Another surprise episode of my increasingly-irregular podcast In GAD We Trust, this time featuring Mark Aldridge in discussion about his new book, Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness (2024). Yes, finally some good news: four years on from his excellent Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World (2020), in which he charted the … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 33: Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness (2024) by Mark A...
Sep 07, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Five and a half years ago I tracked down and read an obscure novelette by long-forgotten British pulp writer James Ronald, which set me on the trail of his far-from-readily-available other works. This week, Moonstone Press published the first two in a series of reprints that will see Ronald’s entire criminous catalogue made available, and series … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 32: The Revival of James Ronald [w’ Chris Verner]...
Dec 16, 2023•57 min
Another year, another Bodies from the Library collection — incredibly, the sixth — and another opportunity to sit down with Tony Medawar and talk about the wonderful work he’s doing on all our behalfs. As well as discussing the contents of the latest collection — all spoiler-free, of course — we get into the details … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 31: Bodies from the Library 6 (2023) ed. Tony Medawar [w’ Tony Medawar]...
Dec 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min
The return of my In GAD We Trust podcast, and a welcome return for Alasdair Beckett-King, comedian and now children’s author. Since last appearing on the podcast, Alasdair has written two books for younger readers — Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum (2023) and Montgomery Bonbon: Death at the Lighthouse (2023) — and so joins … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 30: The Joys of Detective Fiction + Montgomery Bonbon: Death at the Lighthouse (2023) by Alas...
Oct 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min
One final dive into the crystal-clear waters of talking about a mystery novel without having to carefully avoid the details — here are Brad, Moira, and myself discussing Mrs. McGinty’s Dead (1952) by Agatha Christie. There’s much to discuss here, too: an older Hercule Poirot whose name conjures none of the delight or fear it … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – Mrs. McGinty’s Dead (1952) by Agatha Christie...
Oct 22, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Hopefully your summer heatwave — or winter freeze-wave — has passed and you’re calm, relaxed, and ready to listen to Brad, Moira, and me discuss some Agatha Christie in spoiler-filled detail. This time we’re talking about Towards Zero (1944), the fifth and final book to feature Superintendent Battle. Is there much to discuss in advance? … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – Towards Zero (1944) by Agatha Christie...
Jul 30, 2022•1 hr 10 min
A long weekend (probably) awaits, so how better to pass some time than listening to Brad, Moira, and me discuss Five Little Pigs, a.k.a. Murder in Retrospect (1942) by Agatha Christie? Okay, sure, there are countless better ways to pass the time, but here’s that discussion anyway. Earlier this year, I held a poll for … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – Five Little Pigs, a.k.a. Murder in Retrospect (1942) by Agatha Christie...
Apr 16, 2022•1 hr 1 min
All good things come to an end, and so does my podcast; started in the first UK lockdown and hard to justify now that lockdowns are well and truly over, In GAD We Trust’s 30th episode (number 29, but don’t forget that bonus run through the Jonathan Creek canon) is going out in a blaze … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 29: Writing The Red Death Murders (2022)...
Mar 19, 2022•59 min
There is a Golden Age of detective fiction going on at the very moment, but because most of what’s being written is aimed at 8-to-12 year-olds, it gets overlooked by, like, grown-ups. I’m trying to raise awareness of this with my frequent Minor Felonies posts, and it’s partly in pursuit of this aim that I’m … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 28: Writing Mysteries for Younger Readers [w’ M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman]...
Feb 12, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Slightly later than planned — er, sorry about that — let’s see what Brad, Moira, and I made of Dame Agatha’s After the Funeral, a.k.a. Funerals Are Fatal (1953), shall we? You hopefully know the drill by now, but let’s have a recap for anyone new to this: we read the book, we discuss the … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – After the Funeral, a.k.a. Funerals Are Fatal (1953) by Agatha Christie + Vote for Future Episodes...
