Currently Listening #1

Golden Age Mysteries

Hello, friends,

It was absurdly cold here for most of the weekend—double-digit negative temperatures, even without the windchill—but now it’s in the upper 20s, so basically t-shirt weather. Okay, I’m not wearing a t-shirt, that’s hyperbole—I’ve got fleece-lined tights on under my pants and a giant sweater and a variety of knit items covering my head and neck and hands—but it IS nice enough out that I drove down to Ogunquit to walk the beach. (Parking is free in the winter and the beach is gorgeous, so it’s worth the trek.)

Among other things, I saw a pair of bald eagles MATING, which was a first.

High five to the lady who pointed them out to me—she was having lunch in her car as I was walking by, and she just rolled down her window and pointed, which is very Maine Communication. Anyway, we just stood there for a bit and chatted about birds and then the eagles started going at it, and we were like, “Oh myyyy!!” And then we both giggled like dorks and kept watching. It was awesome.

NATURE!!

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Shedunnit podcast logo

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While I was walking, I blew through a whole bunch of episodes of Shedunnit, a podcast that focuses on Golden Age mysteries: the people who wrote them, the crime stories that inspired them, their various tropes and other related topics. Thanks to the members of my Rad Librarian Book Club for immediately recommending it to me when they found out I was on a Golden Age Kick. As usual, they have impeccable taste AND are, unsurprisingly, great at reader’s advisory.

Shedunnit is, in a word, DELIGHTFUL. Informative and warm, smart and funny and thoughtful. I especially appreciate that Caroline Crampton, the creator and host, is open to adaptations that play with the material, that she loves books that take chances, that she doesn’t buy into the idea that genre stories always have to adhere to a set of strict rules and guidelines.

There are a ton of episodes, but three of the ones I listened to today will give you a feel as to whether or not it’s for you:

• Edith Thompson. This one is in the true crime vein, in that it tells the story of Edith Thompson, who was executed in London in 1923, how she was covered in the press at the time, as well as how various authors worked elements of her story into their novels.

• The Rules. This one breaks down various tropes found in detective stories and talks about the authors who have broken the rules. [Spoiler: Although I already knew I was VERY into this podcast, this was the one that made me feel like Crampton is a kindred spirit, in that she’s VERY enthusiastic about the authors and stories that break the rules.]

• The Other Detectives. In which she covers some of the lesser-known recurring detectives created by our favorite Golden Age writers. This was the episode that prompted me to write this, actually, as she covers Dorothy L. Sayers’ Montague Egg, a character whose existence I’d largely forgotten. When she said his name, it all came FLOODING BACK and I was so surprised and happy that I literally flung my arms out in delight like I was going to hug someone. I just barely managed to restrain myself from bellowing, “MONTYYYYY!!!” like I was greeting a long-lost friend. Even with the arm-flailing, my guess is that the other folks on the beach didn’t bat an eye because everyone was in such a good mood about the end of the cold snap.

And there you have it! Shedunnit, two geeky thumbs up, highly recommended.

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More soon,

Leila