(Old feed) Shedunnit Book Club — Seasoned Detectives

This is your audiobook for October 2023, in which the club has chosen to read a supernatural mystery. Keeping to that theme, “The Four-Fifteen Express” by Amelia B. Edwards is a ghost story involving the unexpected meeting of two acquaintances on a train, a theft totaling seventy-five thousand pounds, and a missing person. This story was originally published in Routledge's Christmas Annual, in December 1866, but the mentions of Christmas Eve and Christmas don’t play a major role in the mystery’s atmosphere and tone. In addition to writing novels and short stories, Edwards was an English journalist, poet, traveller and Egyptologist. In 1882, she co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund. She even gained the nickname "Godmother of Egyptology" for her contribution to the field.

After listening, if you'd like to discuss this story with other members or make suggestions for me to record in the future, head over to the audiobook club area of the forum to do that.

The supernatural and the rational come together in the murder mystery.

Thank you to my returning guest, Carla Valentine, for joining me.

This episode also marks the start of the Shedunnit Pledge Drive! Existing members get access to this year’s pledge drive perk, the Shedunnit Book of Pre Golden Age Detective Fiction, an audio compilation of twelve stories from the era immediately before the period that I generally cover on the show. And, as a thank you for already being a member, during the pledge drive you can gift a year’s membership to Shedunnit to a friend for free. For more information on this see shedunnitbookclub.com/pledgedriveformembers or contact our membership coordinator on [email protected].

Mentioned in this episode: — The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe — The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins — The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle — Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie — The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace — The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie — The Halloween Murders by John Newton Chance — Wraiths and Changelings by Gladys Mitchell — Calendar of Crime by Ellery Queen — The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham — The Plague Court Murders by John Dickson Carr — The Red Widow Murders by John Dickson Carr — Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer — When Last I Died by Gladys Mitchell — Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie — The Unicorn Murders by John Dickson Carr — A Corpse at Camp Two by Glyn Carr — He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr — The Spirit Murder Mystery by Robin Forsythe — Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham

Related Shedunnit episodes: — Knock Knock (Ad Free, Replay) — Murder Isn't Easy (Ad Free) — The Golden Age Autopsy (Ad Free)

NB: 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). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for October 2023, in which we are reading Fear for Miss Betony by Dorothy Bowers. There are no major spoilers in this primer, but if you'd rather read the book with no knowledge of its plot or structure at all, I'd recommend listening only once you've finished reading. I’ll see you in the Shedunnit forum for our fully spoilered discussion thread on 31st October.

Links: — Vote for our January 2024 book — The reading themes for 2024 — The book suggestions thread — Watching party ideas thread

Sign up via email to be alerted when the watching party is about to start — next month's watching party will be happening on Sunday 29th October at 5pm GMT. Suggestions for what we watch are very welcome in this forum thread.

In November, we are reading Murder in the Falling Snow edited by Cecily Gayford and in December our book is Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer.

NB: links to books at Blackwell’s are affiliate links, meaning that although the price remains the exactly same for you, the podcast receives a small commission on each purchase. Blackwell’s is a UK bookseller that ships internationally at no extra charge.

Christie and Wodehouse had a lot in common.

Thank you to my guest, Eliza  Easton, for joining me to discuss PG Wodehouse and his friendship with Agatha Christie, a friendship that had a bit of a rocky start. Eliza founded a think tank called Erskine Analysis, which works on creative industries and soft power and the future of the UK economy, but one of her hobbies involves reading, writing, and talking about 1920s literature, especially PG Wodehouse.

Mentioned in this episode: — The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse — Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie — The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie — Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie — Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie — And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Related Shedunnit episodes: — The Butler Did It (Ad Free) — Death Under Par (Ad Free) — Cricket and Crime (Ad Free)

NB: 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). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

Wouldn’t sleuthing be so much easier if the dead could speak to the living?

This episode was first released on 18th September 2019.

Be aware: there are no major (ending!) spoilers in this episode but there are plot descriptions given of the books listed below.

Books mentioned: — Strong Poison  by Dorothy L. Sayers

— Peril at End House  by Agatha Christie

— Murder Most Unladylike  by Robin Stevens

— The Plague Court Murders  by John Dickson Carr

— When Last I Died  by Gladys Mitchell

— The Sittaford Mystery  by Agatha Christie

— Dumb Witness  by Agatha Christie

— “The Last Seance” in The Hound of Death  by Agatha Christie

NB: 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). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

The true detective fiction fan's library.

