This week on "Down These Mean Streets," we'll hear Howard Duff in two radio mysteries as Sam Spade and as a scriptwriter plotting the perfect crime in "Suspense."

Dick Powell reinvented himself as a hardboiled hero with his performance as Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, and several films noir and radio detective shows followed. We'll hear Powell as gumshoe Richard Rogue in "Blood on the Sand" from Rogue's Gallery (originally aired on Mutual on December 13, 1945). Then he's Richard Diamond, Private Detective in "The Martin Hyer Case" (originally aired on NBC on July 23, 1949).

Grab a drink and a mystery at the Cafe Tambourine in Cairo with two-fisted club owner and adventurer Rocky Jordan. The ex-pat and amateur detective kept audiences thrilled with tales told against an exotic backdrop. Jack Moyles stars as Rocky in "The Bartered Bridegroom" (originally aired on CBS on October 31, 1948) and "Adventure with Andrea" (originally aired on CBS on September 11, 1949). Then, big screen tough guy George Raft plays Jordan in "The Genakos Affair" (originally aired on CBS on July 11, 1951).

We're celebrating the lighter side of October 31st with this year's "Down These Mean Streets" Halloween special. Grab your favorite candy and enjoy a pair of trick or treating comedies from The Jack Benny Program (originally aired on NBC on October 31, 1948) and Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband (originally aired on CBS on October 28, 1949).

It didn't take a brilliant detective to bring one of fiction's greatest sleuths to radio, but it did take a talented writer and devoted fan. Edith Meiser penned the very first Sherlock Holmes radio show on October 20, 1930, and her efforts behind the scenes kept the character going for nearly twenty years on the air. We'll celebrate Holmes' anniversary with three of Meiser's original mysteries starring John Stanley as Holmes and Alfred Shirley as Dr. Watson: "The Case of the Missing Heiress" (originally aired on Mutual on October 5, 1947); "The Case of the Lucky Shilling" (originally aired on Mutual on January 18, 1948); and "The Case of the Accommodating Valise" (originally aired on Mutual on May 23, 1948).

Before she became a commercial star as "Madge" for Palmolive, actress Jan Miner was busy working on the stage and the radio. Miner was heard regularly on soap operas, dramas, and radio detective shows. We'll hear her as Mary Wesley in the syndicated episode "Alibi Time" from Boston Blackie and as Ann Williams in "King of the Apes" from Casey, Crime Photographer (originally aired on CBS on May 1, 1947). Plus, we'll hear Jan Miner in a behind-the-scenes look at radio production from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on October 12, 1956).

The Chairman of the Board fights crime as Frank Sinatra stars in Rocky Fortune. The singer played Fortune - a man whose odd jobs always led to trouble - for a single season in a fun, well-produced mystery series. To celebrate the sixty-fifth anniversary of the show's debut, we'll hear a pair of Rocky's adventures - the show's first episode (originally aired on NBC on October 6, 1953) and "The Museum Murder" (originally aired on NBC on January 11, 1954).

William Gargan is on the case as Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator - the sardonic gumshoe with a healthy sense of humor to go along with his powers of deduction. We'll hear "Murder Masquerade" (originally aired on NBC on August 9, 1953) and "Hay is for Homicide" (originally aired on NBC on August 31, 1954).

In celebration of what would have been his 98th birthday, we're tipping our hat to William Conrad. Before he was the narrator of The Fugitive and Rocky and Bullwinkle and before he solved TV crimes as Cannon, Conrad was one of the biggest talents of the golden age of radio. He had thousands of credits to his name but he was best known as Matt Dillon, US Marshal, on Gunsmoke. We'll hear him in a pair of murder mysteries from the old west (originally aired on CBS on May 9 and November 21, 1953).

With his polished radio presence and his mellifluous British accent, Tom Conway was a natural as a radio detective, and he put his voice to great use as both Sherlock Holmes and Simon Templar. We'll hear him as Holmes - with Nigel Bruce as Watson - in "The Adventure of the Original Hamlet" (originally aired on ABC on November 2, 1946). Then as The Saint, he stars in "The Girl with the Lower Berth" (originally aired on NBC on June 3, 1951).