(Old feed) Shedunnit Book Club — Seasoned Detectives

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Is it possible to write a whodunnit and leave out the police?

Many thanks to my guest, Nicole Glover. More information about her work is available at nicole-glover.com, and her first book, The Conductors, is out now in the US and the UK.

The inspiration for this episode was Nicole’s article “Who Are You Going To Call: Rethinking The Role Of Police In Mysteries“.

Listen using the player on the page at shedunnitbookclub.com/policingthedetectivesadfree, 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.

This is the full audio of my interview with Mark Aldridge, which appeared in The Many Lives of Hercule Poirot and Swan Song episodes of the main podcast. You can find out more about his work at markaldridge.info and order a copy of his new book, Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, from all good booksellers. We ended up chatting for about an hour, and even diverted into discussing Japanese crime fiction at the end.

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 Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for May 2021, in which we are reading Death Comes As The End by Agatha Christie. 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 Monday 31st May.

Sign up via email to be alerted when our monthly watching party is about to start — in May, it’s happening on Sunday 30th May at 5pm BST. Suggestions for what we watch very welcome in this forum thread.

In June we are reading The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths.

I’m going to open the voting on what we read for July 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.

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Reading through the twentieth century, one murder mystery at a time.

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

There are no major plot spoilers in this episode, but the plot of each book is discussed briefly. There is a major spoiler for the Sherlock Holmes story “The Final Problem” from 1893.

The ten books I read for this episode are:

1905 — The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

1913 — Trent’s Last Case by E.C. Bentley

1920 — The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts

1934 — The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers

1943 — Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

1952 — Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert

1964 — From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell

1977 — Death of an Expert Witness by P.D. James

1986 — Appleby and the Ospreys by Michael Innes

1997 — Black and Blue by Ian Rankin

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. 

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How do you say goodbye to a beloved detective?

Be aware: there are spoilers for Curtain and Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie in this episode!

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

 This is the full audio of my interview with Hamish Symington, the crossword setter Soup, which appeared in the “Cryptic Crimes” episode of the main podcast. Please enjoy hearing my total silent bafflement every time he throws an “obvious” clue at me.

 

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for April 2021, in which we are reading Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert. There is a 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 31 March.

Relevant links: — The ECR Lorac episode of the main podcast (for more discussion of an Inspector Hazelrigg-esque detective — The primer episode about Ngaio Marsh’s Death at the Bar (for additional British legal system explanations)

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

In May we are reading Death Comes As The End by Agatha Christie.

I’m going to open the voting on what we read for June very soon — I propose that we make this our one month where we read a more modern book that is inspired by the golden age of detective fiction. I’ve already had some great suggestions to titles to go on the shortlist, including Thrones Dominations by Jill Paton Walsh, An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson and Gallows Court by Martin Edwards, but if you’ve got anything else you’d like to add 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.

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There aren’t many characters who are recognisable just from a silhouette, but Hercule Poirot is one of them.

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

This is the full audio of interviews with On Nomoto — grandson of Seishi Yokomizo — and Daniel Seton, the editor at Pushkin Press responsible for publishing the first English translations of this bestselling Japanese crime writer, from The Honkaku Mysteries episode. I hope you enjoy hearing about honkaku mysteries in more detail. There are no spoilers, but we do talk about The Honjin Murders* and The Inugami Curse*.

* These links to 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 Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for March 2021, in which we are reading Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh. There is a 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 31 March.

Further listening/reading for this month: — The Secret Life of Ngaio Marsh episode of the main podcast — The primer episode about Ngaio Marsh’s The Nursing Home Murder

Sign up via email to be alerted when the watching party is about to start — it’s happening on Sunday 28th March at 5pm GMT. We will be watching “Rumpole and the Confession of Guilt”, the 1975 adaptation that was made as part of the Play for Today series.

In April we are reading Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert and in May we are reading Death Comes As The End by Agatha Christie. (These links to 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.)

Make your suggestions now for what we read in future months by emailing me on [email protected].