Be aware: there are no major (ending!) spoilers in this episode but there are plot descriptions given of the books listed below.

Books recommended:

— Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell

— The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

— Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley

— The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

— The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

— A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

— Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

— And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

— Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

— Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

— Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie

— The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

— The Hollow by Agatha Christie

— Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

— The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

— The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

— The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo

— Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

— The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham

— Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham

— Fear For Miss Betony by Dorothy Bowers

Episodes mentioned:

— The Great Gladys

— The Psychology of Anthony Berkeley

— Young Sleuths

— Dining with Death

— Queering The Golden Age

— The Christie Completists

— The Honkaku Mysteries

— Lifelong Fan

— The Evolution of Margery Allingham

— The Mysterious Dorothy Bowers

NB: 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). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

For this bonus episode, you're going to hear my full interview with Kathryn Ferry from the Murder-on-Sea episode of the podcast. If you have questions or observations after listening to this, do join me and other members in the forum to discuss all things seaside.

Kathryn Ferry is a historian of the British seaside, specialising in things like piers and beach huts from the first half of the twentieth century. Find out more about her work and her books at kathrynferry.co.uk.

Listen using the player above or your private podcast feed (instructions for setting that up here).

Murder does like to be beside the seaside.

Thanks very much to my guests. Dr Allan Brodie is a visiting fellow at Bournemouth University and the author of books including England's Seaside Heritage from the Air. Dr Kathryn Ferry is a historian of the British seaside and the author of books including The British Seaside Holiday, more information available at kathrynferry.co.uk.

Be aware: there is a brief, non-specific mention of suicide in this episode. There are no major spoilers and non-spoiler details given about the books listed below.

Mentioned in this episode:

— The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude

— The Sea Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts

— Mist on the Saltings by Henry Wade

— The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

— And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

— Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

— The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

— N or M? by Agatha Christie

— Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers

— The Seat of the Scornful by John Dickson Carr

— When Last I Died by Gladys Mitchell

— “Razor Edge” by Anthony Berkeley, collected in Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards

— The Case of the Haven Hotel by Christopher Bush

— A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

— Mystery at Lynden Sands by JJ Connington

— And Being Dead by Margaret Erskine

— The Crime Coast by Elizabeth Gill

— The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers

— Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh

Related Shedunnit episodes:

— Episode 1 of "Mysteries of Summer": Cricket and Crime

— Episode 2 of "Mysteries of Summer": Murder in a Heatwave

— Murder on Holiday

NB: 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). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

This is your audiobook for August 2023, and this month's theme involves travel/holiday mysteries. Arnold Bennett’s short story “Murder!” takes us to a resort on the Channel coast. Originally published in 1927, “Murder!” can be categorized as a logical satire on the infallible detective. Unconventionally, we follow the perspective of the murderer leading up to, during, and after the crime takes place; and then Dr. Austin Bond, described in the story as “the great amateur detective” of many famous mysteries, is tasked with finding the solution that we readers have already been given.

After listening, if you'd like to discuss this story with other members or make suggestions for me to record in the future, head over to the audiobook club area of the forum to do that.

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for August 2023, in which we are reading Untimely Death by Cyril Hare. There are no major spoilers in this primer, but if you'd rather read the book with no knowledge of its plot or structure at all, I'd recommend listening only once you've finished reading! I’ll see you in the Shedunnit forum for our fully spoilered discussion thread on 31st August.

Links: — Vote for our November book — Participate in the 2024 reading survey — The reading themes for 2023 — The book suggestions thread — Watching party ideas thread

Sign up via email to be alerted when the watching party is about to start — next month's watching party will be happening on Sunday 27th August at 5pm BST. Suggestions for what we watch are very welcome in this forum thread.

In September, we will read The Frangipani Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu, and in October Fear for Miss Betony by Dorothy Bowers.

The voting for what we read for December (Wintry/Festive/Holiday) very soon, so if there's anything you’d like to see on the shortlist then please do post about it in the forum or email me on [email protected].

NB: links to books at Blackwell’s are affiliate links, meaning that although the price remains the exactly same for you, the podcast receives a small commission on each purchase. Blackwell’s is a UK bookseller that ships internationally at no extra charge.