Shedunnit

Agatha Christie had a very productive WW2. This is the start of Queens of Crime at War, a six part series looking at what the best writers from the golden age of detective fiction did once that period came to an end with the start of the Second World War. Thanks to my guests: — J.C. Bernthal is an Agatha Christie scholar and the author of Queering Agatha Christie. His website is jcbernthal.com and...

Who would be the Hastings to your Poirot? What kind of mystery would you like to write? What would you do if you came across a corpse? In this special episode to celebrate Shedunnit's third anniversary, Caroline's husband Guy takes the mic and asks her all these questions and more. Guy is on Twitter as @guywjc and you can find out more about his work at guycuthbertson.com. Caroline is @cacrampton...

What happens when two people write a whodunnit together? Thanks to my guests, Cordelia Biddle and Steve Zettler. They write separately under their own names and together under the pseudonym Nero Blanc. The whole Crossword Mysteries series can be found at crosswordmysteries.com, where there are links to buy each title. There are no spoilers in this episode. Find links to all the books mentioned in...

Agatha Christie was the most successful female playwright of all time. She also wrote some detective novels you might have heard of. Julius Green is the author of Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre, available in paperback now at all good booksellers.  There are no spoilers in this episode. Find links to all the books mentioned in this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thetheatricalworldofagathachristie...

This summer, you can still travel to the murderous destinations visited by your favourite detectives. While I take a holiday myself, please enjoy this classic episode of Shedunnit. First aired in July 2020, it's all about how and why golden age sleuths solve mysteries while away from home. My new map and guide, Agatha Christie’s England, is available now in physical form at shedunnitshow.com/map o...

Her plots are second to none. But is the Queen of Crime a true literary great? Thanks to my guest, Sophie Hannah. Her latest Poirot continuation novel is The Killings at Kingfisher Hill and is available from all good booksellers. Find out more about all of her books at sophiehannah.com and follow her on Twitter as @sophiehannahCB1. There are no spoilers in this episode. My new map and guide, Agath...

This sensational case from 1860 ignited a wave of detective fever that we still haven't recovered from. Thanks to my guest Robin Stevens — you can hear her on two previous episodes of the show, Back to School and Death Sets Sail on the Nile, and her new collection of short stories about schoolgirl detectives Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells is called Once Upon A Crime and comes out in August 2021. We do...

Where is St Mary Mead, anyway? My guide to Agatha Christie's England is now available to pre-order from the publisher at shedunnitshow.com/map (ships 19th July 2021). It's also available to order from Amazon, Waterstones, Blackwell's and other booksellers. An audio version is available for purchase at shedunnitshow.com/audiomap (if you are entitled to a free copy from your pre-order, you will have...

Young detectives, and young readers, play an important part in the history of detective fiction. Many thanks to my guest, Maureen Johnson. Her newest YA mystery, The Box in the Woods, is out now. Find out more at her website www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com and follow her on Twitter @maureenjohnson. There are no major plot spoilers in this episode, but we do talk about the general set up of Maureen's f...

How do you write a 1920s style detective novel that's set in the 2020s? Thanks to Elly Griffiths, aka Domenica De Rosa, for joining me today to talk about her love of golden age crime fiction and how she put that into her award winning novel The Postscript Murders. She also writes the Ruth Galloway series and the Brighton Mysteries series — find out more at her website ellygriffiths.co.uk and foll...

Many thanks to my guest, Nicole Glover. More information about her work is available at nicole-glover.com, and her first book, The Conductors, is out now in the US and the UK. The inspiration for this episode was Nicole's article "Who Are You Going To Call: Rethinking The Role Of Police In Mysteries". There are no major spoilers in this episode, but there is some discussion of the works listed bel...

Reading through the twentieth century, one murder mystery at a time. Find more information about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/century. The ten books I talk about are: — The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1905) — Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley (1913) — The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts (1920) — The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934) — Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christ...

