Death of the Reader

We discuss chapters 5-9 of Good Murder by Robert Gott. As William Power continues to get himself further and further into trouble, the situation is complicated by his relationship with Charlotte, whose husband is rumoured to be the father of the child Polly Drummond was pregnant with upon her death. With William now receiving pressure from both the police and Charlotte, will he be able to weasel h...

We discuss chapters 1-4 of Good Murder by Robert Gott. After Polly Drummond is found dissolving in the water tower of Maryborough, Queensland, the town is in upheaval. Chief suspect is our... hero? William Power leads the Power Players, his acting troupe, as they prepare to perform for the uninterested town. With the police on his tail and a poor attitude getting him in more and more trouble, Will...

We discuss chapters 28-39 of All The Tears In China by Sulari Gentill. As Rowland is put to hell and back again by the bloodhound Inspector Randolph over the death of Bertie Middleton, hope of catching the true criminal seems to dwindle. Taking a gruesome look inside a British prison in 1930s Shanghai, will Herd's solution be enough to save Rowland from his grizzly death in the confronting conclus...

We discuss chapters 15-27 of All The Tears In China by Sulari Gentill. As the scale of crime escalates drastically and Rowland finds himself on the receiving end of explosions and high-speed violins. Pressure mounts to cave to business demands from the traders he was sent to delay, Rowland begins to doubt that he'll be capable of carrying out the mission his brother sent him for. With the Police o...

We discuss chapters 1-14 of All The Tears in China by Sulari Gentill. Finding himself in political hot water with the Attorney General over his involvement with Egon Kisch on his last adventure, Rowland Sinclair is shipped off to Shanghai by his brother Wilfred to buffer a trade deal while the thread of trade embargoes to their buyers in Japan loom overhead. Seeing the opportunity for a break, Row...

We discuss Parts 4 and 5 of The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith AKA J.K. Rowling. As the wild ride comes to an end we see inside a truly twisted psychopathic mind of the killer, and learn just what the definition of insanity really is. Herds is ready to just about lose his mind as he deep dives into the mindset of the Greco-Roman heroes of old, and Flex explains exactly how his mind has been...

We discuss Part 3 of The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith AKA J.K. Rowling. Flex is worried with this one, the adventure around London has been to so many unique places, from a designer clothes store to Cormoran’s nephew’s birthday party, to a fast food joint in downtown. It seems like these scenes are disconnected to each other but could there be a method to this madness? We get to know Cormo...

We discuss Parts 1-2 of The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith AKA J.K. Rowling. Our hero, a crippled yet undeniable lady-killer Cormoran Strike is tasked by a local businessman John Bristow with solving the death of his adoptive sister, Lula Landry. Fallen from her own apartment block at the height of her celebrity fame, public opinion has ruled the death as a suicide. With Cormoran’s paycheck...

We discuss both of the Guy Ritchie Sherlock movies starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock and Watson. With his signature stylings comfortably at home with the swashbuckling hijinks of Conan Doyle’s famous duo, Guy Ritchie dishes out one great film and a film. Whilst the first film proves a thoroughly enjoyable romp, the few problems it had seem only to exacerbate themselves in the seq...

We discuss the first season of Elementary produced by CBS starring Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock and Watson. Taking Sherlock Holmes out of 221B Baker St and placing him in a New York Brownstone more reminiscent of Van Dine and Rex Stout’s work seems a peculiar move. After concluding its’ 7-season run in 2019, we take back a look at where it all began, talking about how being open abou...

We discuss the first season of Sherlock produced by the BBC starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock and Watson. Leading the charge in modern enthusiasm in Detective Fiction, this beloved, over-dramatised retelling of Sherlock Holmes in the modern day spawned countless debates over whether the absurdity of its plot devices and visuals actually led to a passable show. Revisiting...

We discuss chapters 10-12 of The Sign of The Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It seems as though this book will be wrapped up neatly, until we take a sharp left turn and end up in 18th Century India. Flex and Herds once again must tackle blatant racism in an old murder mystery, can we finally put the topic to bed? Definitely not! Yet there is still merit to this ancient tale written far before our...

We discuss chapters 6-9 of The Sign of The Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As Sherlock Holmes drives himself closer to the villain of this tale, and the recovery of a stolen treasure, he brings all the charm he can muster by dressing up like an old fisherman and being captured by his own friend Watson, as well as employing a small army of street urchins in pursuit of the murderer! Sherlock is conv...

