This week, Laura looks at a 180-year-old murder mystery that served as inspiration for Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘Alias Grace’.

When Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery (his housekeeper and mistress) are found dead in the basement of Thomas’ grand mansion, suspicion immediately falls on his two young servants, Grace Marks and James McDermott. But when Grace and James are caught crossing the border from Canada to America, their conflicting confessions leave the authorities completely confused.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

In September, 1935, two tourists make a gruesome discovery on the banks of a Scottish stream. When the police arrive, they know immediately that there’s been a brutal murder. But catching the killer won’t be easy, as they have used meticulous, surgical-like precision to hide their victims’ identities and cover their tracks.

Iain takes a look at a case that came to be known as The Jigsaw Murders – and delves into the pioneering forensic techniques that helped bring the killer to justice.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Details of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

A warning that this episode contains some violent scenes and scenes that some listeners may find upsetting.

With Halloween just around the corner, Laura looks at a 1920s murder case involving high-society parties, heartbreak… and hauntings. This is the story of William Francis Rattenbury, a well-respected (but pretty unpopular) architect who found himself in the middle of a deadly love triangle.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Details of help and support with addiction, suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Find out the real life story before the 2015 movie ‘Masterminds’. When $17 million goes missing from a Loomis Fargo vault in October 1997, the FBI are tasked with unravelling a complex case that culminates in a murder-for-hire plot.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura is travelling to Germany this week to look at a 1906 murder case involving love, betrayal, family tensions… and a couple of very mysterious telegrams!

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Details of help and support with suicide and feelings of despair are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

This week, Iain takes a look at a movie-esque showdown in a New York diner. It’s December, 1927, when two men hold up an establishment on Kossuth Place in Brooklyn. Hear how one police officer manages to save the day – even after being fatally wounded on the job.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Laura looks at the 170-year-old mystery of Maria Kirwan’s death, which took place on an uninhabited island off the coast of Dublin.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected]

Iain looks at a kidnapping case involving one of Aldi’s co-founders. Learn what happened when Theo Albrecht was snatched by two men – and how he managed to get a bargain for his own ransom fee.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Laura looks at the case of Vere Thomas Goold, an Irish tennis champion who experienced a dramatic fall from grace. After losing an important match at the Irish National Championships, Vere gave up on his tennis career. He turned to a life of drink, drugs, gambling and – eventually – murder.

Details of help and support with addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

This week, Laura looks at a 1922 murder case involving a married couple – Percy and Edith Thompson – and the man Edith was having an affair with, Freddy Bywaters. When Percy is fatally stabbed by his wife’s lover on a dark October evening, it doesn’t take long for the public to exonerate Freddy – and blame Edith instead. But did Edith really play a part in her husband’s murder? Or was she simply punished for being a woman living outside the cultural norms?

Details of help and support with domestic abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].

Iain looks at one of the most legendary escapes in Alcatraz history. An escape that involved DIY drills, papier-mâché heads and even a raft made out of raincoats. It’s a case that inspired Clint Eastwood’s ‘Escape From Alcatraz’ (as well as one of Iain’s favourite video games) and still manages to mystify investigators, historians and true crime aficionados to this day.

Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling is available weekly on BBC Sounds. Subscribe now so you never miss an episode. Email us at [email protected].