Award winning author Megan Abbott joins Brook and Sarah to discuss noir and hard-boiled mystery fiction, sibling relationships, and why mystery is important, as well as her recent release El Dorado Drive. Audio note: Megan lives in an urban neighborhood and listeners will hear the occasional train rumbling by.

Discussed and mentioned

El Dorado Drive (2025) Megan Abbott

Red Harvest (1929) Dashiell Hammett

Beware the Woman (2023) Megan Abbott

Give Me Your Hand (2018) Megan Abbott

You Will Know Me (2016) Megan Abbott

The Fever (2014) Megan Abbott

Dare Me (2012) Megan Abbott

The End of Everything (2011) Megan Abbott

The Turnout (2021) Megan Abbott

For more about Megan

Website: meganabbott.com [https://www.meganabbott.com/]

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melizaabbott/

X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/meganeabbott

Goodreads [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/29593.Megan_Abbott]

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/bonus-interview-with-megan-abbott/

Interview with Megan Abbott

This episode originally released February 27, 2024. Eric Rutin from Hallmark Mysteries and More joins Brook and Sarah to share his expertise on favorite Hallmark mysteries adapted from books. First of a two-part conversation. 

Discussed

The Gourmet Detective (1994) Peter King

The Gourmet Detective (2015) Hallmark

Mystery 101 (2019-2021) Hallmark

Flower Shop Mysteries (2016) Hallmark

Darrow and Daroow (2017-2019) Hallmark

Murder She Baked/Hannah Swensen Mysteries (2015-2023) Hallmark

Hannah Swensen mystery series (2001-2023) Joanna Fluke

The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries (2015-2023) Hallmark

Aurora Teagarden mystery series 1990-2017) Charlaine Harris

Curious Caterer Mysteries (2022-2023) Hallmark

Culinary mysteries (1990-2013) Dianne Mott Davidson

Dying for Chocolate (2022) Hallmark

Gilded Newport Mysteries (2024) Hallmark

Murder at the Breakers (2014) Alyssa Maxwell

About Eric Rutin and Hallmark Mysteries and More

Website: https://hallmarkmysteriesandmore.com/
Instagram: @hallmarkmysteriesandmore [https://www.instagram.com/hallmarkmysteriesandmore/]

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/re-release-hallmark-mysteries-and-more/

[Re-release] Hallmark Mysteries and More (part 1)

It's summer reading season! In today's episode, Brook and Sarah discuss what they're planning to watch and read over the break.

Discussed and mentioned

The Poisonous Solicitor: The True Story of a Nineteen Twenty’s Murder Mystery (2022) Stephen Bates

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder (2024) C.L. Miller

Listen for the Lie (2024) Amy Tintera

Lord Edgware Dies (1933) Agatha Christie

The Secret Adversary (1922) Agatha Christie

The Four Queens of Crime (2025) Rosanne Limoncelli

The Documents in the Case (1930) Dorothy L. Sayers

Holmes is Missing (2025) James Patterson and Brian Sitts

Holland (2025 film) Amazon Prime

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/summer-2025-reading-list/

Related episodes:

Poisons [https://cluedinmystery.com/methods-poisons/](released June 17, 2025)

Ngaio Marsh [https://cluedinmystery.com/golden-age-author-ngaio-marsh/] (released November 14, 2023)

Margery Allingham [https://cluedinmystery.com/golden-age-author-margery-allingham/] (released March 19, 2024)

Agatha Christie 1 [https://cluedinmystery.com/agatha-series-episode-1/] (released February 22, 2022)

Mysteries in Unusual Formats [http://unusual/] (released January 30, 2024)

Summer 2025 TBR List

What would you do if your daughter was marrying into a wealthy, slightly eccentric family? Find out what Brook and Sarah would do as they discuss Jason Rekulak's 2024 release The Last One at the Wedding. Note: This episode gets into detail about the book and its plot. Please read the book first if you want to avoid spoilers.

Discussed and mentioned

The Last One at the Wedding (2024) Jason Rekulak

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit: https://cluedinmystery.com/wwyd-the-last-one-at-the-wedding/

What Would You Do: The Last One at the Wedding

Brook and Sarah discuss modern great CJ Sansom, author of the Shardlake historical mystery series.

Discussed and mentioned

Dissolution (2003) CJ Sansom

Winter in Madrid (2006) CJ Sansom

Dominion (2012) CJ Sansom

Sovereign (2006) CJ Sansom

"A life in books: CJ Sansom" [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/nov/15/cj-sansom-interview] (November 15, 2010) Sarah Crown in The Guardian

"CJ Sansom, author of the Shardlake novels, dies aged 71" [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/29/cj-sansom-author-of-the-shardlake-novels-dies-aged-71] (April 29, 2024) Lucy Knight in The Guardian

"My nightmare of a Nazi Britain" [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/19/sansom-dominion-nightmare-nazi-britain] (October 19, 2012) CJ Sansom in The Guardian

"Top author reveals bullying ordeal at Edinburgh private school" [https://www.scotsman.com/education/top-author-reveals-bullying-ordeal-at-edinburgh-private-school-294488] (May 6, 2018) The Scotsman

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/modern-great-cj-sansom/

Modern Greats: CJ Sansom

In the first of an occasional series, Brook and Sarah discuss the ways that victims meet their ends in the mystery fiction that we love. This week, we discuss poisons and the different reasons authors choose to use this popular method.

