How well do we really know the queen of crime? Thanks to my guest, Lucy Worsley. Her book Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman is out now. Books and sources mentioned: — An Autobiography by Agatha Christie — Agatha Christie: A Biography by Janet P. Morgan — Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson… Continue Reading
Author Archives: caroline
The Elusive Agatha Christie Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. We all think we know Agatha Christie. How could we not? She’s one of the bestselling authors of all time, an icon of British popular culture, and as you’re listening to this podcast, probably one of your favourite writers. During her lifetime, and in the almost half a… Continue Reading
The Challenge Of Dorothy L. Sayers
Should detective fiction be easy reading? Thanks to my guest, Eric Sandberg. He is an assistant professor at City University of Hong Kong and the editor of Dorothy L. Sayers: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction. Mentioned in this episode: — Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers — The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins — The… Continue Reading
The Challenge Of Dorothy L. Sayers Transcript
Caroline: Should detective fiction be easy reading? Despite their murderous plots, we often talk of these stories as comforting, even cosy — a pleasant way to relax, switch off the brain, and escape from the real world for a while. And they certainly can fulfil that role, with their familiar structures and satisfying solutions. But not… Continue Reading
Agatha The Adventuress
In 1922, Agatha Christie took a trip around the world. Find out more about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/agathatheadventuress. To support the podcast, be part of a superb bookish community, and get two bonus episodes a month, become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club now at shedunnitbookclub. Referenced for this episode: — Agatha Christie: The Grand Tour… Continue Reading
Agatha The Adventuress Transcript
When we think of Agatha Christie, there’s a tendency to recall her as she was later on in her life. A vastly successful author and playwright, comfortably ensconsed in her tweeds and pearls, she glances up at the camera from between two towering piles of books. Her greying hair carefully arranged in elaborate curls, she… Continue Reading
The Nobodies
Clerks, shop assistants, secretaries, salespeople — we have lots to learn from the lower middle class characters of classic detective fiction. Thanks to my guest, Dr Nicola Bishop. Her book, Lower-Middle-Class Nation: The White-Collar Worker in British Popular Culture is published by Bloomsbury Academic. Find out more about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thenobodies. To support the… Continue Reading
The Nobodies Transcript
Caroline: One of the delightful and reassuring things about classic detective fiction is that it tends to abide by certain tropes. When picking up a whodunnit from the 1920s or 1930s, the reader can be fairly sure of what they might encounter within its pages. Settings like country houses or small English villages are very… Continue Reading
At The Old Bailey
A judge looks back over her time on the bench at a very famous court. Thanks to my guest, Wendy Joseph. Her book about her time as an Old Bailey judge, Unlawful Killings, is out now. Find out more about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/attheoldbailey To support the podcast, be part of a superb bookish community, and… Continue Reading
At The Old Bailey Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. There are few locations in Britain more steeped in the history of crimes real and imaginary than the Old Bailey. This historic courthouse in central London has been the setting for some of the most dramatic moments in legal memory — such as the trials of Dr Crippen and… Continue Reading
The Dark Side of True Crime
What if thinking and talking about real life murders was not actually good for us? Thanks to my guest, Emma Berquist. Find all the details about her books and articles at emmaberquist.com. Find out more about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thedarksideoftruecrime To support the podcast, be part of a superb bookish community, and get two bonus… Continue Reading
The Dark Side of True Crime Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. The boundary between real life crimes and fictional ones has been blurry for a long time. Writers have been using elements of actual murders in their plots as long as crime fiction has existed. I’ve explored some of the most famous instances from history, such as the cases… Continue Reading
Looking East Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. One of the reasons that we still read golden age detective fiction today is because of the insights and details it provides into the time in which it was written. That period between the two world wars comes alive to us because of the whodunnits that were published then… Continue Reading
Looking East
Expanding the horizons of golden age detective fiction. Many thanks to my guest, Christopher Huang. You can find out more about his work at ricordius.com. His first mystery novel is A Gentleman’s Murder. Read his article “How Do You Decolonise The Golden Age Mystery? Read More Historical Fiction!” at crimereads.com. Find out more about this episode… Continue Reading
The Queen of True Crime
F. Tennyson Jesse created a way of telling crime stories that still influences us today. Find out more about this episode at shedunnitshow.com/thequeenoftruecrime. To support the podcast, be part of a superb bookish community, and get two bonus episodes a month, become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club now at shedunnitbookclub.com/join. Books mentioned and… Continue Reading