Jan 08, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Last week, Nick Cardillo and I discussed the impossible crime on screen, at the end of which he casually asked about Jonathan Creek like I’d be able to condense my thoughts into a pithy bon mot and not obsess about what I’d missed out for the next 30 or 40 years. Instead, we’re back to … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Bonus Episode! The Highs and Lows of Jonathan Creek [w’ Nick Cardillo]...
Sep 25, 2021•2 hr 4 min
Does In GAD We Trust have a hype train? If so, stoke the conductor, point the rails, wake up the boiler, and do other train things, because episode 27 is here and Nick Cardillo wants to talk about the impossible crime on screen. Written down, the impossible crime — sometimes called the “miracle problem” when … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 27: The Impossible Crime on Screen [w’ Nick Cardillo]...
Sep 18, 2021•1 hr 6 min
I’m as surprised as you to see a new episode of my In GAD We Trust podcast, especially as I said on Thursday that there was unlikely to be one this weekend — well, okay, perhaps a I’m little less surprised than you, since I (sort of) planned, recorded, and (sort of) edited this, but … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 26: The Maxims of Misdirection...
Sep 04, 2021•55 min
Gutsy of me to suggest, on my site dedicated to the discussion of Golden Age detective fiction, that a lot of the terminology used to talk about these stories is incorrect, eh? Well, thankfully I’m not the one trying to convince you; that job falls to Mr. Scott K. Ratner. Those of you who know … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 25: Fair Play and the Nomenclature of Golden Age Detective Fiction [w’ Scott K. Ratner]...
Aug 21, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Prepare yourself for what might just be the most jam-packed episode of In GAD We Trust to date — when you sit down with Tony Medawar, there’s always going to be a lot to talk about. With the podcast coming to an end after episode 30, I was hardly going to let Tony get away … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 24: Bodies from the Library 4 (2021) ed. Tony Medawar + The International Agatha Christie Festival 2021 + Even More! [w’ Tony Medawar]...
Aug 07, 2021•56 min
Here we go: another Agatha Christie-centred, spoiler-filled discussion betwixt Moira, Brad, and myself, this time looking at her highly-regarded Jane Marple mystery A Murder is Announced (1950). You know the drill — we’ve read it, talked about it without being coy regarding details as one normally would in a review, and are here to pick … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – A Murder is Announced (1950) by Agatha Christie...
Jul 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min
The companion of the fictional detective — the “stupid friend” as Ronald Knox styled them — is something I have spent far too long thinking about, mainly because the protoype is always taken to be Sherlock Holmes’ chronicler Dr. John H. Watson. Joining me this week to discuss why that might not always be a … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 23: What’s in a Watson? [w’ Caroline Crampton]...
Jul 10, 2021•1 hr 4 min
After the interruption to the schedule of two weeks ago, here’s another In GAD We Trust podcast — and given the topic of ‘Making a Good First Impression’ it’s only fitting to welcome returning guests Sergio and Brad. We had orignally intended to discuss Ellery Queen, but life is miserable enough at the moment and … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 22: On Making a Good First Impression [w’ Sergio @ Tipping My Fedora + Brad @ AhSweetMystery...
Jun 26, 2021•1 hr 9 min
The detective fiction genre is built around the essential structure of a crime, an investigation of that crime, and the revelation of the guilty party who committed the crime, and good heavens didn’t the Golden Age map out a lot of different ways to walk that path. And there are few people better placed to … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 21: The Diversity of Approaches to Detective Fiction [w’ Martin Edwards]...
May 29, 2021•1 hr 27 min
Slightly later than promised — or not, depending on your time zone — here’s the long-anticipated spoiler-heavy discussion betwixt Brad, Moira, and myself about Agatha Christie’s bridge-centric mystery Cards on the Table (1936). And, just for added drama, one of us thinks this book doesn’t quite deserve its reputation as a classic… As well as … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – Cards on the Table (1936) by Agatha Christie...
