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Winter 2023 TBR
169 Plays1 year ago
It's the final new episode of 2023 and Brook and Sarah cap off a great year with what they're planning to read over the winter break, which we will re-cap in early January. Until then, Clued in Mystery will re-release favorite episodes for listeners to catch up on.
Discussed
4:50 to Paddington (1957) Agatha Christie
In Cold Blood (1966) Truman Capote
The Appeal
The Twyford Code (2022) Janice Hallett
The Appeal (2021) Janice Hallett
Brook's list
The Last Devil to Die (2023) Richard Osman
Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee (2019) Casey Cep
The Christmas Appeal (2023) Janice Hallett
Mother Daughter Murder Night (2023) Nina Simon (Sarah's recommendation for Brook)
Sarah's list
The Christmas Card Crime (2018) Martin Edwards (Ed.)
Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie
Opium and Absinthe: A Novel (2020) Lydia Kang
Long Time Coming (2010) Robert Goddard (Brook's recommendation for Sarah)
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Transcript
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Transcript
Winter Break Excitement
00:00:12
Speaker
Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke. And we both love mystery. Hi Brooke. Hi Sarah. Are you ready for our upcoming winter break? I am. I always look forward to having a few weeks off to kind of reflect and catch up on some reading. What about you?
00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah. And of course during this time of year, there are so many things to do with friends and family. So it'll be a good time to just kind of take a breather, but I agree. Get some reading done.
00:00:47
Speaker
So let's talk about some of the things that we're planning to read. Excellent. I'll go first.
Book Choices for Winter
00:00:53
Speaker
My first pick is a continuing the series choice. And I don't think anyone will be surprised that I have the next Richard Osman book on my list, the last devil to die. And this is his brand new one that came out this fall of 2023.
00:01:09
Speaker
and the description goes like this. Shocking news reaches them. An old friend has been killed and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing. The gang search leads them into the antiquities business where the tricks of the trade are as old as the objects themselves.
00:01:26
Speaker
As they encounter drug dealers, art forgers, and online fraudsters, as well as heartache close to home, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Abraham have no idea whom to trust. With the body count rising, the clock ticking down, and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out.
00:01:45
Speaker
Oh, well, I think you're in for a treat, Brooke. I know you've read the other books in this series and, um, yeah, I think you'll, uh, I hope you really enjoy it. I think I will. I've heard, uh, and seen comments that people feel like this might be the best one yet. So that makes me really excited.
00:02:06
Speaker
Well, my first pick is a collection of short stories that are also holiday themed. I thought, you know, it would be a good idea to read something that was, uh, festive. So this is the Christmas card crime. It was published in 2018 with Martin Edwards, uh, as the editor.
00:02:25
Speaker
A Christmas party is punctuated by a gunshot under a policeman's watchful eye. A jewel heist is planned amidst the glitz and glamour of Oxford Street's Christmas shopping. Lost in a snowstorm, a man finds a motive for murder.
00:02:38
Speaker
Collection of Mysteries explores the darker side of the festive season, from unexplained disturbances in the fresh snow to the darkness that lurks beneath the sparkling decorations. With neglected stories by John Bood and E.C.R. Lorak, as well as tales by little-known writers of crime fiction, Martin Edwards blends the cozy atmosphere of the fireside story with a chill to match the temperature outside. This is a gripping seasonal collection sure to delight mystery fans.
00:03:05
Speaker
Oh, so much fun. I can envision you Sarah with your hot cup of cocoa and a, and a blankie. And as we've said before, short stories are so nice because you know, you can parcel them out and have an extend them and just read them when you have time. So I love that idea.
Exploring Agatha Christie
00:03:23
Speaker
My next choice is my Christie read of the TBR list. As you guys know, I'm working my way through the canon and I had so much fun reading a Ms. Marple last time that I'm going to do that again this time. And I went to the first one of the series, Murder at the Vicarage. And I also wanted to mention, I'm not sure if I've done this before, but the Agatha Christie website has a really
00:03:50
Speaker
great resource to track your reading of all the, all the Christi canon. So we'll link to that. So if you'd like to print that out and be able to keep track of your reading as I am, you can do that. But in Murder at the Vicarage, we have Colonel Prothero, local magistrate and overbearing landowner is the most detested man in the village.