The Queen of True Crime Transcript
Caroline: In the introduction to her 1924 criminological study Murder and Its Motives, the writer F. Tennyson Jesse declared, ‘It has been observed, with some truth, that everyone loves a good murder.’ This was a personal as well as a general observation. Although she had no formal training in law or criminology, the publication of… Continue Reading
The Long Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. When Edgar Allan Poe published his short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in 1841, he set in motion a chain of events that ultimately lead to me, sitting here, talking to you about detective fiction. Best known in popular culture today for his creepy, supernatural, often… Continue Reading
The Long Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe
The grandfather of detective fiction still has a lot to teach us. Many thanks to my guest, Jim Noy. You can find out more about his work at his blog, theinvisibleevent.com. His book The Red Death Murders is available only from Amazon worldwide (link for UK; link for US). To support the podcast, be part of… Continue Reading
Death By Chocolate
A box of chocolates can conceal a poisonous secret. To support the podcast, be part of a superb bookish community, and get two bonus episodes a month, become a member of the Shedunnit Book Club now at shedunnitbookclub.com/join. Books mentioned: — The Case of the Chocolate Cream Killer by Kaye Jones — The Invention of… Continue Reading
Death By Chocolate Transcript
Caroline: There’s something about the combination of sweetness and poison that was irresistible to the writers of golden age detective fiction. Perhaps it’s merely the symbolism that appealed: the sugary flavour of a treat that conceals the bitter taste of death is the ultimate in contrasts. Maybe there was a practical aspect to it too:… Continue Reading
The Detective’s Best Friend Transcript
Caroline: Every detective needs a companion. A solo sleuth is at a disadvantage in lots of ways: they have no backup in awkward situations, they have only their own skills to rely on, and — crucially — they have no one with whom to share their thoughts in such a way that they are also laid out… Continue Reading
The Detective’s Best Friend
Please join me for a long-awaited guided tour of the role that dogs play in detective fiction. Books mentioned: — My Lady’s Money by Wilkie Collins — The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle — A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle — The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time… Continue Reading
An Encounter With Father Brown Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. Music One of my favourite things about this podcast is when it acts as an open door for listeners new to reading golden age detective fiction. Everyone arrives here with different levels of knowledge and experience in the genre, and if I’m doing this right, they get to step… Continue Reading
An Encounter With Father Brown
Let’s spend some time with G.K. Chesterton, the first president of the Detection Club. Sources: — “The Hammer of God” by G.K. Chesterton from The Innocence of Father Brown — “Errors About Detective Stories” by G.K. Chesterton in the Illustrated London News NB: Links to Blackwell’s are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission… Continue Reading
Agatha’s Archaeologists Transcript
In 1928, Agatha Christie took a momentous decision that was to shape the rest of her life. Her divorce from her first husband had recently been finalised, and after a holiday abroad with her best friend and her daughter, she had plans to travel by herself for a while. Partly, she wanted to indulge her… Continue Reading
Agatha’s Archaeologists
Agatha Christie knew more than most about digging up corpses. There are no major spoilers in this episode, but be aware that there are mentions of plot points from the books listed below. Books and sources: — The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie — Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie — An… Continue Reading
The Rules (Remastered)
A good detective story has a recognisable rhythm and plot points. But how did these tropes come about? And what happens when you break the rules? This episode of Shedunnit was first released in February 2019 and is repeated here in a rerecorded and remastered version. Find more information about this episode and links to… Continue Reading
A Second Century of Whodunnits
Reading my way through the last hundred years, from the 1920s to the 2020s, one mystery at a time. My previous attempt at this reading project can be found in the episode A Century of Whodunnits. Books mentioned: — Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers — Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles — Laurels are… Continue Reading
A Second Century of Whodunnits Transcript
About a year ago, many months into being stuck inside because of the pandemic, I embarked on a reading project. I read a crime novel from every decade of the twentieth century — ten whodunnits that spanned the years between 1900 and 2000. It both helped me to get out of a reading rut where I… Continue Reading
The Whodunnit In India
India has a long and deep tradition of storytelling and mythology. What happens when this heritage is combined with the tropes of golden age detective fiction? Thanks to my guest R.V. Raman. His first whodunnit is A Will To Kill and you can find more information about upcoming books in his Harith Athreya series at rvraman.com.… Continue Reading
