Today’s episode is based on the book Homecoming by Kate Morton.

In the small town of Tambilla, in the Adelaide Hills, on Christmas Eve of 1959, the Turner family was discovered resting around a picnic blanket by the creek on the edge of their property by a mail carrier who was cutting through to let his horse drink from the cool water before making the trek back home.

But as he approached Isabel Turner and her children, he got the uncanny feeling that something was wrong. They were too still to have been sleeping. None of them were moving at all. Not even the young children—who everyone knows are restless sleepers. And the infant, the one Isabel had given birth to just a short time ago, swinging in a crib they’d hung from a sturdy branch of a tree, isn’t cooing or shifting.

And before he gets close enough to know, he knows. 

Every member of the Turner family, young and old, is dead.

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected] or follow me @the_stay_at_home_creative on IG.

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Today’s episode is based on the mystery short story “The Dauphin’s Doll” by Ellery Queen.

Who doesn’t love a gentleman thief? The kind of coldhearted, calculating criminal that really just wants to bruise your ego and prove to everyone that they’re the smartest person in the room—even when going toe to toe with some of history’s greatest investigative minds. 

What’s not to love.

And for five years, Comus was the name on every investigator’s mind. Particularly the young Ellery Queen. And for those five years, it seemed as though Comus would never be caught.

But all of that was about to change with the death of 78-year-old Cytherea Ypson. And Comus would find his five year string of successful heists brought low by a doll and a Christmas charity for orphans.

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected] or follow me @the_stay_at_home_creative on IG.

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Today’s episode is based on the noir short “The Killer Christian” by Andrew Klavan.

Everyone knows the story of the final shootout between Sarkesian and Billy Shine, better known as “The Death” that fateful Christmas Eve night above the Mysterious Bookshop.

At the time, most of the coverage of this event had been focused on how the shootout fit into the bigger picture of gang violence in New York. Reporters were hyper focused on how this was just another example of La Cosa Nostra’s weakening hold on their territory and how other gangs were starting to move in.

And the coverage that wasn’t focused on that was focused on the great betrayal of Sarkesian and the mob boss Picarone’s response. Turning the shootout into a metaphor for the underworld’s underlying tensions and shifting loyalties. 

But none of these stories truly understood what happened that night when Sarkesian met Billy Shine. And it wasn’t until an expose by journalist Andrew Klavan that the real story would come out. And that’s the story that we’ll be hearing today.

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Today’s episode is based on the noir short “Dead on Christmas Street” by John D. MacDonald.

Loreen Garrity would have much rather joined the shoppers on the street below her than be stuck up on the seventeenth floor filing paperwork for Kistner Accounting. But she didn’t expect to join them by being pushed from her office window to the ground below.

And Loreen Garrity put up a fight. A big enough one that the police who arrive on the scene can tell immediately there’s no chance of this death being ruled a holiday suicide. There is no doubt Loreen was pushed.

And there’s also very little doubt as to why. Loreen Garrity was the only eye witness in an attempted armed bank robbery by three young men, one of whom just happens to be the little brother of a well known crime boss with a whole network of people whose job it is to clean up his messes.

Did Loreen Garrity get on the wrong side of the Servius Brothers? Or was her involvement in the case just a clever cover up for someone else who wanted Loreen dead?

Today’s episode's background music was Track: "The Deck" Music provided by https://slip.stream Free Download / Stream: https://get.slip.stream/Gel97Q

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Today's episode is based on the Sherlock Holmes-inspired short story “A Scandal in Winter” by Gillian Linscott.

When regular Edelweiss Hotel guest Mr. McEvoy came to stay with his wife over the Christmas holiday, he never expected it would be his last visit. Or that he would be pushed from the window of his room to his death in the snow below.

While it was never conclusively proven what happened to Mr. McEvoy on that fateful afternoon, guests at the Edelweiss have no trouble coming up with their own scenario. One that puts the blame firmly on the shoulders of his wife, Irene McEvoy. 

So when Irene shows up, dressed all in black, for Christmas celebrations just a year after her husband’s death—there is bound to be gossip. 

But Irene isn’t the only unexpected guest at the Edelweiss this year, and the presence of two of London’s most distinguished detectives might just mean it’s time for an exoneration in the court of public opinion.

Today’s episode's background music was Track: "Snowglobes & Cinnamon" Music provided by https://slip.stream Free Download / Stream: https://get.slip.stream/8pSS59

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Today episode is based on the short story “The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding” by Agatha Christie.

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The holidays can make people do strange things. Like fighting strangers over the last Cocomelon Bus in the toy aisle or finishing off a bottle of red wine and telling their mother-in-law’s boyfriend what they really think of him.

But they can also make people more charitable. Like inviting someone you’d otherwise never allow in your home to Christmas dinner. Or holding your tongue when you want to comment on the younger generations’ life choices.

And the holidays are no different for the Lacey family. 

So when Em and her husband, “The Colonel,” hear that their granddaughter Sara wants to travel back home from London with the lover they couldn’t approve of less, they agree anyway.

But little does the Lacey family know, the man Sara has met in London is far from the man he presents himself to be. And the Lacey family Christmas will leave them embroiled in an international scandal and attempted jewel heist. 

======

Today’s episode's background music was Track: "Snowglobes & Cinnamon" Music provided by https://slip.stream Free Download / Stream: https://get.slip.stream/8pSS59

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Kelly Walsh did not seem like the kind of person who would be the target of murder. And not just because she was a struggling single mother who worked hard to provide for her son and herself while seeming to otherwise keep to herself.

