This episode originally appeared on Short History Of… read by John Hopkins. If you like what you hear, search ‘Short History Of’ in your podcast app and hit follow or weekly episodes. Detectives Don’t sleep will be back next week. 

Retaining the title of the “Queen of Crime” to this day, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Across 66 novels, 14 short-story collections, and 20 stage plays, she depicted the evil lurking in the hearts of ordinary people. But how did this homeschooled daughter of a privileged English family learn so much about poisons, psychopaths and murder? What in her personal life informed such a suspicious view of ordinary people? And how did she trigger a real-life mystery in 1926 that saw the whole country turn amateur detective?

Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to best-selling crime writer Sophie Hannah.

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The Mysterious Life of Agatha Christie

Detectives Don't Sleep is the new whodunnit podcast. Step beyond the police tape, as we shadow the real detectives who worked history's most intriguing cases.

Brought to you by award-winning podcasters, Noiser. Hosted by Mark Dodson.

New episodes Tuesdays.

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History

Society & Culture

Drama

Fiction

True crime

It’s April, 1992, in California. When three members of the Ewell family are found shot to death in their Fresno home, the news is met with shock. Fresno is a quiet community with low crime rates and good people. Veteran Detective John Souza, and his partner, Chris Curtice are assigned to the case. At first, it looks like a robbery gone wrong. But then details about one of the victims emerges. With a vast fortune to his name, there could be as many as eight million reasons why Dale Ewell and his family were gunned down…  

A Noiser production, written by Chris McDonald

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Operation Three Stooges

It’s January 1929 in Southampton, England. The body of missing businessman Vivian Messiter is found inside a locked garage. Local police call in one of Scotland Yard’s finest to take charge of the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector John Prothero. The ace detective uncovers vital clues missed by his colleagues, which lead him to the man he believes killed Messiter. But the conclusive evidence that can prove his case eludes him. Until a shaft of sunlight falls across a seemingly blank page.

A Noiser production, written by Roger Morris

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A Trick of the Light

In July 1984 the body of an unidentified young woman is found in a Los Angeles parking lot. Veteran homicide detective John St John investigates. When a teenage girl goes missing a week later, St John believes the two cases are linked and that there’s a serial killer on the loose. As he learns more about the lives of the victims, he keeps coming back to one man who knew them both, a photographer called Bill Bradford. But can the detective they call Jigsaw John piece together the clues and prove his hunch?

A Noiser production, written by Roger Morris

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Jigsaw John

It’s December 2003, in Texas. When four gunshots ring out in the suburban city of Sugar Land, killing two members of the Whitaker family, and badly injuring two more, the news is met with disbelief in the community. Detective Marshall Slot takes the case. At first, the cops think that it’s simply a robbery gone wrong. But there are details that just don’t add up. Before long, Slot finds himself tangled up in one of the most bizarre and challenging investigations he’ll ever face. 

A Noiser production, written by Chris McDonald

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A Family Affair

It’s 2008, in Budgeree, Australia. The kidnapping of Julian Buchwald and Carolynne Watson shocks the local community. After all, who would want to harm the devout Christian couple? That’s the question Victoria Police hope to answer. Faced with endless acres of unforgiving scrubland and no clues as to their whereabouts, locating the pair feels like an impossible task. The investigation takes an even more sinister turn when a letter arrives from a satanic cult associated with ritualistic sacrifice. The police face a race against the clock to locate the young lovers, before it’s too late.

A Noiser production, written by Chris McDonald

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The Mysterious Life of Agatha Christie

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