00:04:12
Speaker
Everyone wishes he were dead, and very soon he is shot in the head in the vicar's own study. Faced with a surplus of suspects, only the inscrutable Miss Marple can unravel the tangled web of clues that will lead to the unmasking of a killer. Well, Brooke, I don't think we've ever had this happen before, but I also had this on my list. Oh, how fun!
00:04:40
Speaker
We'll be reading the same book. Yes, and for a lot of the same reasons as you. So I know you read 450 to Paddington over the summer and you enjoyed that so much that I thought, well, I should read a Miss Marple and why don't I start at the very beginning. So Murder at the Vicarage was also on my list. So it'll be fun for us to compare notes after we finish.
00:05:05
Speaker
That'll be so much fun, and I can't wait to see how she introduces Ms. Marple, so we'll have to definitely talk about that. So I guess I'll go next, since we just revealed Sarah's pic.
True Crime and Historical Mysteries
00:05:18
Speaker
So this one is a nonfiction. It's called Furious Hours, Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Kasey Kep, and it's a 2019 true crime.
00:05:31
Speaker
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the Reverend.
00:05:57
Speaker
Sitting in the audience during the vigilantes trial was Harper Lee, who had traveled from New York City to her native Alabama with the idea of writing her own version of In Cold Blood, the true crime classic she had helped her friend Truman Capote research 17 years earlier.
00:06:14
Speaker
Lee spent a year in town reporting and many more years working on her own version of the case. Now, Casey Kepp brings the story to life from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South. At the same time, she offers a deeply moving portrait of one of the country's most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success, and the mystery of artistic creativity. Well, that sounds so interesting, Brooke.
00:06:44
Speaker
Mmhmm.
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's going to be fascinating. I mean, rather dark, let's face it, that's kind of the hallmark of true crime, unfortunately. But I'm really interested in this kind of a different look at Harper Lee. And she's been somebody that's always fascinating to me since she published basically one book that is, you know, phenomenal and then like what happened to her. So I love to see what other things she was working on and what she was thinking about. So I'm looking forward to it.
00:07:16
Speaker
So I have a historical mystery on my list, and that is Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang. So New York City, 1899. Tilly Pembroke's sister lies dead, her body drained of blood, and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tilly's imagination leaps to the impossible. The murderer is a vampire. But it can't be, can it?
00:07:44
Speaker
A ravenous reader and researcher, Tilly has something of an addiction to truth, and she won't rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister's death. Unfortunately, Tilly is addicted to more than just truth. To ease the pain from a recent injury, she's taking more and more laudanum, and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied.
00:08:01
Speaker
Tilly can't bring herself to believe vampires exist, but with the hysteria surrounding her sister's death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it's becoming increasingly difficult for a girl who relies on facts and figures to know what's real or whether she can trust those closest to her.
00:08:20
Speaker
That sounds really good, Sarah. Yeah, all those Victorian tropes woven in there, that's going to be a really good read, I think. Well, and I think it'll be really interesting because the author is also a physician. And so it'll be interesting to see, you know, she's got some firsthand knowledge with bodies and so see if it's a little more graphic than some of the books I typically read.
Unique Murder Mysteries
00:08:46
Speaker
True. Well, my last pick for myself, hand to hand, is The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett. And after the dark true crime one that I mentioned, I definitely wanted something festive. So
00:09:03
Speaker
The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood and the fairway players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, Goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater
00:09:19
Speaker
enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes. Of course, there's also the matter of the dead body on stage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list?
00:09:36
Speaker
Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pour over police transcripts to identify both the victim and the killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production for good. I think you're going to enjoy that. I haven't read it, but I've read Janice Hallett's other books, The Appeal and the Toyford Code. So I hope you really enjoy this.
