A Mysterious Glossary

Would you wear the cat's pyjamas? Let's delve into some baffling 1920s language.

• 38 mins

The Tichborne Claimant

Detective fiction is obsessed with identity. This Victorian legal case is the reason why.

• 31 mins

The Whodunnit in India

India has a long and deep tradition of storytelling and mythology — and now mysteries.

• 22 mins

A Second Century of Whodunnits

Reading my way through the last hundred years, one mystery at a time.

• 27 mins

Agatha’s Archaeologists

Agatha Christie knew more than most about digging up corpses.

• 28 mins

An Encounter With Father Brown

Let's spend some time with G.K. Chesterton, the first president of the Detection Club.

• 44 mins

The Detective's Best Friend

Join me for a long-awaited guided tour of the role that dogs play in detective fiction.

• 28 mins

Death By Chocolate

A box of chocolates can conceal a poisonous secret.

• 25 mins

The Long Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe

The grandfather of detective fiction still has a lot to teach us.

• 34 mins

The Queen of True Crime

F. Tennyson Jesse created a way of telling crime stories that still influences us today.

• 25 mins

Looking East

Expanding the horizons of golden age detective fiction.

• 19 mins

The Dark Side of True Crime

What if thinking and talking about real life murders was not good for us?

• 28 mins

At The Old Bailey

A judge looks back over her time on the bench at a very famous court.

• 30 mins

The Nobodies

Clerks, shop assistants, secretaries — why do detectives always overlook them?

• 17 mins

Agatha The Adventuress

In 1922, Agatha Christie took a trip around the world.

• 23 mins

The Challenge of Dorothy L. Sayers

Should detective fiction be easy reading?

• 24 mins

The Elusive Agatha Christie

How well do we really know the queen of crime?

• 40 mins

A Prize Mystery

Could you beat the detective to the solution?

• 33 mins

Queering The Golden Age

What if everything we thought about murder mysteries was wrong?

• 30 mins

The Kidnap of Elizabeth Canning

A dark story connects this 18th century abduction with a 20th century crime novel.

• 30 mins

The Shedunnit Centenary

In which Caroline is the guest, not the host.

• 40 mins

Clerical Crimes

Why do murder mysteries contain so many vicars?

• 30 mins

Howdunnit

Invert everything you think you know about murder mysteries.

• 30 mins

Let It Snow

Snow is a very powerful tool for a detective novelist.

• 25 mins

The Advertising Adventures of Dorothy L. Sayers

She created Lord Peter Wimsey — and also some excellent slogans about mustard.

• 25 mins

The Mysterious Dorothy Bowers

She wrote five successful murder mysteries and then vanished without a trace.

• 20 mins

A Detective's Farewell

How do you say goodbye to a long-running character?

• 20 mins

The Death of the Country House

A most golden age murder.

• 27 mins

The Trials of Madeleine Smith

What if you are found neither innocent nor guilty?

• 30 mins

At Home With Agatha Christie

Come with me on a tour of Greenway.

• 20 mins