(Old feed) Shedunnit Book Club — Seasoned Detectives

As a thank you to supporters new and old, I’ve recorded a mini audiobook of one of my favourite nineteenth century lady detective stories, The Ghost at Fountain Lane by C.L. Pirkis. Enjoy!

Snobbery and murder, all served up perfectly for you on a silver tray.

This episode marks the start of the Shedunnit Pledge Drive! If I can add 100 new members to the Shedunnit Book Club by the end of 2020, I can start releasing episodes more regularly and expanding what the podcast covers. If you’d like to be part of that and feel able to offer some support, please visit shedunnitshow.com/pledgedrive.

NB: There are spoilers in this episode! Please check the list of books mentioned below and come back later if there are any titles there for which you don’t want to hear any major plot details. Consider yourself warned!

Books and sources: —The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rineheart —The Door by Mary Roberts Rineheart —20 Rules for Writing Detective Stories by S.S. Van Dine —“The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual” by Arthur Conan Doyle —“The Strange Case of Mr Challoner” by Herbert Jenkins —Something Fishy or The Butler Did It by P.G. Wodehouse —"Why do we think the butler did it?" by Nate Pederson in the Guardian —"Should we be concerned by the limitless popularity of period dramas?" by Caroline Crampton in the New Humanist —"Historians, Social Scientists, Servants, and Domestic Workers: Fifty Years of Research on Domestic and Care Work", International Review of Social History, Volume 59, Issue 2, August 2014 , pp. 279-314 —Snobbery with Violence by Colin Watson —Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh —The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie —Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers —Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie —Black Coffee by Agatha Christie —The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie —Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer —Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers —A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

Thanks to today’s sponsor, The Listener, the daily podcast newsletter that I write, which will help you discover better podcasts. Get 20% off your first year when you sign up for an annual subscription. Visit thelistener.co/shedunnit and use code Shedunnit20 at checkout.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thebutlerdidittranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

He was one of the most influential crime novelists of the 1920s and 1930s, but has languished somewhat in obscurity since. A troubled, dark, incredibly innovative writer: to really get to know Anthony Berkeley, you need to dive deeply into his fiction.

Thanks to my guest Martin Edwards. His latest novel is Mortmain Hall and he’s on Twitter as @medwardsbooks.

Become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club and get bonus audio, listen to ad free episodes and join a book-loving community at shedunnitshow.com/bookclub.

Books and sources: —Elusion Aforethought: The Life and Writing of Anthony Berkeley Cox by Malcolm Turnbull —As For The Woman by Francis Iles —The Layton Court Mystery by Anthony Berkeley —The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie —Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers —Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers —The Wychford Poisoning Case by Anthony Berkeley—The Florence Maybrick episodes of this podcast —The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards—The Edith Thompson episode of this podcast —Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery by Anthony Berkeley —Messalina of the Suburbs  by E.M. Delafield —The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield —The Silk Stocking Murders by Anthony Berkeley —The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley —Murder in the Basement by Anthony Berkeley —The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley—The Detection Club episode of this podcast, featuring Martin Edwards —Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles —Before the Fact by Francis Iles

Thanks to today’s sponsor, Best Fiends. You can download Best Fiends free on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/anthonyberkeleytranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for October 2020, in which we are reading The Crooked Wreath by Christianna Brand, also often found under the titles Suddenly At His Residence and One Of The Family. There is a brief non-spoilery plot summary included, but you can definitely listen to this even if you haven’t finished the book yet and it won’t ruin the ending. I’ll see you in the Shedunnit forum shortly for our full discussion thread on 31 October.

Further listening for this month: — The Locked Room/Impossible Crime episode of the main podcast — Cui Bono? main episode about inheritance mysteries

The full interview with Jim Noy about impossible crimes will also be coming soon on this feed, which has some more details about Brand’s writing.

Also: — Make sure you vote by 9 October for what we read in November and December!

Why has the murder of Julia Wallace on the night of 20 January 1931 haunted detective novelists for decades? Well, it all comes back to the telephone call.

Become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club and get bonus audio, listen to ad free episodes and join a book-loving community at shedunnitshow.com/bookclub.

