Death of the Reader

We discuss chapters 1-7 of the eleventh Albert Campion novel by Margery Allingham. A man who does not know himself awakens in a war-emptied hospital, and overhears word that he has killed a policeman. In a panic, the man pulls the fire alarm and flees in an unlocked car outside. A daring chase follows wherein he is tailed by his fiancé and the man he was supposed to meet, had he remembered he was...

We discuss chapters 10-13 of Dorothy L. Sayers first novel in her Lord Peter Wimsey series. Are murder mysteries realistic, you ask? As the scope tightens and we laser focus on the actions of our lead suspect, Lord Peter Wimsey sits down with a medical student who thinks the genre has unrealistic holes in its premise and debates the point. Unfortunately for the student, they are a character in a m...

We discuss chapters 5-9 of Dorothy L. Sayers first novel in her Lord Peter Wimsey series. As the police continue to protest Wimsey's involvement with the case, we get to the dense core of the novel, complete with coronary hearings, debates between the Lords Wimsey and Parker, plus a ceaseless list of people named William. Many have said the heart of the novel lies in the interactions between Bunte...

We discuss chapters 1-4 of Dorothy L. Sayers first novel in her Lord Peter Wimsey series. A forgetful moment returns Lord Peter home just in time for news of a grizzly death, suited perfectly to his hobby of detection. An unknown man has been found in the bath of Alfred Thipps, naked but for a pair of spectacles. Inspector Sugg, a policeman already disgruntled by Lord Wimsey's previous efforts, pi...

We're joined by Craig Sisterson, Vanda Symon and Lindy Cameron three of the creative minds behind 'Dark Deeds Down Under', to talk about the collection, the impending series, and what you can look forward to when you get a copy of the anthology. Dark Deeds Down Under is a collection of some of the best of Australian and New Zealand mystery fiction, recently released by Clan Destine Press. In this...

We discuss chapters 25-36 of Tara Moss' new Billie Walker novel, 'The Ghosts of Paris'. Now in Paris, ready for the requisite showdown with the Nazis on her tail, Billie founds herself under the watchful eye over a resistance faction that has been tracking down war criminals on the run after the Second World War. Just her luck, it turns out, that one of them knows her perhaps a little too well. It...

We discuss chapters 13-24 of Tara Moss' new Billie Walker novel, 'The Ghosts of Paris'. Billie's journey through Europe in search of not one, but two, estranged husbands begins. Featuring uncomfortable run-ins with some men who think we're being too harsh on the Germans, to the altogether silly rules against women wearing pants in Paris, the post-war hustle and bustle is on full display. Billie fi...

We discuss chapters 1-12 of Tara Moss' new Billie Walker novel, 'The Ghosts of Paris'. After her last showdown in 'The War Widow', Billie Walker has made quite the name for herself as a private inquiry agent in Sydney, with a unique clientele as the only woman in the country doing her line of work. One client leads to the next, until one Vera Montgomery comes with a blank cheque to find her missin...

Welcome to your Murder Mystery Detour! Once a whenever-we-can, Flex and Herds go live (or undead, as the case may be), to talk about their latest fixations in the crime fiction world, and we hear from you about yours! With Herds unfortunately unwell at the last hour, 2SER's own Sponsorship Manager Dom Romeo stepped in ahead of his trial-by-fire for Tara Moss' The Ghosts of Paris. This iteration, w...

We've simply not had enough of Miss Jane Marple, and so it was that we decided to watch all manner of adaptations of 'The Body in the Library' before continuing on the world tour. Featuring the chaotic South Korean 'Ms. Ma: Nemesis', and the staple BBC 'Agatha Christie's Miss Marple', we also challenged you to bring your favourite to the table. Ms. Ma: Nemesis, also known as 'God of Revenge', star...

Flex was joined recently by Margaret Hickey to talk about the second Mark Ariti novel, 'Stone Town', and the recent Ned Kelly nomination for the previous entry in the series, 'Cutters End'. Mark Ariti's journeys through small-town crime often bring him face to face with harrowing fear and the many unknowns lurking in the underbelly of rural Australia. We spoke with Marg about how fear divides and...

We discuss chapters 14-18 of Agatha Christie's 'The Body in the Library', the second novel to feature Miss Jane Marple. With Ms. Marple alleging an impending third murder, the police decide the only reasonable course of action is to prepare a dramatic 'just-on-time-arrest', to ensure Conway Jefferson can get one last bit of excitement out of this string of murders. We're also joined by Margaret Hi...

