Detectives Don't Sleep

In February 1861, concerned railroad bosses learned of a plot to destroy the main route to Washington DC, in order to disrupt the inauguration of President-Elect, Abraham Lincoln. They immediately called in the country’s leading Private Detectives to help stop the attack. Allan Pinkerton, of the famous Pinkerton National Detective Agency, took two of his top agents—Kate Warne and new recruit, Harr...

Sergeant Glenn Flothe of the Alaska State Troopers Homicide Division is on the trail of a serial killer. Flothe’s prime suspect is a successful businessman with a wife and children, living in a well-to-do suburb of Anchorage. Though outwardly respectable, Flothe’s instincts tell him that Robert Hansen has a very dark side indeed. But persuading the DA is another matter. Even when Hansen is accused...

In September 1982, two hunters stumble upon the body of a woman buried in a shallow grave by the Knik River in Alaska. Could her death be connected to a spate of missing person cases in Anchorage? When another body is discovered a year later, crack homicide detective Sergeant Glenn Flothe of the Alaska State Troopers is assigned to investigate. As he digs deeper into the cases, he comes to the ine...

It’s April 1955, and an explosion rips through the Meier and Frank Department Store in Portland. The store’s owner, Aaron Frank, is shocked. Even more so when he is handed an extortion letter, promising a bigger blast the following day. The bomber does offer one way out though. He will provide the location of the second explosive device and instructions on how to dismantle it safely. All Aaron Fra...

In February 1889, wealthy businessman John Fletcher is found unconscious in a Manchester cab and taken to hospital where he is declared dead on arrival. Known to be a heavy drinker, his death is at first put down to alcohol poisoning. But Detective Chief Inspector Jerome Caminada suspects foul play. Who was the young man seen running away from the cab? And what happened to the dead man’s possessio...

In May 1978, France’s Public Enemy Number One, Jacques Mesrine, escapes from the maximum-security prison, La Santé, in Paris. This marks the first ever escape from La Santé but it most certainly is not Mesrine's first prison break. In fact, it seems no prison in the world can hold him. Enter celebrated detective Maurice Bouvier. Bouvier knows that catching the prolific robber, violent killer, kidn...

In February 1912, two bank messengers are robbed when their taxi is stopped by a group of masked men. They are beaten unconscious, and when they wake up, the $25,000 they were carrying is gone. The cops only have one clue to work with - one of the gang had a gold tooth. Sixty NYPD detectives are put on the case, but after two days, have nothing to show for their effort. With the public growing res...

It’s one of the most famous cases in True Crime history, thanks to Truman Capote’s classic book In Cold Blood. The story begins one night in November 1959 when something dark and dangerous drifts into the small village of Holcomb, Kansas, killing four members of the same family. Special Agent Alvin Dewey leads the team investigating this apparently senseless crime. With barely $50 in cash taken fr...

In 1997, a charismatic young Frenchman called Christophe Rocancourt takes Los Angeles’ glitzy social scene by storm. Drawn by his glamorous lifestyle, celebrities, and wannabes vie to be his friend. But Rocancourt is a slick conman with a violent past, who specialises in parting his victims from their money. Detective George Mueller of the DA’s office is determined to catch Rocancourt. But the elu...

In September 1972, Houston detectives Joe Gamino and Jerry Carpenter are called to the affluent home of a well-known plastic surgeon, Dr. John Hill. Hill is dead, gunned down by an unknown intruder. Is this a robbery that got out of hand? Or is it revenge? Hill stood accused of killing his first wife, Joan Robinson Hill. Her father, Ash Robinson, is convinced he did it. Could the wealthy oilman ha...

In this special episode of Detectives Don’t Sleep our producer sits down with world-renowned art detective Arthur Brand. We ask him about his life as the real Indiana Jones and get further insight into his investigation of Joseph Thorak’s missing horses. Find out what it’s like to track down priceless relics and stolen Picassos…and how it feels to anger some of the most dangerous criminal groups i...

The year-long hunt for Hitler’s favourite statues reaches its finale, as art detective Arthur Brand closes in on the shadowy individuals behind their sale. In a high-stakes move, he meets - and secretly records - the middleman representing the sellers. He then confronts a genuine Nazi princess to try and find out more about the sinister organisation he believes will profit from the sale. Throw in...

Art detective Arthur Brand continues his quest to find Hitler’s favourite statues, the massive bronze horses that once stood outside the Reich Chancellery. He travels to the site of a former Red Army base in East Germany where he makes a startling discovery. Now it’s not just neo-Nazis he has to contend with, but former KGB agents. The more he learns, the more he realises that there are powerful p...

In 2014, Dutch art detective Arthur Brand hears about a controversial artwork that someone is offering for sale on the black market - a pair of monumental bronze horses by one of Hitler’s favourite sculptors. Like everyone else, Arthur thought the statues had been destroyed in the war. So are they genuine? Or is the whole thing a daring hoax? And who is behind it? Arthur fears the sellers are viol...

In 1913 Chicago’s first female detective, Alice Clement, gets called out to the slums to investigate the death of a young woman. At first glance, it looks like the girl died of typhoid fever. A tragic but all too common ending for Chicago’s impoverished population. But Detective Clement has a hunch that there’s more to the story. Especially when she spies a dulcimer - an expensive stringed instrum...

It’s June 1984. Beverly Hills. Detective Leslie Zoeller is on the trail of missing con artist, Ron Levin. Levin is a larger-than-life character, known for his shady dealings. He's made plenty of enemies. But would he really just vanish into thin air? Is this a murder... or an elaborate disappearing act? Ponzi schemes. Rich kids turned bad. Political intrigue. Detective Zoeller will find himself em...

In the Bahamas of the 1940s, private eye Ray Schindler continues his investigation into the murder of billionaire Sir Harry Oakes. The case against Count Alfred de Marigny appears strong when one of his fingerprints is discovered at the scene of the crime. And the two American homicide cops brought in to investigate are convinced of his guilt. But Ray suspects that someone powerful is trying to fr...

The murder of billionaire Sir Harry Oakes in the Bahamas in 1943 causes a sensation across the world. The prime suspect is Oakes’ son-in-law, Count Alfred de Marigny. But Oakes’ daughter Nancy refuses to believe in her husband’s guilt and hires New York-based PI Ray Schindler to clear de Marigny’s name. Ray flies to the paradise island of New Providence and gets straight down to work, interviewing...

On October 16th, 1920 the body of a missing bank employee is discovered within New Jersey’s sprawling pine barrens. His clothes are all wet, despite being some distance from the nearest stream, and he’s been robbed of over $40,000 in cash. Strangest of all his body seems to have been somehow…pickled. This is a case for Detective Ellis H Parker, often credited as being “America’s Sherlock Holmes.”...

Detectives Don’t Sleep. The new show from award-winning podcasters, Noiser. Launching March 2023. Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices