Lighting The Pipes

Who killed Dimitrios Makrupoulos? That’s what obsessive mystery writer Charles Latimer is eager to find out in Eric Ambler’s classic thriller from 1939. As he racks up European passport stamps in pursuit of an answer, the dark and criminal underbelly of a continent in flux is exposed to him, offering Latimer much more than fodder for his next novel. Join LTP as Josh and Scott give chase and explore both author and novel. Fast facts @ 8:50; Summary @ 27:15; Pipes @ 44:30

Our look at the post-Fleming world of 007 continues with "Licence Renewed", John Gardner's inaugural outing and the first James Bond novel of the 1980s. An ousted nuclear scientist with a Braveheart complex seeks revenge in this spy adventure. From fixed horse races and holographic bedrooms to night-driving and devilish highland games, we portion out the narrative goods and take focus down the literary gun-barrel.

Artistry and imagination ran in the bloodline of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's family. His father, Charles, was driven by powerful appetites and ambitions that aptly reflected the Victorian spirit and would come to greatly influence his son. However, his personal life and mental health were marked by persistent struggle. From his advantaged start in London to his tumultuous adult years in Edinburgh to his final days in Dumfries, we step off the beaten track in this special episode for a sojourn through the life and legacy of Charles Altamont Doyle.

We conclude this summer's Sherlock Selects series with "The Devil's Foot", originally published in 1910 and presented later in Conan Doyle's "His Last Bow" collection. Highlighted by a dastardly villain with a vengeful, colonial mind, this story also features a drug-induced journey into the unknown which tests Holmes and Watson's friendship to the max! Edwardian adventure awaits you in this conversation, originally recorded in June of 2018.

Louise Penny's debut novel transports readers to the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, and the fictitious village of Three Pines. The mysterious death of a retired teacher, Jane Neal, sends this secluded community into a fog of suspicion marked by the exhumation of buried secrets, insecurities and dark history. Working the case is Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, veteran of the Sûreté du Québec, whose peaceable personality puts him in good stead among the denizens of Three Pines. So pack your bag, readers, and book your B&B: visitors to the leafy lanes of "Still Life" can expect lessons in archery, antique furniture and amateur art! Fast Facts @4:00, Summary @19:30, Review from 43:30.

Josh's selection for this year's "Sherlock Selects" returns us to The Illustrious Client. Marked by the predatory exploits of a dastardly Baron, this later Conan Doyle story (1925) spins its archetypal threads of good vs. evil while promoting emergent themes in context of suffragette and female agency. Our chat, originally recorded in-person during the summer of 2018, has been trimmed down, tidied up and newly introduced here for our annual Summer Redux. Enjoy!

In this installment, Josh presents a clean line through the scandalous phlegm of HUAC and the red scare in Hollywood which served as backdrop for many great film noir productions, including 1948's "Force of Evil". Director Abraham Polonsky fills each frame with atmosphere and suggestive imagery to help convey themes of family conflict and corruption. Heralded still for its lyrical, razor-sharp script, "Force of Evil" has earned a place in the pantheon of film noir. John Garfield, Thomas Gomez and Beatrice Pearson star in this compelling thriller showcasing the rot of capitalist greed in the American underworld.

In this episode, our first in a new branch exploring the continuation novels of James Bond, we look down the literary gunbarrel at "Colonel Sun", written by Robert Markham (Kingsley Amis). Published four years after Ian Fleming's death, Markham's compelling adventure situates agent 007 in a new world of espionage. "Colonel Sun" comes on the heels of Amis's successful non-fiction character-piece, "The James Bond Dossier" and marks the first "official" 007 fiction of a new era. So, hop aboard the good ship LTP and brandish your shades and parasols - we're setting sail right now, straight for the Sun... Colonel Sun!

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."Thus starts the troubled narrative of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 classic novel. Part mystery story, part Gothic romance, Rebecca manipulates features of both genres to impressive effect. It offers readers a haunting depiction of tormented characters in an eerily prescient country mansion. The novel follows our naive narrator as she tries to make sense of married life in the aristocracy, complete with a controlling housekeeper, destructive family secrets and more repressed baggage than you can comfortably carry! Bio & Context @ 4:55, Summary @ 25:15, Review @ 48:30

Kami Garcia's "Agent of Chaos" is one of two X-Files origin novels published in 2017. The story is set in 1979 and follows a 17 year-old Fox Mulder. A soon-to-be High School graduate, Mulder is struggling to negotiate the choppy waters of his parents' recent divorce as a spate of child abductions casts an anxious cloud over the D.C. area. Mulder grows obsessed when he starts to piece together evidence missed by the authorities and soon sees the case as a chance to make amends for the loss of his own sister, Samantha, five years earlier. Garcia's novel offers an engaging and decisive snapshot of Fox Mulder before his transition into adulthood and employment with the FBI.

