Month: July 2020

EP3205: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Parts Eight and Nine (Encore)

Bob Bailey

Johnny has to escape a remote island and find the elusive Tom Chase.

Original Air Dates: October 25 and 26, 1956

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

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EP3204: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Part Six and Seven (Encore)

Bob Bailey
After narrowly escaping death, Johnny tries to track down the woman who claimed to know where Tom Chase is.

Original Air Dates: October 22 and 24, 1956

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

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EP3203: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Part Five and Manhunt: The Clue of the Crimson Corpse (Encore)

Bob Bailey

Johnny gets a clue and heads to Haiti, then to Cuba, and finally in Barbados in pursuit of Tom Chase.

Original Air Date:  October 19, 1956

A dead body appears in the window of a busy store in the middle of the day.

Original Air Date: April 8, 1944

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

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AWR0128: Top Secret: Church Without a Cross

Amazing World of Radio

Karin goes to Belgium to find the source of devastating bombs being dropped on London.

Original Air Date: August 20, 1950

Go to http://amazing.greatdetectives.net to subscribe to the podcast.

Brought to you by the support of our Patreon listeners…http://patreon.greatdetectives.net

EP3202: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Parts Three and Four (Encore)

Bob Bailey
Johnny hopes a shady information will lead him to the missing Mr. Chase.

Original Air Dates: October 17 and 18, 1956

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

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EP3201: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Phantom Chase Matter, Parts One and Two (Encore)

Bob Bailey
A junior partner accused of embezzling $100,000 jumps bail and the senior partner believes that he saw him in a newspaper picture of a New Orleans bar.

Original Air Dates: October 15 and 16, 1956

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

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EP3200s: Lux Radio Theater: The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

William Powell

A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings on at a race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.

Original Air Date: June 19, 1939

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
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Book Review: Before Midnight

Editor’s Note: A version of this review originally appeared 9 years ago.

How annoying can a client or set of clients get? Nero Wolfe finds out in Before Midnight.

After the death of a hotshot advertising executive, his firm hires Wolfe not to find the killer, but to locate the dead man’s wallet which contained the answers to a verse-guessing contest with $800,000 in prizes at stake.

The story plodded along. While some of the suspects were interesting, I couldn’t consider most of them as likely suspects for either the murder or taking the wallet. The focus was on the contestants, four of whom came from out of town. To go to a place you don’t know, commit a homicide, and evade detection by the police is a tough task, and nothing made me believe any of these out-of-towners would do it.

What held the story together was watching Wolfe’s clients from the advertising firm of LBA, who represented the most annoying and foolish clients Wolfe ever had the misfortune of taking on. There was a pleasure of seeing these guys in action that wasn’t unlike watching a trainwreck. Wolfe had been about his leisurely pace of crime solving for 20 years, LBA was in a mode of “hurry up and do something,” even setting a deadline for Wolfe.

Their battles with each other and Wolfe continue for most of the book. Toward the end, just when we’re expecting Wolfe to spend a few chapters and several glasses of beer unraveling the mystery, we’re thrown for a loop with a plot twist that leaves Wolfe reeling, embarrassed, and determined to get a daring soul who committed a murder right in Wolfe’s office.

The twist makes up for the weakness of the book, which was a letdown after the pure brilliance of Murder by the Book. Still with a twist ending and some classically annoying clients, I’ll give it a:

Rating: Satisfactory (4 stars)

EP3200: Dragnet: The Big Fellow

Jack Webb

Friday and Smith search for dangerous wanted criminals who are also drug addicts.

Original Air Date: August 30, 1955

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EP3199: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Yankee Pride Matter

Edmond O'Brien

Johnny goes to Singapore to find out what’s stopping an insured shipment from leaving port.

Original Air Date: October 14, 1950

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

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EP3198: Mystery is My Hobby: Fatherly Advice

A woman is murdered after the son of a wealthy man declares her intention to marry her against his father’s wishes.

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Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
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EP3197: Air Mail Mystery: Episodes 12 and 13

photo credit: freestock.ca ? dare to share beauty Vibrant US Air Mail Stamp via photopin (license)

Fitz repairs the plane in mid-air and then parachutes down below as the search for Jimmy Gifford and the perpetrators of the air mail robbery comes to a head.

Original Air Date: 1932

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AWR0127: Top Secret: The Case of the Tattooed Pigeon

Amazing World of Radio

Karin investigates the source of a leak that’s going from London directly to Germany.

Original Air Date: August 13, 1950

Go to http://amazing.greatdetectives.net to subscribe to the podcast.

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EP3196: Air Mail Mystery: Episodes 10 and 11

photo credit: freestock.ca ? dare to share beauty Vibrant US Air Mail Stamp via photopin (license)

Fitz and Gifford pursue a suspect in the murder of the radio operator and then encounter a mysterious new pilot.

Original Air Date: 1932

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

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EP3195: Box 13: Much Too Lucky

Dan investigates why several gamblers have won an improbable number of race track bets.

Original Air Date: 1948

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
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