of its own.

I didn't read this book within 24 hours like Caroline, but it wasn't for lack of trying!

Leandra Will Read: How to Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

In this sequel to How To Solve Your Own Murder, we return to the idyllic English village of Castle Knoll. After solving the murder of her great aunt, Annie Adams finds herself with writer's block and a cryptic message from local fortune-teller Peony Lane. Within hours of her meeting with Annie, Peony is found dead. Now, Annie must uncover the truth behind a car accident back in 1967, hoping it holds the answers to the fortune teller's death in the present.

Last year, I read the first book in the Castle Knoll Files series, and I was not impressed. Dual timelines and village settings in a narrative are usually good signs that I will enjoy a story, but I found the characters to be a bit flat and the mystery more simplistic than I would have liked. Some might now be wondering why I plan to pick up How To Seal Your Own Fate. Well, I've realised that I have a tendency to abandon authors after one lacklustre reading experience, and I am challenging myself to give more second chances. Even though I didn't enjoy How To Solve Your Own Murder as much as I predicted, I also saw potential for the series to get stronger as the author becomes more accustomed to her own characters and the art of writing mysteries. 

For fans of How To Solve Your Own Murder, I leave you with the following alternative recommendation: One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley. As with the former, this mystery has a dual timeline, but our amateur sleuth is eighty-four-year-old Edie who seeks to uncover what happened to her best friend back in 1951.

That's what we've got coming up reading-wise. What are you planning to read this month? Let us know by replying directly or by leaving a comment to join the conversation with other readers. If you'd like to follow our reading adventures in between these posts, I (try to) publish monthly reading updates on my blog/newsletter and Leandra documents what she's reading on her YouTube channel.

Until next time,

Caroline

Links to Blackwells are affiliate links; if you make a purchase at this retailer the price remains the same for you but the podcast receives a small commission for referring you.