Tag Archives: First World War

Peace At Last

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 hitting the target already. If I can add 100 new members to the Shedunnit Book Club by the end of 2020, I can start releasing episodes more regularly and expanding what the podcast covers. If you’d like to be part of that and feel able to offer some support, please visit shedunnitshow.com/pledgedrive.

Books and sources:
Peace At Last by Guy Cuthbertson
Forever England: Femininity, Literature and Conservatism Between the Wars by Alison Light
An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie
“The Affair at the Victory Ball” by Agatha Christie, collected in Poirot’s Early Cases
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers

Thanks to today’s sponsor, Dear Holmes, a mail-based Victorian mystery game in which you can pit your wits against Sherlock Holmes. Get $5 off your first order by visiting dearholmes.com and use code Shedunnit at checkout.

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

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

Nurse Daniels

On 6 October 1926, a woman went into a cloakroom in Boulogne, France and never came out. She was never seen alive again. Her disappearance captivated the world, and even detective novelist Dorothy L. Sayers tried to solve the case. This is the story of Nurse Daniels. Find more information about this episode and links… Continue Reading

Nurse Daniels Transcript

Caroline: On 6 October 1926, a young woman went into the cloakroom on the quay at Boulogne in France. Her friend was waiting for her outside, expecting her to come out again quickly because they were due to catch the boat back to England in ten minutes’ time. The seconds ticked by, and the boat left,… Continue Reading

Surplus Women

Why are spinsters always solving mysteries? Contributors: —Rosemary Cresswell, senior lecturer in global history at the University of Hull. Follow her on Twitter @RosieCresswell. —Camilla Nelson, associate professor of writing at the University of Notre Dame Australia. —Helen Parkinson Further reading: —A field guide to spinsters in English fiction —‘Surplus women’: a legacy of World War… Continue Reading

Surplus Women Transcript

Caroline: Every age has had a different way of describing a woman who exists alone, rather than as part of a couple. Today, she might just call herself “single”, but at different times in the past people might have referred to her, often with contempt, as an “old maid”, a “bachelor girl”, a “spinster”, or… Continue Reading

Whodunnit? Transcript

Here’s a full transcript of this mini first episode of Shedunnit.  Listen to it now in your app of choice. Caroline: For a couple of decades between the first and second world wars, something mysterious happened. Many things, actually — there were murders in country houses, on golf courses, in Oxford colleges, on trains, in vicarages, in far… Continue Reading

Whodunnit?

 For a couple of decades between the first and second world wars, something mysterious happened. A golden age of detective fiction dawned, and people around the world are still devouring books from this time by Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Gladys Mitchell, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey and more. In this… Continue Reading