We discuss chapters 9-13 of Agatha Christie's 'The Body in the Library', the second novel to feature Miss Jane Marple. As the police continue their investigation into the death of Ruby Keene, they are sidetracked by another (definitely unrelated) murder, of one Pamela Reeves. Found burning in the wreckage of a Minoan 14 motor vehicle at the local quarry, the young girl had gone missing just a day...

We discuss chapters 1-8 of Agatha Christie's 'The Body in the Library', the second novel to feature Miss Jane Marple. After a frightful dream, Dolly Bantry awakes to find a body, in her library! A young dancer from a club on the coast nearby, strangled, just hours after she was last seen entertaining one Conway Jefferson. A clown-car of cops begin to follow the leads on this grizzly case, until Co...

We discuss 'The Woman in the Library', Sulari Gentill's latest metafictional concoction with the author herself. If you followed the social media marketing frenzy ahead of this book's release, it would all seem as though this was a simple crime wherein an overly aware narrator alerts us that one of the three people she just went to coffee with was a murderer, and that you were tasked with figuring...

We discuss chapters 25-34 of Sulari Gentill's 'The Woman in the Library', her second standalone metafictional mystery. We're also joined by Dani Vee from Words and Nerds, to join Herds in the battle for points. In Hannah's world, Leo's messages grow more and more erratic, until eventually international travel returns, and he makes his way to Sydney to finally meet his favourite federal agency. In...

We discuss chapters 12-24 of Sulari Gentill's 'The Woman in the Library', her second standalone metafictional mystery. We're also joined by Dani Vee from Words and Nerds, to join Herds in the hotseat as we scale the mountain of realities facing us as writers write writers writing writers. In Freddie's reality, she struggles with her feelings for Cain as increasingly dark facets of his past emerge,...

We discuss chapters 1-11 of Sulari Gentill's 'The Woman in the Library', her second standalone metafictional crime extravaganza. Australian author Hannah Tigone is writing her next bestseller novel, about Winifred 'Freddie' Kincaid writing her debut novel, about another writer writing their debut novel. We follow Hannah's drafts, and the accompanying emails from an enthusiastic fan, Leo, who has v...

We discuss chapters 13-20 of Absolution by Murder, the first novel in the dark-ages mystery extravaganza that is the Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne. Secrets are unveiled, sequels are baited, and we get answers to about half of the questions we had along the way. Does the novel fare best as a mystery, or as a piece of historical fiction? With a historians hand behind the ink, perhaps there...

We discuss chapters 8-12 of Absolution by Murder, the first novel in the dark-ages mystery extravaganza that is the Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne. Now neck deep in the interrogation section, the bodies are mounting, and Sister Fidelma finds herself increasingly pitted against the norms of Northumbira. Will she and Eadulf find the truth before Oswy's kingdom comes undone? We also speak wi...

We discuss chapters 1-7 of Absolution by Murder, the first novel in the dark-ages mystery extravaganza that is the Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne. Taking place at the historical Synod of Whitby, where the churches of the world met to discuss the terms of their ongoing belief, under the watchful eye of King Oswy of Northumbria. When Sister Etain is killed just hours after announcing her ma...

We discuss Aoife Clifford's latest novel 'When We Fall', from its roots in the global mistreatment of mothers and children of minority groups the world over, Dutch art, the way we construct crime, and more that we dare not mention in the description. If you want to hear more, you can also hear Aoife in discussion with Gary Disher, Hayley Scrivenor, and Dr. Kate Evans at the upcoming Sydney Writers...

We discuss chapters 14-21, in John Dickson Carr's 'The Crooked Hinge' with Brad Friedman of 'Ah Sweet Mystery'. Our charming little murder mystery takes a bizarre tour through the romantic proclivities of both our detective's assistant and a suspect. At last, an explanation of motive emerges for the crime, but it's even more bizarre than we had predicted. Dr. Gideon Fell announces his solution, on...

We discuss chapters 7-13, 'The Life of an Automaton', in John Dickson Carr's 'The Crooked Hinge' with Brad Friedman of 'Ah Sweet Mystery'. Dr. Gideon Fell has arrived on the scene, but the we're confounded by his being there to solve an entirely different murder; Victoria Daly. Weapons are found, an apple goes rolling, and the mysterious mechanoid stored on the Farnleigh estate comes rolling down...

We discuss chapters 1-6, 'The Death of a Man', in John Dickson Carr's 'The Crooked Hinge' with Brad Friedman of 'Ah Sweet Mystery'. Part of Carr's iconic Dr. Gideon Fell mystery series, we follow the dispute between two John Farnleighs. Allegedly, the two of them met as children on the Titanic, and during the chaos, one stole the identity of other, trading circus life for the wealth of the British...