Month: March 2019

EP2765: Rocky Jordan: The Diorite Bowl

Jack Moyles

A friend of Rocky’s got himself in trouble while trying to sell a rare bowl on the black market.

Original Air Date: October 23, 1949

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715

(more…)

EP2764: Stand by for Crime: A Spy Ring in June

Glenn Langan
Chuck goes up to Vermont to prove that a man in police custody isn’t a spy in hopes the real spy can be captured.

Original AIr Date: 1952

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

EP2763: Mister Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons: The Shrieking Prisoner Murder Case, Parts One and Two

So lost, I'm fading

photo credit: Greyframe So lost, I’m fading viaphotopin (license)

A woman asks Mister Keen to find out who murdered her husband while he was visiting their eccentric aunt.
Original Air Dates: June 21 and June 23, 1954

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715

Take the listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

Become one of our friends on Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

EP2762s: The Man Called X: Stalin Plus Seven

When Ken Thurston is laid up, Bill Pringle sets out to rescue an American businessman who is being tried in a show trial after being brainwashed.

Original Air Date: June 1, 1951

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

EP2762: Dragnet: The Big Stop

Jack Webb

Friday and Smith investigate the shooting of a traffic officer at a stop.

Original Air Date: May 4, 1954

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

Support the show on a one-time basis at http://support.greatdetectives.net.

Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
(more…)

Book Review: Murder on the Links

Murder on the Links is the second Poirot novel by Agatha Christie and entered the public domain in the United States on January 1 of this year. Poirot is summoned to France by a wealthy man needing his urgent assistance. Poirot arrives to find the man murdered and sets out to solve the case.

There are some marked improvements from the first Poirot book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. For one thing, the action gets going far more quickly. We have the dead body at the end of Chapter One.

The plot itself is clever, with a nice collection of red herrings and misdirection for Poirot, Hastings, and the reader to sort through. In addition, there’s a mysterious woman who Hastings is smitten with and may have something to do with the murder.

In this book, Poirot is still developing into the man he’d become in the later books, but he does take several steps away from the more Holmesian feel of the first book as he indicates his focus is more than the psychological than physical evidence. Captain Hastings in love is also an interesting character, even though he complicates Poirot’s efforts because of his feelings for the young woman twice (though he only did it intentionally once.)

The one thing I think didn’t work awas the idea of giving Poirot a rival investigator to play off against. Though in the book it doesn’t bother me as much as it did in the TV and radio adaptations.

Overall, this was a well-crafted mystery with a clever solution. It’s nice to see Poirot’s development as a character, and this book holds up pretty well.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

If you’re in the United States You can download Murder on the Links for free from Project Gutenberg

If you enjoyed this post, you can have new posts about Detective stories and the golden age of radio and television delivered automatically to your Kindle.

EP2761: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Weather or Not Matter

Mandel Kramer

Earle Poorman calls Johnny to Florida because he fears that a wealthy elderly widower is going to be murdered by his stepchildren.

Original Air Date: July 15, 1962

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

(more…)