Books and sources: —The Nurse Daniels episode of this podcast —The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace —The Edith Thompson episode of this podcast —The Scoop by Members of the Detection Club —The Anatomy of Murder by Members of the Detection Club —“The Compassionate Machine” by Margery Allingham, collected in Truly Criminal: A Crime Writers' Association Anthology of True Crime edited by Martin Edwards —Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers —Skin for Skin by Winnifred Duke —Vegetable Duck by John Rhode —The Telephone Call by John Rhode —“Absolutely Elsewhere” by Dorothy L. Sayers, collected in In the Teeth of the Evidence —Personal Call by Agatha Christie —P.D. James on the Wallace case in 2013 —The Skull Beneath The Skin by P.D. James —The Murder Room by P.D. James —The Trial of William Herbert Wallace by W.F. Wyndham Brown —Wallace: The Final Verdict by Roger Wilkes —The Killing of Julia Wallace by Jonathan Goodman

Thanks to my sponsor for this episode, BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/shedunnit for 10% off your first month of professional online counselling.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thetelephonecalltranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

This is my full interview with Renée, the 91 year old playwright and author who featured on the “Lifelong Fan” main episode of the podcast. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt such immediate connection to someone who I just spoke to over Zoom as I did with her, and we’ve been keeping in touch via email since. As such, you’re probably going to have to hear quite a lot of my personal rambling here, but I just wanted her to like me, so I wasn’t being quite as detached as I often am when I’m recording interviews for the podcast. Anyway, I hope this is enjoyable — there was lots that we discussed that wouldn’t fit into the actual episode and I’m glad someone still gets to hear it. If you’re interested, you can buy an ebook of her crime novel The Wild Card  from her publishers here.

A body is found in a sealed chamber, definitely murdered, but there is no way the culprit can have got in or out. How was it done?

Special thanks to my guest Jim Noy. He writes about detective fiction at theinvisibleevent.com, makes a podcast called In GAD We Trust, and once compiled a useful list of his 15 favourite impossible crime novels.

Become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club and get bonus audio, listen to ad free episodes and join a book-loving community at shedunnitshow.com/bookclub.

Books and sources: —The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe (actually published in 1841, not 1843 as I wrongly say in the episode) —A Master of Mysteries by L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace —The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace —"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle —The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill —The Great Thinking Machine: "The Problem of Cell 13" and Other Stories by Jacques Futrelle —The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace —"The Invisible Man" by G.K. Chesterton —"The Round Room Horror" by A. Demain Grange, available in Ye Olde Book of Locked Room Conundrums edited by Jim Noy —Hag's Nook by John Dickson Carr —The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson —The Problem of the Green Capsule by John Dickson Carr —The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr —Green for Danger by Christianna Brand —Tour de Force by Christianna Brand —Death of Jezebel by Christianna Brand —The French Powder Mystery by Ellery Queen —The Crooked Wreath / Suddenly at His Residence by Christianna Brand —Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie —Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie —The House That Kills by Noel Vindry —La Treizieme balle by Marcel Lanteaume —Six crimes sans assassin by Pierre Boileau —The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux —The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo —Invisible Green by John Sladek —Black Aura by John Sladek —The Case of the Little Green Men by Mack Reynolds —Puzzles Of The Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov —Asimov’s Mysteries by Isaac Asimov —The Real Town Murders by Adam Roberts —Goodnight Irene by James Scott Byrnside —The Opening Night Murders by James Scott Byrnside

Thanks to my sponsor for this episode, BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/shedunnit for 10% off your first month of professional online counselling.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/lockedroomtranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

This is the Shedunnit Book Club companion episode for September 2020, in which we are reading Fell Murder by E.C.R. Lorac. There is a brief non-spoilery plot summary included, but you can definitely listen to this even if you haven’t finished the book yet and it won’t ruin the ending. I’ll see you in the Shedunnit forum shortly for our full discussion thread on 30 September.

Further listening for this month: — E.C.R. Lorac episode of the main podcast — Bonus interview with Lorac superfan Sarah Ward — Cui Bono? main episode about inheritance mysteries

Also: — Make sure you vote by 12 September for what we read in October!

Renée read her first detective novel in the 1930s. She hasn’t stopped since.

Special thanks to my guest Renée. Her first crime novel is The Wild Card.

Become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club and get bonus audio, listen to ad free episodes and join a book-loving community at shedunnitshow.com/bookclub.

Books and sources: —These Two Hands by Renée —Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers —Wednesday to come by Renée —Setting the table by Renée —An interview with Renée from 2017 on RNZ

Thanks to today’s sponsor, Sun Basket. Visit sunbasket.com/shedunnit and enter promo code shedunnit at checkout for $35 off your order.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/lifelongfantranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

This is my full interview with Martin Edwards, the president of the Detection Club. I say most of, because Martin and I actually recorded two episodes in one go, so you’re going to hear from him again in a future episode about Anthony Berkeley, so I’m going to hold that stuff back for now so as not to spoil that for you. But there’s plenty of material both about the Detection Club and about Martin’s other work that I’ve got here for you today, including some information about how he wrote his most recent and very golden age inspired book Mortmain Hall, as well as his experiences talking about the genre’s history in other countries, mostly China.