No One Like Ngaio

A book within a book. A mystery within a mystery. In today's episode, I delve into one of my most anticipated books of the past few years: Moonflower Murders, Anthony Horowitz's fiendishly clever homage to classic detective fiction and his sequel to the equally excellent Magpie Murders. Tune in for a discussion of both stories to be found in this hefty tome, and what surprises are in store for a story where very little is as it seems.  

A special treat today as I look into a film - not a mystery, but one with plenty of grisly murders at its core. The film is a tongue-in-cheek, horror comedy featuring an all-star cast of British character actors headed by Vincent Price and Diana Rigg. It's an underrated classic - a tale of revenge and Shakespeare. It's Theatre of Blood, the first film review here on The Whodunnit Show!

How did the Queen of Crime create her most famous mysteries? It is a question that has perplexed and tantalized readers for decades and now, Christie scholar John Curran has delved into Christie's original notebooks to provide some answers to those elusive questions. In Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making, Curran uncovers such surprises as an unpublished Miss Marple story, the original ending to The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and the notes that would have become Christie's final novel!

Today's novel is Agatha Christie by way of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It's easy to forget that the Queen of Crime and the creator of Sherlock Holmes were both alive and writing in the 1920s and The Murder on the Links - Christie's third novel and second to feature Hercule Poirot - shows just how much Christie was influenced by her famous predecessor. Tune in for a discussion of the novel's similarity to the Sherlock Holmes stories, and how Doyle was involved in the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926!

Today, let us investigate a work from another Queen of Crime: P.D. James. A champion of the mystery novel in the second half of the twentieth century, James' novels are deep, complex, and populated by rich characters. They're also pretty long. All of those things can describe A Certain Justice, a mystery novel featuring James' recurring detective hero, Adam Dalgleish, who investigates murder and mysterious goings-on in the world of English law. 

We explore new territory in this episode of The Whodunit Show tackling a modern-day thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10, written by Ruth Ware who many have called the modern day Agatha Christie. What are fans of traditional mysteries likely to encounter in this novel, and is the comparison to Christie an apt one? Listen in to find out!

The Whodunnit Show returns to review the latest adventure of secret agent James Bond, 007. Written by bestselling author Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider series, Magpie Murders), Forever and a Day tells Bond's origin story and how he tackled his first mission as a double-o. Discover also Bond's real-life origin as created by Ian Fleming and the history of James Bond's exploits in print. 

Today we visit one of the most popular detectives of the Golden Age: Nero Wolfe, that inscrutable and eccentric investigator who seldom leaves his New York City brownstone and yet manages to find the truth behind some of the most baffling mysteries. The Wolfe novels are beloved by fans the world over, but this book - the very first Wolfe novel - is only my second encounter with the corpulent detective. Does it live up to the hype? Let's take a look at Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout. 

In physical appearance, Hercule Poirot could not have looked less like his namesake, the Greek hero, Hercules. However, both men were bonded across the centuries by their ability to rid the world of pests and, as Poirot readies himself for retirement, he tasks himself with completing his own twelve labors of Hercules. Those cases are chronicled in the short story collection, The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie, the book which we delve into today as I explore the uncharted territory of Christie's short story collections. 

In 1930s America, critics and readers alike associated one name with mysteries: Ellery Queen. The name of both the series' author and its central detective character, Ellery was the star of more than 30 novels, solving mysteries alongside his father, Inspector Richard Queen. The fourth novel in the series, The Greek Coffin Mystery, is also considered to be the best. A complex tale of murder, forgery, blackmail, and theft, Ellery has a great deal of work cut out for him. Today we dig into this classic mystery and see if it deserves its exalted status.