How do you say goodbye to a beloved detective? Agatha Christie, of course, made a mystery out of it. Thanks to my guest, Mark Aldridge. You can find out more about his work at markaldridge.info and order a copy of his new book, Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, from all good booksellers. Spoiler warning: there are major spoilers for Curtain and Sleeping Murder by Agath...

There aren’t many characters who are recognisable just from a silhouette, but Hercule Poirot is one of them. Thanks to my guest, Mark Aldridge. You can find out more about his work at markaldridge.info and order a copy of his new book, Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, from all good booksellers. There are no major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. Howeve...

If you can solve a crossword, you can solve a murder. Thanks to my guest, Hamish Symington. You can find out more about his work at hamishsymington.com and order a custom cryptic crossword from him at customcrypticcrosswords.com. There are no major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. However, there is some mention or discussion of the books listed below. Sources and further informatio...

Exploring the thriving tradition of classic Japanese whodunnits. Thanks to my guests, On Nomoto, grandson of honkaku writer Seishi Yokomizo, and Daniel Seton, commissioning editor at Pushkin Press. No major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. However, there is some mention or discussion of the books listed below. Sources and further information: — The Early Cases of Akechi Kogoro by E...

First aired in November 2018, this classic Shedunnit episode is all about the coded gay characters and references in books from the golden age of detective fiction like Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced and Josephine Tey’s Miss Pym Disposes. Find more information about my guests and the books mentioned at shedunnitshow.com/queerclues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

What was the first murder mystery, really? No major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. However, there is some mention or discussion of the books listed below. Sources and further information: — The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie — Partners In Crime by Agatha Christie — A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle — The Mystery Of A Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume — The Moonston...

Before there was CSI, there was Bernard Spilsbury. No major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. However, there is some mention or discussion of the books listed below. Please be aware there is a brief mention of suicide at the end. Sources and further information: — The Florence Maybrick episodes of this podcast: part one and part two — Taylor’s Principles and Practice of Medical Juri...

Nothing could bad could possibly happen here, the inhabitants of the peaceful English village say to each other. Until the first poison pen letter arrives. No major spoilers about clues or endings in this episode. However, there is some mention or discussion of the books listed below. Also, be aware there is a very brief mention of suicide. Books and sources: —The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie...

The original golden age of detective fiction in the 1920s followed on from a devastating global pandemic. Is it any wonder, then, that we’ve read so much crime fiction in 2020? And why do we find murder mysteries a comforting choice for Christmas? This festive season if you’d like to support the podcast and buy a gift for a murder mystery loving friend at the same time, you can purchase a discount...

I’ve read a lot of Agatha Christie, but I’ve never read all of her books in order. What insights are there to be had by doing so? Christie completists Catherine Brobeck and Kemper Donovan of the All About Agatha podcast join me to talk about the Queen of Crime’s clever way with characters, the “stuck in its time” elements of some of her plots, and how they rank her novels from best to worst. This...

Is it still worth reading a whodunnit if you know… who done it? Thanks to my guests Jim Noy of The Invisible Event and Kate Jackson of Cross Examining Crime. Jim is on Twitter @invisible_event and Kate is @ArmchairSleuth. NB: Despite the title, there are no major spoilers in this episode. However, there is some structural discussion of the books listed below. Books and sources: —Antidote to Venom...

To get to the bottom of why the Nile is a murder mystery location that has bewitched readers for decades, I decided to talk to an author who has just published an Egypt based whodunnit: Robin Stevens. We talk about how she finalised the plot of Death Sets Sail  while on a Nile cruise, what it was about 1930s Egypt that held such a fascination for white British writers, and why the boat in Agatha C...

The day the First World War ended, 11 November 1918, marked the beginning of a new era in which detective fiction would flourish. How did Britain go from “peace at last” to “whodunnit”? Thanks to my guest (and husband) Guy Cuthbertson. His book about Armistice Day is Peace At Last and he’s on Twitter as @guywjc. The Shedunnit Pledge Drive is still underway, and we’re over two thirds of the way to...