The Whodunnit In India Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. An endlessly fascinating aspect of the golden age of detective fiction is its identification with a certain kind of Britishness. Many of the authors who are widely read from the genre’s heyday in the 1920s and 1930s either were from the UK or were based here for some… Continue Reading
The Tichborne Claimant
The golden age of detective fiction was obsessed with identity. The reason why? An extremely melodramatic Victorian legal case involving shipwreck, Shetland ponies and a tangled aristocratic inheritance. Please be aware that there may be spoilers for the following books in this episode. Books referenced: — The Claimant by Michael Gilbert — Death in Captivity by Michael Gilbert… Continue Reading
The Tichborne Claimant Transcript
Caroline: The golden age of detective fiction was obsessed with identity. As soon as you start looking, you see impersonators everywhere in the crime fiction of the 1920s and 1930s — sometimes there’s more than one in a single novel. Without the readily available means of independently verifying that someone was who they claimed to be… Continue Reading
Shedunnit is hiring — Part Time Production Assistant
I am looking for a part time production assistant to help me, Shedunnit creator and host Caroline Crampton, manage the process of creating and promoting the podcast. To start with the position will be one day a week, with the potential to increase this in future if the arrangement proves successful. Since this is a… Continue Reading
A Mysterious Glossary Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. One of the things I love about reading detective fiction from the 1920s and 1930s – what we call “the golden age” – is what I learn about that time period just from its whodunnits. There’s so much social and cultural history contained in the pages of even… Continue Reading
A Mysterious Glossary
Do you know your ack emma from your pip emma? Would you wear the cat’s pyjamas? Are you, in fact, a goop? Helen Zaltzman joins me to delve into some baffling language from golden age detective fiction. Thanks to my guest for this episode, Helen Zaltzman. She is the host of The Allusionist, a marvellous… Continue Reading
Murder Isn’t Easy
How much did Agatha Christie really know about dead bodies? Thanks to my guest for this episode, Carla Valentine. She is a trained mortuary technician and the technical curator at Barts Pathology Museum in London. She’s also the author of Murder Isn’t Easy: The Forensics of Agatha Christie. There are no major plot spoilers in… Continue Reading
Murder Isn’t Easy Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. Like a lot of murder mystery fans. I consider myself a bit of an expert in the fictional art of murder. I’ve read enough whodunnits now to think that I know how to use phrases like time of death and rigor mortis, at least. But of course the… Continue Reading
Dorothy L Sayers Solves Her Mystery
Why did she stop writing detective fiction as WW2 approached? This is the sixth and final episode 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… Continue Reading
Dorothy L Sayers Solves Her Mystery Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. This is the sixth and final episode of Queens of Crime at War, a 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. If this is the… Continue Reading
Ngaio Marsh Goes Home Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. This is another episode of Queens of Crime at War, a 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. If you haven’t listened to any of… Continue Reading
Ngaio Marsh Goes Home
Caught between two very different worlds, WW2 forced this queen of crime to become better acquainted with her homeland. This is the fifth episode 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… Continue Reading
Josephine Tey’s Golden Age
Something happened to the Scottish writer during WW2 that made her want to write mysteries again. This is the fourth episode 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… Continue Reading
Josephine Tey’s Golden Age Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. This is another episode of Queens of Crime at War, a 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. So far in this series, we’ve spent… Continue Reading
Margery Allingham Waits For The Invasion
For Albert Campion’s creator, the war was her salvation. This is the third episode 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. There are… Continue Reading
Margery Allingham Waits For The Invasion Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. This is another episode of Queens of Crime at War, a 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. Today’s subject is a writer who started… Continue Reading
E.C.R. Lorac Rises Through The Ranks
Her WW2 mysteries are best of all. This is the second episode 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 guest,… Continue Reading
E.C.R. Lorac Rises Through The Ranks Transcript
Caroline: Welcome to Shedunnit. I’m Caroline Crampton. This is another episode of Queens of Crime at War, a 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. Today, we’re focusing on a writer who… Continue Reading
Queens of Crime at War
A six part mini 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. Episode 1: Agatha Christie Writes Alone Agatha Christie had a very productive WW2. Episode 2: E.C.R. Lorac Rises Through The Ranks… Continue Reading
Agatha Christie Writes Alone
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: —… Continue Reading