We discuss chapters 1-5 of The Sign of The Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As we unfurl the curtain on the second of the infamous Sherlock Holmes series, John B. Watson is as obsessed with the beauty and charm of Sherlock Holmes’ client as she is with figuring out what guardian angel has been watching over her since her father passed away. As we are introduced to a cast of exotic characters (many...

We discuss chapters 20-26 of A Decent Interval by Simon Brett. With the case solved, how can Charles Paris safely separate himself from the crime? We’ve discovered Charles’ moral compass might not be quite centred, but is his resolution satisfying, and how does Simon Brett’s mystery construction hold up to Knox and Van Dine, as well as Flex’s signature method. We’re joined again by Simon Brett to...

We discuss chapters 12-19 of A Decent Interval by Simon Brett. As Charles Paris finds himself stuck in power plays between the production team and the PR Agency representing the victim, but has he stuck himself in too deep? As Herds seeks to unravel the mystery, can he decipher between the evidence and distractions Simon Brett has so excellently laid? We’re also joined by Simon himself to talk abo...

We discuss chapters 1-11 of A Decent Interval by Simon Brett. Continuing on our voyage of theatre-adjacent crime fiction, we delve into one of the first stories Flex ever solved as he developed his signature method. Finally visiting Simon Brett's works, after speaking with him last year about his role as the chairman of the Detection Club, how do our expectations hold up? As Charles Paris is reint...

We discuss the Australian Murder Mystery film 'Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears'. Taking fan-favourite detective Phryne Fisher on a wild adventure across the world, throwing back to the tales of Sherlock Holmes that inspired her, a complex mystery unfurls. Our standard affair goes to a wild new level that most definitely sits outside the world of Knox and Van Dine.

We discuss chapters 8-11 of Opening Night, or Night at the Vulcan by Ngaio Marsh. As our interrogations lead towards a crawling solution, Flex unveils the real reason for the breakup of the book in this case, as an interesting setup starts to peel back, revealing a hollow interior. How did this book lead to Ngaio Marsh being Damed? Has it held up? We also speak with author Peter Swanson about his...

We discuss chapters 6-7 of Opening Night, or Night at the Vulcan by Ngaio Marsh. As our murder finally takes place, Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn finally shows up to solve the murder of Bennington, a crime seemingly copycatting the murder that previously closed the Vulcan Theatre years ago. With only a couple of chapters of clues, can Herds pull through using symbolism as a weapon and take h...

We discuss chapters 1-5 of Opening Night, or Night at the Vulcan by Ngaio Marsh. As the Vulcan Theatre prepares to open for its' first production in a long time, The Revisit, Martyn Tarne is faced with a theatre that seems to have a sinister life of its' own. As the backstage politics of the cast starts to cause turmoil, can the production go ahead, and can Herds even find a mystery to solve? We a...

Full spoilers in this one! We finally got the chance to sit down with Stella Duffy to chat about her amazing work with Money in the Morgue. After the team at Harper Collins approached her with just four chapters and notes from an incomplete Ngaio Marsh novel, she managed to work it into a brilliantly authentic love-letter to Marsh while bringing her work comfortably in the modern day. We talk abou...

We discuss chapters 24-37 of Money in the Morgue by Stella Duffy and Ngaio Marsh. As the conspiracy behind the crime unravels, two separate mysteries bubble to the surface, taking Alleyn and his allies beneath the hospital into tunnels that would have Father Knox scratching his head. We also talk with Dr. Jamie Bernthall-Hooker about his studies of the golden age, the reworking Stella Duffy did of...

We discuss chapters 12-23 of Money in the Morgue by Stella Duffy and Ngaio Marsh. As Alleyn takes each and every suspect in for questioning, the puzzle only gets more and more unclear. As the personal struggles of the cast start to take Alleyn's mind away from the case, can Flex piece together a solution sane enough to work?

We discuss the first 11 chapters of Money in the Morgue by Stella Duffy and Ngaio Marsh. Taking the first 3 chapters left behind by Dame Ngaio Marsh, and turning it into a full novel, Stella Duffy bridges Roderick Alleyn into the world of modern crime fiction, as he finds himself investigating a curious conspiracy in a country hospital in WW2 New Zealand. Transforming Marsh's draft into a well-wri...