Month: April 2016

EP1874: Dragnet: The Big Saint

Jack Webb
Friday and Romero try and find who’s behind a drop in recovered automobiles from auto theft.

Original Air Date: April 26, 1951

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Audio Drama Review: The Rivals (BBC)


For the average mystery fan, when it comes to Victorian detectives, one name stands out: Sherlock Holmes. Other than perhaps Father Brown, most will know of no great detectives who were published between the first appearance of Holmes and that of Hercules Poirot. Yet detectives proliferated on both sides of the Atlantic in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

BBC Radio 4’s series, “The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes,”  introduces us to a few of Sherlock Holmes’ contemporaries. The collection from the BBC contains all twelve episodes from three series of audio dramas. In the first series, Lestrade is relaying the incidents to a reporter who originally approached him for insight on Holmes. Instead, Lestrade gives her tales of these rivals. In the latter two, Lestrade is writing his memoirs. He’s essentially a Victorian Age Forest Gump of detecting, rubbing elbows with nine different detectives and sharing their adventures. Paul Beck, Max Carridos, and Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen make two appearances each.

Overall, fans of mystery fiction owe a debt of gratitude to the BBC of the series. Like a similarly themed Television series from the 1970s, it succeeds in bringing to life forgotten detectives and clever mysteries. The acting and production values are top notch, as you would expect with a recent BBC radio 4 series. The stories are (with one exception) true to their era with few embellishments. We get a great variety of detectives, including a fat gourmet detective in Eugene Valmont, a blind detective in Carrados, and a Columbo-esque gardener in Paul Beck, as well as three different lady sleuths, most notably Lady Violet Strange and Loveday Brooke.

On the negative side, the Series episode “Seven, Seven, Seven” added an adult plot element that wasn’t in the original story, was gratuitous, and untrue to a story of that era. In addition, Lestrade is written as having a huge chip on his shoulder about the prominence and fame of Sherlock Holmes. It seems like this series could have been made without making Lestrade into a man who is so bitter against Holmes and his portrayal in the Holmes story that he has to find every way he can to undercut Holmes.

Despite these flaws, this is a solid collection and will introduce fans to many interesting and long-forgotten detectives.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.0

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EP1873: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Twin Trouble Matter

Bob Bailey
Johnny is called in when George Reed’s twin brother faces blackmail from a dangerous convict.

Original Air Date: May 17, 1959

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EP1872: Boston Blackie: The Devon Caretaker Murder

Chester Morris

Boston Blackie is arrested coming out of a restaurant and accused of murdering a caretaker at an estate.

Original Air Date: July 28, 1944

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EP1871: Hollywood Star Time: Murder, My Sweet

Dick Powell
Philip Marlowe investigates a missing woman and then gets caught in a murder surrounding stolen jewels.

Original Air Date: June 8, 1946

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EP1870: The Avenger: Death in Mid-Air

Jim investigates a series of mysterious deaths involving trapeze artists.

Original Air Date: February 7, 1946

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EP1869: Michael Shayne: The Case of the Hunted Bride

Jeff Chandler
A woman turns to Mike for help when she suspects her husband is a killer.

Original Air Date: Sometime in 1948

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Graphic Novel Review: The Golden Game

The Golden Game collects two separate graphic novel stories featuring the characters of John Steed and Mrs. Peel from the 1960s TV show, the Avengers. The comics are set after Mrs. Peel’s departure from the TV show and were originally published in 1990 as three comic books by Eclipse and then reprinted by Boom Studios in 2012.

The first story, “The Golden Game” was written by famed comics writer Grant Morrison and takes up two thirds of the book. It finds Tara King (Mrs. Peel’s replacement) having disappeared, leading Steed to turn to his old protégé for assistance as they find a tie-in to a mysterious group of game player.

“The Golden Game” does feel like it could have been done on TV if they’d had the budget. The art by Ian Gibson is superb. From the colorful characters to the imaginative solution (complete with a world-threatening danger) to the final pages, everything about the story feels genuine to the era and very imaginative.

“The Deadly Rainbow” was written by Anne Caufield and finds Mrs. Peel reunited with her husband for a second honeymoon in a quaint English village after his return from the Amazon. However, trouble has followed them. There are some interesting character insights with Mrs. Peel trying to reassure herself that she was back with her husband and nothing crazy was going to happen, though of course it did.

The plot is a bit more outlandish, and it isn’t told with the same panache as “The Golden Game.” In addition, while the art was done by the same artist, the visual realization of this story is not quite as good as in the other tale. Still, it’s an okay story with a few interesting features.

Overall, this a nice collection with Grant Morrison’s story making the book a must-read for fans of the 1960s classic.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

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EP1868: Dragnet: The Big Speech

Jack Webb
Friday and Romero hunt for a young man behind a series of narcotics robberies.

Original Air Date: April 19, 1951

Nominate the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio in the “Entertainment Category” at http://www.podcastawards.com before April 30th. (One nomination per listener)

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EP1867: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Fatal Filet Matter

Bob Bailey
Johnny visits a friend’s apartment where steak is served and a murder occurs.

Original Air Date: May 10, 1959

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EP1866: Boston Blackie: Black Market Blackie

Cheaster Morris

Boston Blackie helps out a woman who owns a ranch and cattle shipping company who is being coerced by black marketeers.

Original Air Date: July 21, 1944

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EP1865: Philip Marlowe: Sound and Unsound

Gerald Mohr

An elderly landlady hires Marlowe to investigate a strange sound in one of her tenants’ apartment.

Original Air Date: September 15, 1951

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EP1864: The Avenger: Keys to the City

There’s a new mayor in town, and Jim is called in to investigate when two explosions wreck recent events.

Original Air Date: January 31, 1946

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EP1863: Michael Shayne: The Man Who Lived Forever

Jeff Chandler

Michael Shayne is called in to help a woman with her father and finds her father dead. The death of a friendly barkeep plunges Shayne into a mystery involving New Orleans voodoo cult.

Original Air Date: Sometime in 1948

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Audiobook Review: The Frightened Fish


In the Frightened Fish, a man travels around New York city panicking every time he sees a silver fish. The last time he does, it’s in front of the building containing the office of Doc Savage, which sets the Man of Bronze on the trail of a mystery that leads him to post-War Japan and a plot to take over the Earth.

The timing of the book is different from most Savage books, which are set in the 1920s and 30s. This story is set in the heart of the Atomic Age when a whole new slew problems have risen to test the man of Bronze. The story is shorter than the other Doc Savage novels I’ve reviewed, but I think the brevity helps as it gives the tale a bit more focus and the plot builds at a solid pace.

The set up is a bit artificial when you get down to the explanation which adds up to “supervillain ego” mixed the idea of being so desperate to make sure our hero doesn’t foil his plot that the villain reveals it to him. Still, the plot is clever enough, with plenty of intrigue and adventure along the way.

In this story, Doc Savage is a bit more gruff and occasionally abrupt with aides, but  he is also a bit more human and relatable as he even falls in love, something that shocks his aides.

Despite its difference, the story remains true to Doc Savage, while also managing to explore many interesting dynamics of the time and featuring a solidly memorable villain. This makes a great read for Doc Savage fans.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.0

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