(Old feed) Shedunnit Book Club — Seasoned Detectives

A look at why and how Shedunnit gets made!

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for August 2021, in which we are reading Death on the Riviera by John Bude. There is a brief non-spoilery plot summary included (ie no major clues or twists), but you’ve been warned! I’ll see you in the Shedunnit forum for our fully spoilered discussion thread on Tuesday 31st August and thereafter.

Sign up via email to be alerted when our monthly watching party is about to start — in August, it’s happening on Sunday 29th May at 5pm BST.

In September we are reading Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey.

I’m going to open the voting on what we read for October 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 an independent, family run bookseller in the UK that ships internationally at no extra charge.

Her plots are second to none. But is the Queen of Crime a true literary great?

There are no spoilers in this episode.

Listen using the player on the page at shedunnitbookclub.com/isagathachristiegoodadfree, your private podcast feed (instructions here) or download the mp3 directly here.

This is the full audio of my interview with Robin Stevens, which appeared in the Murder at Road Hill House episode of the main podcast.  You can also hear Robin on two previous episodes of the show, Back to School and Death Sets Sail on the Nile, and her new collection of short stories about schoolgirl detectives Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells is called Once Upon A Crime and comes out in August 2021.

We do discuss the outcome of the Road Hill House case, so if you want to read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or any other account without knowing what happens at the end, do that before you listen to this.

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 an independent, family run bookseller in the UK that ships internationally at no extra charge.

This case from 1860 ignited a wave of detective fever that we still haven’t recovered from.

NB: We do discuss the outcome of the Road Hill House case, so if you want to read The Suspicions of Mr Whicher without knowing what happens at the end, do that before you listen to this. Other books mentioned — The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers, and John Rhode’s essay “Constance Kent” in The Anatomy of Murder — are talked about but there are no major spoilers given.

Listen using the player on the page at shedunnitbookclub.com/themurderatroadhillhouseadfree, your private podcast feed (instructions here) or download the mp3 directly here.

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for July 2021, in which we are reading The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. There is a brief non-spoilery plot summary included (ie no major clues or twists), but you’ve been warned! I’ll see you in the Shedunnit forum for our fully spoilered discussion thread on Saturday 31st July and thereafter. You might also find The Honkaku Mysteries episode of the main podcast useful in explaining the broader honkaku tradition to which this book belongs.

Sign up via email to be alerted when our monthly watching party is about to start — in July, it’s happening on Sunday 25th May at 5pm BST. Suggestions for what we watch very welcome in this forum thread.

In August we are reading Death on the Riviera by John Bude.

I’m going to open the voting on what we read for August 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 an independent, family run bookseller in the UK that ships internationally at no extra charge.

This is the full audio of my interview with Maureen Johnson, which appeared in the Young Sleuths of the main podcast.  Maureen’s newest YA mystery, The Box in the Woods, is out now. Find out more at her website www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com and follow her on Twitter @maureenjohnson.

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 an independent, family run bookseller in the UK that ships internationally at no extra charge.

Where is St Mary Mead, anyway?

My guide to Agatha Christie’s England is now available to pre-order from the publisher at shedunnitshow.com/map (ships 19th July 2021), and the first 100 people to do so will get free access to the audiobook version.

Listen to this episode now using the player on the page at shedunnitbookclub.com/agathachristiesenglandadfree, your private podcast feed (instructions here) or download the mp3 directly here.

Young detectives, and young readers, play an important part in the history of detective fiction.

Many thanks to my guest, Maureen Johnson. Her newest YA mystery, The Box in the Woods, is out now.

There are no major plot spoilers in this episode, but we do talk about the general set up of Maureen’s four Stevie Bell novels: Truly Devious, The Vanishing Stair, The Hand on the Wall and The Box in the Woods.

Listen using the player on the page at shedunnitbookclub.com/youngsleuthsadfree, your private podcast feed (instructions here) or download the mp3 directly here.

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 independent bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

I’m delighted to say that the author of the book we’re reading in the club this month, The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths, agreed to be on the show to tell us all about how she wrote it. That’s one advantage of reading a work by a living author, I suppose!

Elly (real name Domenica De Rosa) is a big fan of Victorian and golden age murder mysteries, and even invented her own classic crime writer for the purposes of her plot here.  And best of all, the “murder consultant” in the book — the old lady who helps crime writers by coming up with intriguing murders for them — is based on a real person, her own Aunt Marge.

Listen using the player on the page at shedunnitbookclub.com/goldenageinspirationadfree, your private podcast feed (instructions here) or download the mp3 directly here.

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 independent bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.