May 01, 2021•1 hr 13 min
In January of last year, I read my first R. Austin Freeman novel, little suspecting that it was to be the first step along a road of sheer delight. And so, to mark the end of Series 2 of In GAD We Trust, today I’m discussing Freeman and the Thorndyke stories with author and fellow … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 20: The Dr. Thorndyke Stories of R. Austin Freeman [w’ Dolores Gordon-Smith]...
Mar 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min
On the back of the Reprint of the Year Award run by Kate at CrossExaminingCrime, I thought it might be interesting to see what those of us who submit titles for that undertaking would choose to bring back from the exile of being OOP. To that end, I invited various bloggers to nominate a single … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 19: Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! [w’ Various People]...
Feb 27, 2021•1 hr 10 min
For a blog set up with the implicit aim to explore the impossible crime in fiction, it has to be said that impossibilities have been rather thin on the ground at The Invisible Event of late. Here, then, is a podcast episode committed to the impossible crime (or one-tenth of it, at least) with author … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 18: The ‘No Footprints’ Impossible Crime [w’ Tom Mead]...
Feb 13, 2021•1 hr 6 min
You voted for it, here it is: a spoiler-filled discussion betwixt Brad, Moira, and myself about Agatha Christie’s none-more-audacious The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926). You have hopefully figured out that there will be much in the way of spoilers, so ensure you have read the book before listening in — it means you stand … Continue reading Spoiler Warning – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie...
Jan 30, 2021•1 hr 6 min
After watching detective fiction play out in the drawing rooms of ivory towers for too long, I’m heading into the mean streets to get some grease under my nails, a shiv waved in my face, and probably a cosh to the back of my head. Thankfully, Sergio, who oversaw a great deal of this stuff … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 17: The Hardboiled Golden Age on Page and Screen [w’ Sergio @ Tipping My Fedora]...
Jan 16, 2021•1 hr 14 min
Let’s get the new year off to a happy start by showing some appreciation for contemporary authors who make life difficult for themselves by upholding the traditions of Golden Age detective fiction in their own works. And, if you want to discuss modern detective fiction, few are better-placed than Puzzle Doctor, a.k.a. Steve from In … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 16: Modern Writers in the Golden Age Tradition [w’ Puzzle Doctor @ In Search of the Classic Myste...
Jan 02, 2021•1 hr 11 min
‘Tis the season to be jolly, so I’m delighted to welcome Kate from CrossExaminingCrime back to my Golden Age detective fiction podcast so that we can discuss those who have sought to be not quite so jolly about our chosen enthusiasm. The notion of criticising criticism flouts the very conventions of logic and reasoning upon … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 15: Criticising the Golden Age [w’ Kate @ CrossExaminingCrime]...
Dec 19, 2020•1 hr 13 min
We’re all prone to speculate at times about how wonderful it would be to discover a previously-unpublished work by a beloved Golden Age author, and for today’s podcast episode Tony Medawar rejoins me to tempt you with two forthcoming collections of hard-to-find material from two of the genre’s titans — John Dickson Carr and Freeman … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 14: The Island of Coffins (2021) by John Dickson Carr + The 9.50 Up Express (2021) by...
Dec 05, 2020•1 hr 3 min
This year’s celebrations of the centenary of Hercule Poirot’s debut and, arguably, the dawn of the Golden Age of Detection have obviously been overshadowed by wider events, but there’s still much to celebrate — not least of which is a new book about Poirot from Mark Aldridge. Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 13: Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World (2020) b...
Nov 21, 2020•1 hr 14 min
You thought this podcast was nerdy before? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Today we welcome the GADisphere’s own Scott K. Ratner, and things get taxonomical… Scott is at the top of my list of GAD fans who I wish would start a blog so we could find all his writings in one place because, as … Continue reading In GAD We Trust – Episode 12: Appeal and Deception in Golden Age Detective Fiction [w’ Scott K. Ratner]...
Nov 07, 2020•1 hr 6 min
