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Reading through the twentieth century, one murder mystery at a time. Read more
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A Century of Whodunnits
Reading through the twentieth century, one murder mystery at a time.
Policing The Detectives
Is it possible to write a whodunnit and leave out the police?
Golden Age Inspiration
How do you write a 1920s style detective novel that's set in the 2020s?
Young Sleuths
Young detectives and readers play a vital part in the history of detective fiction.
Agatha Christie's England
Where is St Mary Mead, anyway?
The Murder At Road Hill House
This sensational case from 1860 ignited a wave of detective fever.
Is Agatha Christie A Good Writer?
Her plots are second to none. But is the Queen of Crime a true literary great?
The Theatrical World of Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie was the most successful female playwright of all time.
Double Trouble
What happens when two people write a whodunnit together?
At Home With Shedunnit
Caroline's husband Guy takes the mic and asks her the questions for a change.
Agatha Christie Writes Alone
Agatha Christie had a very productive WW2.
E.C.R. Lorac Rises Through The Ranks
Her WW2 mysteries are best of all.
Margery Allingham Waits For The Invasion
For Albert Campion's creator, WW2 was her salvation.
Josephine Tey's Golden Age
WW2 made this Scottish writer want to write mysteries again.
Ngaio Marsh Goes Home
WW2 forced this queen of crime to become better acquainted with her homeland.
Dorothy L. Sayers Solves Her Mystery
Why did she stop writing detective fiction as WW2 approached?
Murder Isn't Easy
How much did Agatha Christie really know about dead bodies?
A Mysterious Glossary
Would you wear the cat's pyjamas? Let's delve into some baffling 1920s language.
The Tichborne Claimant
Detective fiction is obsessed with identity. This Victorian legal case is the reason why.
The Whodunnit in India
India has a long and deep tradition of storytelling and mythology — and now mysteries.
A Second Century of Whodunnits
Reading my way through the last hundred years, one mystery at a time.
Agatha’s Archaeologists
Agatha Christie knew more than most about digging up corpses.
An Encounter With Father Brown
Let's spend some time with G.K. Chesterton, the first president of the Detection Club.
The Detective's Best Friend
me for a long-awaited guided tour of the role that dogs play in detective fiction.
Death By Chocolate
A box of chocolates can conceal a poisonous secret.
The Long Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe
The grandfather of detective fiction still has a lot to teach us.
The Queen of True Crime
F. Tennyson Jesse created a way of telling crime stories that still influences us today.
Looking East
Expanding the horizons of golden age detective fiction.
The Dark Side of True Crime
What if thinking and talking about real life murders was not good for us?
At The Old Bailey
A judge looks back over her time on the bench at a very famous court.
The Nobodies
Clerks, shop assistants, secretaries — why do detectives always overlook them?
