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Bob Bailey & Virginia Gregg in front of an old Microphone

Bob Bailey & Virginia Gregg

Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio! A podcast featuring the best vintage detective radio programs. Each week from Monday through Saturday, we feature six of Old Time Radio's great detective series from the beginning of the show to its very last episode. And as a bonus, twice a month we also post a public domain movie or TV mystery or detective show video.

Along the way, I'll provide you my commentary and offer you opportunities to interact.

Subscribe to the show by clicking your favorite podcatcher in the sidebar.

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

- Your host, Adam Graham

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Recent Posts

EP0670: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Voodoo Matter

 John Lund

Johnny flies to Haiti to solve the problem of an insured who is suffering huge crop losses. Johnny arrives to find the man suspicious that voodoo is behind it all.

Original Air Date: August 4, 1953

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EP0669: Sherlock Holmes: The Complicated Poisoning At Eel Pie Island

Sherlock Holmes and Watson arrive on Eel Pie Island for a glass of rum  and find a poisoning murder.

Original Air Date: June 6, 1948

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EP0668: Let George Do It: The Prairie Dog

 Bob Bailey

George investigates the murder of a fellow detective.

Original Air Date: March 12, 1951

 

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EP0667: Hercule Poirot: The Bride Wore Fright

Harold Huber

Poirot comes into his apartment to find a woman in a wedding dress hiding from a most dangerous groom.

Original Air Date: December 7, 1945

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EP0666:Barrie Craig: Angel of Death

William Gargan
Barrie is hired by a wealthy woman to be companion to her accident prone husband who keeps almost killing himself.

Original Air Date: January 4, 1955

 

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Book Review: The Silent Speaker

I hadn’t planned on getting into Nero Wolfe novels that had been adapted to TV until after finishing the novels that weren’t adapted (except for A Family Affair) and the novella collections. However, the Silent Speaker was included in the library edition of Black Orchids, so I thought to go ahead and enjoy the bonus.

The Silent Speaker starts is set in the aftermath of the World War II. The head of the federal Bureau of Price Regulation was bludgeoned to death just before he was scheduled to address the National Industrial Association, a group that bore him ill-will. Suspicion falls upon the NIA as culprits.

 

With Wolfe’s banking balance suffering, Archie undertakes “Operation Payroll” to ensure that all of Wolfe’s employees (including him) get paid, Archie cleverly horns in on the case after clearing it with Inspector Cramer and the FBI, neither of which are getting anywhere. So Wolfe is hired by the NIA to solve the case, which centers on a case of missing Dictaphone cylinders.

Wolfe is able to interview all the principle players in the case in a group interview, except for the dead man’s secretary: a beautiful and extremely intelligent woman.  After Wolfe interviews her individually, he issues an unusual injunction to Archie. Archie’s not to see the woman unless Wolfe order him to. Wolfe warns, “A woman who is not a fool is dangerous.” Someone else agrees as she becomes the murderer’s second victim when she’s found dead outside the second gathering of the witnesses and suspects.

The case is fantastically written with plenty of red herrings. It all comes down to a search for ten transcription cylinders that disappeared on the night of the murder and finally just one. And Wolfe and Archie are initially duped by a very clever ruse.

 

This book is notable for many reasons. Wolfe’s relationship with his client has rarely been more complicated, and his relations with Inspector Cramer have never been friendlier. When Cramer is relieved of command, Wolfe has to not only solve the case but to solve in it such a way as to restore Cramer and avoid having Cramer’s pig-headed replacement permanently in charge of Homicide. This leads Wolfe to take some of the most extreme measures of his career to avoid police harassment. And before it’s all over, Archie provides a revelation of its own. All in all, The Silent Speaker is one book that far exceeds the TV version.

Rating: Very Satisfactory

You can find all the Nero Wolfe books in Kindle, Audiobook, and book form on our Nero Wolfe page.

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EP0665: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The James Forbes Matter

John Lund
Johnny investigates a case where a rich man has fallen off a cliff–or was he pushed.

Original Air Date: July 28, 1953

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