Hjalmar Söderberg's compelling novel caused quite a stir in Europe when it was published in 1905. His protagonist - a restless, brooding doctor in Stockholm at the turn of the century - grows obsessive when a patient comes to him with a delicate problem. Written in loose epistolary fashion, the inner monologues of Doctor Glas juxtapose beautiful reflections on life and morality with odious thoughts and scheming about the local minister, Pastor Gregorius. Oh, and did we mention the patient was the Pastor's wife? Yeah, it's all to play for here and tragic love is the trophy. Söderberg's narrative has a lot to offer: great beauty, dark trauma and hectares of fertile Freduian farmland to map!

In this episode we travel to the Land of the Rising Sun where master detective Akechi Kogoro plays a game of cat and mouse with the titular Black Lizard, a femme fatale unlike we’ve encountered so far! Serialized at the height of Imperial Japan, before its ill-fated bid at Pacific supremacy, this twisted tale by Edogawa Rampo (the pseudonym of Taro Hirai) weaves a narrative of jewelery-theft and kidnap-come-torture. Channeling the spirits of Poe's disturbed imagination and Conan Doyle's straight-ahead pacing, Rampo delivers a lively, memorable read. So join us as we take on "The Black Lizard"!

Our final episode of 2023 investigates Celia Fremlin's "The Long Shadow" from 1975. Fremlin's text spins an intricate domestic mystery surrounding the recently-widowed character of Imogen Barnicott. Strange things start happening around her home at Christmastime and her late husband's family arrive to spend the holidays with their own baggage weighing heavy. But house guests are only the start of Imogen's trouble: nightmarish visitors, misplaced books, anonymous letters, a stolen cat... oh, and accusations of murder - what holiday would be complete without them! So, stoke the fire and grab your favourite grog, it's time for a holiday mystery!

In this special episode we polish the dust off our first chat on "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" from 2017 and reintroduce the story just in time for the holidays! As the only Holmes story set firmly within the Christmas season, "Carbuncle" occupies a special place in the hearts of many readers. Published in the January 1892 edition of The Strand, it offers readers a fine mix of intrigue, mishap and fireside fuzzies.

1961's "Call for the Dead" was a striking premiere in spy fiction. Not only was it the careful, opening gambit in John le Carré's long and dominating career, it also marked the first appearance of George Smiley, the author's recurring intelligence officer of unlikely composition. Accented by a polite, unassuming conduct, Smiley is slightly overweight and a bit lovesick, too, all of which stood him in sharp contrast to the "known quantity" literary spy of the day. Drawing on his own experiences of work with Britain's intelligence services, John le Carré sculpts his inaugural text out of post-war mortar and emerging cold-war realism.

In this installment, Josh gets behind the wheel of "Detour" and takes listeners through the hairpin turns of Edgar G. Ulmer's "poverty row" production. When it was released in November 1945, "Detour" exceeded expectations, impressing post-war audiences and critics alike with inspired editing, nihilistic storytelling and a standout performance by Ann Savage as the vicious Vera. From Martin Goldsmith's source material to Leo Erdody's compelling post-production score, this special episode covers all tire-worn avenues of Ulmer's classic noir!

Batman first appeared in the May 1939 edition of "Detective Comics", the creation of Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Since then, the caped crusader and his story have been re-imagined through myriad themes and variations. Arguably the most compelling of these came In 1987, when artist and writer Frank Miller portrayed the first year of Bruce Wayne's activity as Batman. His four-part story runs in parallel to that of Police Lieutenant James Gordon, whose arrival and ascension in Gotham city is of equal importance. In this episode, Josh and Scott discuss Miller's graphic novel, starting with a detailed look at the origins of the character and its artists (6:25) before presenting a full plot summary (36:20) and finally reviewing the work in its entirety (54:00).

It's late in 1941. Honolulu basks in Hawaiian warmth and Battleship Row sparkles with military confidence, just weeks before the day that would live in infamy. Downtown, Police Detective Joe McGrady receives a brutal double murder case that's about to change his life. The first victim is the nephew of an Admiral; the second is a young Japanese woman. What do these killings have to do with the impending attack on Pearl Harbour and Imperial Japan’s grasp for Pacific supremacy? How far will McGrady go to uncover the truth and chase a killer? Find out more as we dive-bomb into extended discussion over James Kestrel’s Edgar Award winning war-time thriller, Five Decembers.

Boileau-Narcejac's novel D'entre les morts (The Living and the Dead) was published in 1954 and served as the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's classic psychological thriller. Over the decades, however, the source material with its war-time setting has been largely subsumed by the influence of the Hollywood production. Here, Josh and Scott explore Jeffery Sainsbury's enduring translation of the original novel by the esteemed French crime-writing duo.

A brief crank call transforms into a lengthy nightmare for spinster Helen Clarvoe and her anxious orbit around family and friends in Los Angeles. By turns evasive and compelling, Margaret Millar proffers a unique psychological thriller with Beast in View, her Edgar Award winning novel from 1956. Working the case on behalf of Helen (and readers) is unlikely investigator, Paul Blackshear, who sails a sea of choppy emotional waters, characterised by obsession, personal trauma and vindictive love. So, leave your phone off the hook and join us for a look through this enduring narrative gem and its unassuming legacy.