We all know people have more depth than what we can glimpse from the surface.

But Kelly Walsh was already dying.

Weeks before her murder, Kelly had already been preparing her son for a life without her, clarifying her last wishes with her brother and sister-in-law, getting her affairs in order, and ensuring that her son would be well taken care of when she was no longer there.

Kelly had been diagnosed with cancer, and it was at such an advanced stage there was no longer any hope that she would ever be in remission. At most, Kelly had three months left to live. Not a lot of time when you’re staring down years, but an eternity when it’s all you have left.

And Kelly planned to spend every second she could with the people she loved. And when life took her to the town of Miracle Springs, she even hoped she’d be able to cross some regrets off her list, and make amends with a woman she’d hurt.

But things didn’t go as Kelly planned, and her son was robbed of his mother early.

Today episode is based on the book, Paper Cuts by Ellery Adams.

Today’s episode's background music was Track: "Quietus", Essequibo Music provided by https://slip.stream Free Download / Stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/6dc019e8-d683-4b6f-8d31-5a5df4102274?utm_source=attribution

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com
Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Everyone knows the name Anna Victoria Alcott. Whether you grew up with her as the lovable, blond witch on Spellbound (which tragically only ever had one season) or if you came to know and love her after her Oscar Award nominated role in The Auteur, or her later roles as director and producer for countless award nominated films, anyone who’s been paying attention to pop culture knows who she is.

But there’s one story Anna Victoria Alcott rarely brings up anymore. The story of how she became pregnant with her daughter, Sibohan Alcott. A daughter we can all tell Anna adores, but who she went through hell to have—literally.

Because while undergoing IVF treatments with the New York City fertility legend Dr. Hill, Anna attracted the kind of attention no celebrity wants. 

From trolls taking to the internet to say Anna didn’t deserve to have a child, to masked figures breaking into her house and her computers, to collector’s item dolls of her showing up where they shouldn’t be—each more mutilated than the last—Anna had a reason to be afraid for her life.

So how did she go from the hunted and haunted ingenue to the fearless mother and powerhouse producer that she is today?

Are the rumors true, did Anna Victoria Alcott make a deal with the devil?

Well, in this story, nothing is quite what it seems. 

Today episode is based on the book, Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine.

Today’s episode's background music was "MOTHER KNOWS BEST", odium. Music provided by https://Slip.stream  Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/ZdIkvg

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

There are two kinds of people on Saoirse, locals and tourists. And Saoirse Island loves its tourists. They’re the reason the island economy can survive harsh winters set apart from the rest of the world. The reason the locals can afford to live even when the apple orchard—which provides a majority of Saorise’s jobs and income—goes dormant.

And if the locals hear rumors about witches on the island, a magic that makes the trees colors just a little more vibrant, that lives in the earth and the blood of Saoirse natives, well, they lean into it, selling spells, tinctures, teas, and tea leaf readings.

But then high school senior Lily Morgan, a Saoirse native with roots that go back generations to the island town’s founding, is found dead and the apple orchard is set aflame.

And while locals all have an idea of who they think killed her, police aren’t able to find any evidence to make a conviction. And Lily’s death turns into a cold case that becomes a new kind of specter over Saoirse Island—and brings a new kind of tourist.

But when the man they believed kills Lily returns to Saoirse, the locals have had enough. It is time someone was held accountable.

Today episode is based on the book, Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young.

Today’s episode's background music was "Alone In Vicious Winter." Music provided by https://Slip.stream  Free Download/Stream: https://get.slip.stream/zm2ZTZ

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim

Burke Dennings is a Hollywood director known for being a relatively nice guy—until he gets drunk. Then it’s anyone’s guess which version of Burke Dennings you might get. From screaming to vulgar language to property damage, Burke Dennings leaned into the forgiveness extended to creatively-minded men in the 1970s to engage in whatever his ego told him it wanted to do. 

And when Burke Dennings ends up dead, Georgetown police have no shortage of suspects that may have wanted him dead.

But motive and opportunity are two separate things. And while the details of Dennings death make an accident unlikely, the circumstances surrounding his death make murder seem near impossible.

Because at the time of his death, Burke Dennings had gone to the home of his star actress, Chris MacNeil. The only person home at the time was her young daughter, who was stuck in bed with an illness doctors had yet to successfully diagnose.

Regan is the only person with the opportunity to have murdered Burke Dennings. But there’s no way this young girl had the means to perform what was, but all recorded accounts, an intensely physical murder, requiring a strength even most men wouldn’t have possessed.

So how did Burke Dennings end up dead? And what role did Regan MacNeil play in it?

Today episode is based on the book, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.

Today’s episode background music was Track: "MOTHER KNOWS BEST", odium Music provided by https://slip.stream Free Download / Stream: https://get.slip.stream/ZdIkvg

Reader, I Murdered Him is a true crime podcast for book lovers. Every week we’ll do a deep dive into a murder, cult, serial killer, or other noteworthy crime, but with a twist. The crimes on Reader, I Murdered Him aren’t ripped from the headlines. They’re ripped from the pages of newly released, noteworthy backlist, or timeless classic mystery, thriller, and horror novels.

Want to get in touch? send a message to [email protected]

Want to talk about today’s book? Join the bookclub! https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1202965-reader-i-murdered-him-podcast-book-club

Want to know what we’re reading next? Follow the newsletter: https://thestayathomecreative.substack.com

Find Reader, I Murdered Him on Anchor: https://anchor.fm/readerimurderedhim