Discussed and mentioned

The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929) Anthony Berkeley

Strong Poison (1930) Dorothy L. Sayers

The Lost Apothecary (2021) Sarah Penner

Knives Out (2019) Rian Johnson

Glass Onion (2022) Rian Johnson

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons (2022) Kate Kavari

A Haunting in Venice (2023 film)

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/methods-poisons/

Methods: Poisons

Brook and Sarah continue discussing Agatha Christie's recurring sleuths and characters. In this episode, they look into Inspector Japp.

Discussed and mentioned

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) Agatha Christie

Lord Edgeware Dies (1933) Agatha Christie

Death in the Clouds (1935) Agatha Christie

One Two Buckle My Shoe (1940) Agatha Christie

Death on the Nile (1937) Agatha Christie

Evil Under the Sun (1941) Agatha Christie

Taken at the Flood (1948) Agatha Christie

“The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim” (1923) Agatha Christie

“The Affair at the Victory Ball” (1923) Agatha Christie

Curtain (1975) Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989-2013) ITV series

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/agathas-characters-inspector-japp/

Christie's Characters: Inspector Japp

Mystery and thriller author Catherine McKenzie/Catherine Mack, author of recent What Would You Do episode feature Please Join Us (2022) and the popular Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies (2024) and its sequel No One Was Supposed to Die At This Wedding (2025) joins Brook and Sarah in today's episode to discuss writing thrillers, mysteries, and what makes a great story.

Discussed and mentioned

Please Join Us (2022) Catherine McKenzie

Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies (2024) Catherine Mack

No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding (2025) Catherine Mack

For more about Catherine Mack/Catherine McKenzie

website: catherinemackauthor.com [https://catherinemackauthor.com/]

Instagram: @catherinemckenzieauthor [https://www.instagram.com/catherinemckenzieauthor/]

X/Twitter: @CEMcKenzie1 [https://twitter.com/CEMcKenzie1]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineMcKenzieAuthor

Related episodes

What Would You Do: Please Join Us [https://cluedinmystery.com/what-would-you-do-please-join-us-by-catherine-mckenzie/] (released February 18, 2025)

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/

For a full transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/catherine-mckenzie/

Catherine McKenzie/Catherine Mack

It's wedding season! And what better way to celebrate love than with a mystery.

Discussed and mentioned

In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015) Ruth Ware

“A Deadly Wedding Day” in The Miss Marple Collection: New Tales of Jane Marple (2022) Dreda Say Mitchell

The Plus One (2024) S.C. Lalli

The Last Suppers (1995) Diane Mott Davidson

Engaged in Death (2016) Stephanie Blackmoore

The Guest List (2020) Lucy Foley

The Unwedding (2024) Ally Condie

Wedding Cake Murder (2016) Joanne Fluke

Something in the Water (2018) Catherine Steadman

Marriage, Monsters-in-Law, and Murder (2016) Sara Rosett

Death at an English Wedding (2017) Sara Rosett

No One Was Supposed To Die At This Wedding (2025) Catherine Mack

The Perfect Couple (2024) Netflix

The Last One at the Wedding (2024) Jason Rekulak

Other episodes you might like

What Would You Do: Something in the Water [https://cluedinmystery.com/what-would-you-do-something-in-the-water/] (released June 18, 2024)

Historical Mystery with Sara Rosett [https://cluedinmystery.com/historical-mystery-part-2/](released September 20, 2022)

What Would You Do: Please Join Us [https://cluedinmystery.com/what-would-you-do-please-join-us-by-catherine-mckenzie/] (released February 18, 2025)

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/weddings/

Weddings

In today's episode, Brook and Sarah take a virtual tour of mystery-themed bookshops.

Discussed and mentioned

Mysterious Bookshop: https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/

Chronicles of Crime: https://chronicles-of-crime-your-mystery-bookshop.square.site/

Dead Write Books: https://www.deadwrite.com/dw.html

Mystery Loves Company: https://www.mysterylovescompany.com/browse/book

Whodunit Books: https://whodunitbooks.ca/

Poisoned Pen Bookstore: https://store.poisonedpen.com [https://store.poisonedpen.com/]

Sleuth of Baker Street: https://sleuthofbakerstreet.ca/

Crime in Store: http://www.covent-garden.co.uk/SITES/crimeinstore/

Bodies in the Bookshop: https://bodiesinthebookshop.co.uk/

https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/mystery-bookstores

For more information

Instagram: @cluedinmystery [https://www.instagram.com/cluedinmystery/]
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: [https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/] https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/mystery-bookshop-tour/

Mystery Bookshop Tour

The Clued in Mystery podcast explores mystery and the different ways we enjoy the genre through books, TV, film, and podcasts.  Your hosts, authors Brook Peterson and Sarah M Stephen, love reading, watching, listening to, and talking about mysteries. Join us as we celebrate good mysteries everywhere.

Clued in Mystery Podcast