We discuss the second part of Simogo's 2024 mystery-puzzle-box video game 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes'. The jig is up, and Lorelei Weiss finally has to be honest with herself about what happened in 1963. Our final puzzles see us answering the Quiz Club on all of the knowledge we've acquired so far, and delving right into the heart of the supercomputer at the core of it all.

We're also joined by Iain Ryan to talk about his second novel in his Queensland Quarter - 'The Dream'. As Fantasyland's construction stalls on the 1980s Gold Coast, the cauldron of political corruption surrounding the big money of The Strip gets the gears turning, lubricated with blood and blackmail.

Thank you to Ultimo Press for sending copies of 'The Dream' and helping arrange our time with Iain.

We discuss the second part of Simogo's 2024 mystery-puzzle-box video game 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes'. As we delve deeper into the realm of Lorelei Weiss, we're challenged by anachronisms, a cast of characters that could be one person or many, and so, so many padlocks. What further mysteries does the mansion hold, and how can we untangle the fragmented maze buried within it?

We're again joined by Vanessa McCausland to talk about her newest novel 'The Last Illusion of Paige White'. The past bleeds into the future as we learn about the past of the town Jane and Paige once called home, as the women each live out their respective purgatories in the quest to understand themselves.

Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Last Illusion of Paige White, and for helping arrange our time with Vanessa.

We discuss the first part of Simogo's 2024 mystery-puzzle-box video game 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes'. The hotel Letztes Jahr, or 'last year' is a monochrome mansion with a splash of red. A body has been found in the courtyard, after our character, whoever she might be, was summomned, whyever she might be, by the enigmatic Renzo Nero, film director. Or is that all? Combination locks and impossible chronology abound as we attempt to unravel the life of Lorelei Weiss... We think.

We're also joined by Vanessa McCausland to talk about her newest novel 'The Last Illusion of Paige White'. An influencer is found dead and as her former best friend tries to juggle her job as a journalist with the emotional trauma of the case, it turns out Paige White might not be the only one in purgatory.

Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Last Illusion of Paige White, and for helping arrange our time with Vanessa.

A dive back into the recent past as we talk with Melbourne-based author Aoife Clifford about her latest novel, 'It Takes a Town'. Policewoman Carole, distressed mother Frankie, town drunk Mer(maid) and a gaggle of schoolchildren reminiscent of the Scooby Gang all team up to corner the killer of local town star Vanessa Walton, recently returned from a grand tour of fame and fortune, now found dead in the cottage of local MP Barton Langridge.

Thank you to Ultimo Press for providing copies of 'It Takes a Town' and helping to arrange our time with Aoife.

We're joined by author and playwright Gabriel Bergmoser to talk about the print edition of his story 'The Hitchhiker', originally published as an audiobook. With the latest iteration in his 'Maggieverse', 'The Lodger' out on Audible, and a great interview from our friend Crag Sisterson up recently, we decided to revisit our earlier chat with Gabriel and share the full deep-dive (dubbed 'The Full Berg' by our editor). Diving into the layout of the Maggieverse, Gabriel's writing interests, the challenges of audio adaptation, and the role of spoilers, it really is 'The Full Berg'.

Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Hitchhiker, and helping arrange our time with Gabriel.

We're joined by author Benjamin Stevenson to talk about his Christmas Special for Ernest Cunningham, 'Everyone this Christmas has a Secret'. Ernest receives a call from his ex-wife Erin - she's been arrested in the Blue Mountains, accused of her husband's murder. Lyle was days away from a big fundraiser event for his charity, only to turn up dead, the word 'Christmas' scrawled on the floor next to him in his own blood. The rest of his blood? All over Erin, asleep in bed. Ernest is invited backstage at the charity event to investigate the suspects the cops have ignored over the easy catch, but has he progressed enough as a detective to come in cold to a case after the fact?

Thank you to Penguin Australia for sending us copies of 'Everyone this Christmas has a Secret' and for their help in arranging the interview.

We take another visit to the floor of BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2024, to talk all about the mysteries we love so much, and the network of authors that bring it together. It takes all sorts to write mystery of all sorts, and we look at where some of Australia's best authors have been moving their ideas. The Crime Fiction community has amazing festivals all over the world, and here at Death of the Reader we're lucky enough to have BAD in our own backyard. This week, we discuss the resurgence of classic mystery, the journalistic pursuits that inspire fiction, and the community at the heart of it all.

Thank you to BAD: Sydney for tickets to the event, and the many publishers, who whether or not they provided review copies (we didn't keep track, sorry), it is in their graces we can conduct these interviews.

Featured and referenced in this episode (by Panel):

We take a visit to the floor of BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2024, to talk all about the big themes, and the way that crime fiction is tied up with the world of Justice. The Crime Fiction community has amazing festivals all over the world, and here at Death of the Reader we're lucky enough to have BAD in our own backyard. This week, the pressing issues that inspire our crime fiction. From accounts of under-resourced courts in the Australian Outback with Jamelle Wells, to fiction grappling with the horrors of a mind that can't trust itself with Susannah Glenn and Zahid Gamieldien.

Thank you to BAD: Sydney for tickets to the event, and the many publishers, who whether or not they provided review copies (we didn't keep track, sorry), it is in their graces we can conduct these interviews.

Featured and referenced in this episode (by Panel):

Flex talks with Australian Crime Fiction great Chris Hammer about his newest novel, 'The Valley'. Ivan and Nell are summoned, suspiciously early, to a homicide just outside the town of Saltwood, in a community called The Valley. Struggling after decades of failed schemes to restore wealth to the resource-rich town, Nell stumbles upon a personal link to the crime, and has to juggle her professional interest with the risks a personal case can pose to getting a conviction. Water politics is once again the canvas upon which Chris Hammer paints his thrills.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing copies of The Valley to Death of the Reader, and arranging our time with Chris.

We discuss Memories of Murder, the 2003 Crime-Drama film by Bong Joon-Ho. In rural South Korea, a series of horrifying murders has paralysed and overwhelmed the local police, who are under-resourced and inexperienced in crimes of this scale. Fortunately, a cop from the big city is here to fix everything up and save the small-town cops from themselves. Or so you'd think. We're joined by our editor Cameron Furlong of 2SER's Inquiry as we discuss the film that put the 'Parasite' and 'Snowpiercer' director on the map.

We're also joined by author Riley James to talk about her debut crime fiction novel 'The Chilling', its links with classic arctic-horror fiction and the idea of escapism gone wrong. Thank you to Allen & Unwin for arranging our time with Riley at BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival, and the festival itself for providing us with media tickets.