00:10:04
Speaker
Well, that was my, actually my first inclination was that it was going to read the appeal. And then when I went to look online, I realized that she had a Christmas story. I thought, okay, for this time of year, that's where I'll start with, uh, with some hallet. Um, so I don't know if you've, um, how much you've looked into it, but the format of the book is very different from, um, uh, from most books that you read. Okay.
00:10:35
Speaker
So I'm looking forward to talking about that. I might see if I can track that down and read it myself too. This happens to us. We hear the other ones. We're like, Oh, I'm going to try to read that. I'm going to read that. Um, cause yeah, I did see that she had another book out, but, um, I already had a Christmas collection on my list. So I mean, it doesn't, it doesn't stop me from reading another, uh, another Christmas book. Um,
Mystery Recommendations
00:11:02
Speaker
So I have a book on my list for you, Brooke. I thought it would be really nice as part of the season of giving to make a suggestion for a book that I thought you would enjoy. Thank you, Sarah. This is the Mother-Daughter Murder Night, which was released earlier this year and written by Nina Simon.
00:11:24
Speaker
High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of, her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the LA real estate empire she's built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage and hoping that boredom won't kill her before the cancer does. Then Jack, tiny and stature but fiercely independent,
00:11:51
Speaker
happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She'll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power. With Jack and Beth's help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers.
00:12:20
Speaker
But as their amateur snooping advances into ever more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they've always resisted, depend on each other. Well, you know me really well because that sounds great. I can't wait to dive into that one. Well, I read it earlier this year and I immediately thought of you. Oh, good. Yeah, I'm excited.
00:12:47
Speaker
Well, I too have a book for you this year, Sarah. And Robert Goddard is an author I found in my little rural library as a teenager. So he started writing a long time ago. But I just really love his quiet literary mysteries. And it was kind of difficult to choose. But I'm going to go with his Edgar Award winner, Long Time Coming. And this was published in 2010.
00:13:14
Speaker
In Antwerp in 1939, a Jewish diamond trader flees Nazi Europe, leaving his priceless collection of Picasso paintings and diamonds with a friend who takes them to London. The boat he flees on sinks, leaving no survivors. Fast forward to 1976, when his penniless family tries to track down the missing paintings. A classic thriller with Goddard's trademark plot twists.
00:13:42
Speaker
Hmm. So Brooke, is it a dual timeline? Some of the stories set in the 1930s and some in the 1970s? I'm trying to think this particular title. Goddard often has these things that happened in the past and then the contemporary, usually amateur sleuth, trying to put all the pieces together. And many times the part of the past comes in either like letters or diaries.
00:14:11
Speaker
but not so much, you know, actual dual point of view. And for this particular one, I can't recall how he does this, but he loves to weave the past with the present.
00:14:23
Speaker
Which is part of why I thought you would really enjoy this. I think I definitely will. So I'm looking forward to it. I've never heard of Robert Goddard. So I think this will be great. Thank you so much. You're welcome.
Holiday Break and Future Plans
00:14:37
Speaker
Well, Brooke, I think we've got lots of reading to do and lots of goodies to taste, I hope, over the next few weeks.
00:14:46
Speaker
We will be taking a break from recording new episodes, but we will re-release some of our older episodes and listeners can have a chance to catch up. Yes, and when we come back, we'll do a recap of our reading lists and let you all know what we thought of the titles that we chose and that we chose for each other, and it'll be a lot of fun.
00:15:06
Speaker
So happy holidays, Sarah. Same to you, Brooke. And happy holidays to all of you. Thank you for being listeners to Clued in Mystery. I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery.
00:15:20
Speaker
Clued In Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers. If you liked what you heard, please consider telling a friend, leaving a review, or subscribing with your favorite podcast listening app. Visit our website at cluedinmystery.com to sign up for our newsletter, The Clued In Chronicle, or to join our paid membership, The Clued In Cartel. We're on social media at Clued In Mystery.