Shedunnit

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

Thank you to my returning guest, Carla Valentine, for joining me. She is a trained mortuary technician and the technical curator at Barts Pathology Museum in London. She’s also the author of Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie.

This episode marks the beginning of the 2023 Shedunnit Pledge Drive! Help ensure the future of the podcast and get your hands on some exclusive audio perks by becoming a Shedunnit member now at shedunnitshow.com/pledgedrive.

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

— Murder Isn't Easy

— The Golden Age Autopsy

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.

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/membership.

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/spookysleuthingtranscript.

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

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Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse had a lot in common.

Thank you to my guest, Eliza Easton, for joining me.

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 

— Death Under Par 

— Cricket and Crime

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.

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, 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/agathaandplumtranscript.

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

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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

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/membership.

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/knockknocktranscript.

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

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What's in 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.

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, 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/shedunnitrecommendstranscript.

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

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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.

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, 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/murderonseatranscript.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the temperature rises, don't lose your cool.

Thanks to my guest Cecily Gayford — you can find more information about Murder in a Heatwave and all the other anthologies she has edited via the website for Profile Books.

Be aware: there are spoilers in this episode for the the story "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran" by Dorothy L. Sayers. There are non-spoiler details given about the other books listed below.

Mentioned in this episode:

— Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

— A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black

— The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch

— Murder in a Heatwave, edited by Cecily Gayford

Related Shedunnit episodes:

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

— Murder on Holiday

— Death Under Par

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.

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, 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/murderinaheatwavetranscript.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are crime writers so bowled over by the game?

Thank you to my guests, Dr. Andrew Green and cricket statistician Andy Zaltzman. You can find more cricket-related content and news from Andy by listening to Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5, or via his podcast, The Bugle Ashes Urncast.

Be aware: there are spoilers in this episode for the plot of Murder Must Advertise and non-spoiler details given about the other books listed below.

Mentioned in this episode:

— "The Adventure of the Priory School" by Arthur Conan Doyle, featured in The Return of Sherlock Holmes

— "The Adventure of the Three Students" Arthur Conan Doyle, featured in The Return of Sherlock Holmes

— Sherlock Holmes and the Birth of the Ashes by Arunabha Sengupta

— Sherlock Holmes at the 1902 Test by Stanley Shaw

— Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L Sayers

— Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers

— The Clues of the Caribbees by TS Stribling

— Blotto, Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera by Simon Brett

— Murder at School by James Hilton

— "The Guilty Vicarage" by WH Auden

— Alibi Innings by Barbara Worsley-Gough

— Murder Isn't Cricket by E and MA Radford

— The Amazing Test Match Crime by Adrian Arlington

— The Test Match Murder by Alfred Tack

— Death Before Wicket by Nancy Spain

— Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood

— W.G. Grace’s Last Case by Willie Rushton

— Test Kill by Ted Baxter

Related Shedunnit episodes:

— Murder on Holiday

— Death Under Par

— The Advertising Adventures of Dorothy L. Sayers

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.

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, 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/cricketandcrimetranscript.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do we approach offensive language in texts from previous times?

Be aware that this episode includes discussion of prejudice, slurs and "of its time" attitudes and language.

Thank you to my guest, Subhadra Das. You can find more information about her work at her website subhadradas.com and her book (Un)Civilised: Ten Lies That Made the West is available for pre-order.

Mentioned in this episode:

— The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, introduction by Shafquat Towheed

— And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

— Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

— Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Mentioned Shedunnit episodes:

— A Mysterious Glossary

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.

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, 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/editingagathachristietranscript.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when a couple of socialists decide to write mysteries?

Thanks to my guest, Curtis Evans. If you are interested in his book, The Spectrum of the English Murder, it is available through Blackwell's and other booksellers. 

Join Caroline and guest Teresa Peschel for a free live episode of Shedunnit on YouTube on 15th July at 7pm UK time. More details: shedunnitshow.com/liveepisode

Mentioned in this episode:

— The Spectrum of English Murder by by Curtis Evans

— The World of Labour by GDH Cole

— An Introduction to Trade Unionism by GDH Cole

— The Intelligent Man's Guide Through World Chaos by GDH Cole

— What Marx Really Meant by GDH Cole

— Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

— The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts

— The Brooklyn Murders by GDH Cole

— The Death of a Millionaire by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Snobbery With Violence by Colin Watson

— Big Business Murder by GDH and Margaret Cole

— The Brothers Sackville by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Disgrace To The College by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Double Blackmail by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Murder at the Munition Works by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Scandal at School by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Burglars In Buck by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Greek Tragedy by GDH and Margaret Cole

— Knife in the Dark by GDH and Margaret Cole

Related Shedunnit episodes:

— The Mysterious Dorothy Bowers

— Double Trouble

— Policing the Detectives

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.

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, 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/meetthecolestranscript.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A feminist take on the gossiping busybody of St Mary Mead.

Thanks to my guest, Leandra Griffith. As well as being Shedunnit's production assistant, she posts about mysteries on her Instagram @leandra_thetbrzero and her YouTube channel.

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/membership.

Mentioned in the episode:

— Nemesis by Agatha Christie

— "The Tuesday Night Club" by Agatha Christie, featured in The Thirteen Problems

— The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

— The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

— The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

— Agatha Christie's The Complete Secret Notebooks by John Curran

Related Shedunnit episodes:

— Surplus Women

— The Christie Completists

— Queering The Golden Age

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.

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, 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/missmarplespinstersleuthtranscript.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices