She is beloved worldwide for her crime writing. But what did she like to read?

Resources and articles mentioned in this episode:

— Jamie Bernthal on Arthur Conan Doyle

— Moira Redmond on Elizabeth Daly

— Martin Edwards on My Brother's Killer

— Gray Robert Brown on Muriel Spark

Books mentioned in this episode:

— Agatha Christie An Autobiography by Agatha Christie

— The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

— The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

— The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie

— Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

— Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers

— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers

— Mr Fortune, Please by H.C. Bailey

— Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

— Unexpected Night by Elizabeth Daly

— The Missing Moneylender by W. Stanley Sykes

— The Clocks by Elizabeth Daly

— The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux

— My Brother's Killer by D.M. Devine

— The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré

— The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

— Endless Night by Agatha Christie

— Stamboul Train by Graham Greene

— The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

— The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

— A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

— The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

— The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen

— Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen

— The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen

Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/agathachristiestasteincrimefictiontranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Moira Redmond joins Caroline to consider a surprising medical mystery from 1931.

No major plot spoilers until you hear Caroline say we are "entering the spoiler zone", at 19:39. After that, expect full spoilers.

A full list of titles in the Penguin series can be found at penguinfirsteditions.com. The next book discussed in this series will be Raffles by E.W. Hornung.

Join the Shedunnit Book Club for two extra Shedunnit episodes a month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

Reviews for The Missing Moneylender:

— Martin Edwards

— Beneath the Stains of Time

— Vintage Pop Fictions

Books mentioned in this episode:

— The Missing Moneylender by W. Stanley Sykes

— Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers

— The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

— The Ray of Doom by W. Stanley Sykes

— The Harness of Death by W. Stanley Sykes

— Essays on the First Hundred Years of Anaesthesia by W. Stanley Sykes

— "The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey" by Dorothy L. Sayers

— A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

— "Before Insulin" by J.J. Connington

— The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace

— The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

— Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

— Mr Fortune, Please by H.C. Bailey

— Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie

— Raffles by E.W. Hornung

Past Shedunnit Green Penguin episodes:

— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Green Penguin Book Club 1)

— The Murder on the Links (Green Penguin Book Club 2)

— The Thin Man (Green Penguin Book Club 3)

— Mr Fortune, Please (Green Penguin Book Club 4)

— The Poisoned Chocolates Case (Green Penguin Book Club 5)

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Green Penguin Book Club 6)

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/themissingmoneylendertranscript

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caroline goes deep on Dorothy L. Sayers’ 1935 masterpiece.

At 18:58, there is a brief mention of attempted suicide.

Books mentioned in this episode:

— Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers

— Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers

— Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers

— Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers

— Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L Sayers

— Lord Peter Wimsey Investigates series by Jill Paton Walsh

Related Shedunnit episodes:

— The Advertising Adventures of Dorothy L. Sayers

— Dorothy L Sayers Solves Her Mystery

— The Challenge Of Dorothy L. Sayers

Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/ongaudynighttranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reading the mysteries of the past 100 years.

Books mentioned in this episode:

— 1925: The Paddington Mystery by John Rhode

— 1935: Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers

— 1945: Coroner's Pidgin by Margery Allingham (also published as: Pearls Before Swine)

— 1955: Tour de Force by Christianna Brand

— 1965: At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie

— 1975: Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

— 1985: B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

— 1995: The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid

— 2005: Still Life by Louise Penny

— 2015: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

— 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

Related Shedunnit episodes:

— Whodunnit Centenary: 1924

— The Shedunnit Centenary

— A Century of Whodunnits

— A Second Century of Whodunnits

Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/whodunnitcentenary1925transcript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s always more to say about detective fiction.

Books mentioned in this episode:

— The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

— The Secret Place by Tana French

— The Crozier Pharaohs by Gladys Mitchell

— Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie

— The Examiner by Janice Hallett

— The Appeal by Janice Hallett

— The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L Sayers and Robert Eustace

— Three-A-Penny by Lucy Beatrice Malleson

— Portrait of a Murderer by Portrait of a Murderer

— Death in Fancy Dress by Anthony Gilbert

— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers

— The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

— The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

— The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

— Murder's A Swine by Nap Lombard

— The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

— The Organ Speaks by E.C.R. Lorac

— Death in Dwelly Lane by Frank Vigor Morley

— Agatha Christie: Mistress of Mystery by Gordon C. Ramsey

— "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" by Arthur Conan Doyle

— His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle

— A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

— Hard Liver by Anthony Weymouth

— “Death Sits in the Dentist’s Chair” by Cornell Woolrich, collected in Darkness at Dawn: Early Suspense Classics

— Mr Fortune, Please by H.C. Bailey

— Black Land, White Land by H.C. Bailey

Shedunnit episodes mentioned in this episode:

— Whodunnit Centenary: 1924

— A Reading Life

— Lucy, Anthony, and Anne

— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Green Penguin Book Club 1)

— The Murder on the Links (Green Penguin Book Club 2)

— The Thin Man (Green Penguin Book Club 3)

— Instrument of Death

— Edmund Crispin's Inside Jokes

— Death at the Speakeasy

— In The Dentist's Chair

— Mr Fortune, Please (Green Penguin Book Club 4)

— Mysterious Knitting

Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/notesandqueriestranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The magical spirit of Christmas is the perfect cover for a murder mystery.

Mentioned in this episode:

— "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" by Arthur Conan Doyle, collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

— "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" by Agatha Christie, collected in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées

— "The Necklace of Pearls" by Dorothy L Sayers, collected in Silent Nights

— Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

— Crime at Christmas by C.H.B. Kitchin

— Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith

— An English Murder by Cyril Hare

— Groaning Spinney by Gladys Mitchell

— The Case of the Abominable Snowman by Nicholas Blake

— Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon

— “A Present from Santa Claus” by Julian Symons, collected in Murder on a Winter's Night

— L'Assassinat du Père Noël Pierre Véry [English trans. The Murder of Father Christmas]

— Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer

— Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan

— “Who Killed Father Christmas?” by Patricia Moyes, collected in Who Killed Father Christmas?

— “The Santa Claus Club” by Julian Symons, collected in Crimson Snow

— The Santa Claus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay

— "‘Twixt the Cup and the Lip” by Julian Symons, collected in The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories

— "The Case of the Man with the Sack” by Margery Allingham, collected in Crimson Snow

— The White Priory Murders by John Dickson Carr

— "The Snapdragon and the C.I.D." by Margery Allingham, collected in Murder at Christmas

— “The Case is Altered” by Margery Allingham, collected in Silent Nights

— “Among Those Present was Santa Claus” by Vincent Cornier, collected in Who Killed Father Christmas?

More Festive Shedunnit episodes:

— Crime at Christmas

— Let It Snow

— A Christie for Christmas

— The Murderless Christmas Mystery

Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/fatherchristmastranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caroline and Guy discuss The Box of Delights by John Masefield, a beloved children's book from 1935 that might actually be a golden age detective novel too.

They also consider the beloved 1984 TV adaptation, which is returning to the BBC on 7th December 2024 for a special 40th anniversary showing.

This episode was originally released in December 2023 as an exclusive bonus for the Shedunnit Book Club. If you'd like to hear more bonus episodes like this in the future, join the Shedunnit Book Club now at shedunnitbookclub.com/join. 

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The creator of amateur sleuth Gervase Fen loved to make fun of detective fiction.

The 2024 Shedunnit Pledge Drive is underway! Help ensure the future of the podcast and get at least two bonus episodes a month by becoming a Shedunnit member now at shedunnitshow.com/pledgedrive.

Mentioned in this episode:

— The Crooked Hinge by John Dickson Carr

— Bruce Montgomery/Edmund Crispin: A Life in Music and Books by David Whittle

— The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin

— Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin

— The Glimpses of the Moon by Edmund Crispin

— The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin

— Swan Song by Edmund Crispin

— Holy Disorders by Edmund Crispin

— Frequent Hearses by Edmund Crispin

— Buried for Pleasure by Edmund Crispin

— Hamlet, Revenge! by Michael Innes

— The Long Divorce by Edmund Crispin

— "We Know You're Busy Writing, But We Thought You Wouldn't Mind If We Just Dropped In For A Minute" by Edmund Crispin

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/edmundcrispinsinsidejokestranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathryn Harkup is Caroline’s guest for a reconsideration of Agatha Christie’s very first detective novel.

No major plot spoilers until you hear Caroline say we are "entering the spoiler zone", at 22:30. After that, expect full spoilers.

A full list of titles in the Penguin series can be found at penguinfirsteditions.com. The next book discussed in this series will be The Missing Moneylender by W. Stanley Sykes.

Join the Shedunnit Book Club for two extra Shedunnit episodes a month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join.

Mentioned in this episode:

— The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

— The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux

— Agatha Christie's Complete Secret Notebooks by John Curran

— A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup

— The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

— The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

— The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie

— The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

— The Missing Moneylender by W Stanley Sykes

Kathryn Harkup's past appearances on Shedunnit:

— The Dispenser

— The Pale Horse

Past Shedunnit Green Penguin episodes:

— The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Green Penguin Book Club 1)

— The Murder on the Links (Green Penguin Book Club 2)

— The Thin Man (Green Penguin Book Club 3)

— Mr Fortune, Please (Green Penguin Book Club 4)

— The Poisoned Chocolates Case (Green Penguin Book Club 5)

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/themysteriousaffairatstylestranscript

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where did that dead body go? It was right here!

The 2024 Shedunnit Pledge Drive is underway! Help ensure the future of the podcast and get at least two bonus episodes a month by becoming a Shedunnit member now at shedunnitshow.com/pledgedrive.

Mentioned in this episode:

—The Vanishing Corpse by Anthony Gilbert

—The Vanishing Corpse by Ellery Queen

—The Case of the Runaway Corpse by Erle Stanley Gardner

—The Corpse Steps Out by Craig Rice

—Case Without A Corpse by Leo Bruce

—The Disappearing Corpse by James Warren

—A Silent Witness by R. Austin Freeman

—The Cask by Freeman Wills Crofts

—Untimely Death by Cyril Hare

—Adders on the Heath by Gladys Mitchell

—Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

—The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

—The Red House Mystery by AA Milne

—The 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

—The Case of the Blind Barber by John Dickson Carr

—The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/vanishingcorpsestranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to weave the perfect murder mystery plot.

Find out more about Kate Davies' work at katedaviesdesigns.com and browse all of her patterns at shopkdd.com. The Margery Allingham's Mysterious Knits book, which contains Caroline's essay about knitting and detective fiction, is available at shopkdd.com/summerofmystery.

This episode marks the beginning of the 2024 Shedunnit Pledge Drive! Help ensure the future of the podcast and get at least two bonus episodes a month by becoming a Shedunnit member now at shedunnitshow.com/pledgedrive.

Mentioned in this episode:

— The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham

— More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham

— Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham

— Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham

— The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham

— Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham

NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge.

To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter.

The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice.

Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/mysteriousknittingtranscript.

Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices