Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Summer 2025 TBR List
111 Plays16 hours ago
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
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/
Join the Clued in Cartel for as little as $12 USD/year: https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-cartel/
For a full episode transcript, visit https://cluedinmystery.com/summer-2025-reading-list/
Related episodes:
Poisons (released June 17, 2025)
Ngaio Marsh (released November 14, 2023)
Margery Allingham (released March 19, 2024)
Agatha Christie 1 (released February 22, 2022)
Mysteries in Unusual Formats (released January 30, 2024)
Recommended
![[re-release] Dorothy L. Sayers image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/61e1c276e3ec42007857cff9/0c9f0c0f-65b5-423a-a129-9414d2b8819e.jpg)
![[Re-release] Christie's Characters: Harley Quin image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/61e1c276e3ec42007857cff9/19b66ded-f629-44f5-8280-f8a4afd4697c.jpg)
![[Re-release] Magic and Mystery with Tom Mead image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/61e1c276e3ec42007857cff9/bf587b93-b2a8-41f6-af97-4772e2c0caa2.jpg)
Transcript
Season Finale and Summer Reading Plans
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke, and we both love mystery. hi Brooke. Hi, Sarah. I just can't believe that we are at the last episode of this season.
00:00:28
Speaker
I know we're about to embark on our summer break and talk about what we are hoping to read during our time off. ah So this is a tradition that we've had on the show that in the summer and before our winter breaks, we talk about what we're planning to read or watch.
00:00:47
Speaker
And then the first episode after our break, we revisit and share what our thoughts were about our lists. So I'm very much looking forward, Brooke, to hearing what you've got planned for the summer.
00:01:03
Speaker
Well, thank you. And I'm looking forward to hearing your list too. This is also a way for us to get different ideas from each other. But
Featured Book: 'The Poisonous Solicitor'
00:01:10
Speaker
the first one on my list is called The Poisonous Solicitor, The True Story of a 1920s Murder Mystery.
00:01:19
Speaker
This is by Stephen Bates, and it was published in 2022 and shortlisted for a Gold Dagger Award from the Crime Writers Association. We recently just did the Poisons episode where we're starting a new series of the methods for murder mysteries.
00:01:37
Speaker
And so this one felt appropriate. Here's the description. On a bleak Tuesday morning in February 1921, 48-year-old Catherine Armstrong died in her bedroom on the first floor of an imposing Edwardian villa.
00:01:53
Speaker
Within 15 months of such a sad domestic tragedy, her husband Herbert Armstrong would be arrested, tried, and hanged for poisoning her with arsenic, the only solicitor ever to be executed in England.
00:02:08
Speaker
Armstrong's story was retold in a thousand newspaper articles across the world and may have also inspired the new breed of popular detective writers seeking to create a cunning criminal at the center of their thrillers.
00:02:24
Speaker
Oh, that sounds really interesting, Brooke.
Spotlight on 'The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder'
00:02:28
Speaker
I, for my first ah book on my list, have something that ah you recommended, I believe, in our white collar crime episode that was earlier this season. And this is the Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller.
00:02:44
Speaker
And your description made it sound great. So I thought I would try and read it this summer. Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crocklefield, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances.
00:03:00
Speaker
She has spent the last 20 years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate, sent just days before his death, Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.
00:03:16
Speaker
Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carol, Freya follows clues and her instincts to an old manor house for an advertised antiques enthusiast's weekend. But not all is as it seems.
00:03:28
Speaker
It's clear to Freya that the antiques are all just poor reproductions, and her fellow guests are secretive and menacing. What is going on at this estate, and how is Arthur involved? More importantly, can Freya and Carol discover the truth before the killer strikes again?
00:03:44
Speaker
Oh, I'm glad you're going to be reading that, Sarah. I think you're going to really enjoy ah the storyline, but the characters as well. So I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
Exploring 'Listen for the Lie'
00:03:55
Speaker
Next on my list is Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintira. And this is a 2024 release. And Tintira is usually a YA fantasy or dystopian author. But um in this release, she's trying her hand at adult thrillers. so After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy's blood, everyone thinks she's a murderer.
00:04:21
Speaker
Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town, pretty smart and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and even bigger new home.
00:04:32
Speaker
Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all. And if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town, It's been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can't remember anything about, and she has since moved to l LA and started a new life.
00:04:49
Speaker
But now, the true crime hit podcast, Listen for the Lie, and its good-looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy's murder for the show's second season.
00:05:00
Speaker
Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed to never set foot again to solve her friend's murder, even if she's the one that did it. Oh, I read that last year, I think, Brooke. So I hope you enjoy it.
Sarah's Agatha Christie Picks
00:05:16
Speaker
So next on my list, I have, and it really will depend on what comes through at the library for my holds. And this is true, I think actually for most of my list.
00:05:29
Speaker
um But I have two books on hold from Agatha Christie. So I've either got Lord Edgware Dies, which was 1933 release Adversary, 1922 release or the secret adversary nineteen twenty twenty two release And The Secret Adversary is a Tommy and Tuppence book, which I haven't read any Tommy and Tuppence stories, so I actually hope that that's the one that comes in first.
00:05:52
Speaker
So I'll read the description of that. The Great War is over and jobs are scarce. Tommy Beresford and Prudence Tuppence Cowley, who were friends before the war, run into each other in London and discover they are both equally short of money and opportunities.
00:06:06
Speaker
On a whim, they decide to start a business, advertising themselves as the Young Adventurers. Their first job leads them into a series of increasingly dangerous situations involving international spies, a society beauty, a Russian count, the wreck of the Lusitania, an amnesia patient, an American millionaire, and a fiendishly clever arch criminal known only as Mr. Brown.
00:06:29
Speaker
By the time the dust settles, all the puzzle pieces have been fitted together, and the young couple have realized their feelings for each other and have become engaged. That's such a fun one, Sarah. I hope that comes in in time for you to read it.
Brooke's Choice: 'The Four Queens of Crime'
00:06:45
Speaker
Well, I did not put a Golden Age ah story on my list this time. However, this is a nod to that. This one is The Four Queens of Crime by Roseanne Limoncelli, and it just released this spring in 2025.
00:07:03
Speaker
1938, London. The four queens of British crime fiction, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Niall Marsh, and Marjorie Allingham, are hosting a gala to raise money for the Women's Voluntary Service to help Britain prepare for war.
00:07:18
Speaker
Baronet Sir Henry Heathcote has loaned Hirsley House for the event, and all the elites of London society are attending. The gala is a brilliant success, despite a few hiccups, but the next morning, Sir Henry is found dead in the library.
00:07:33
Speaker
Detective Chief Inspectors Lillian Wiles and Richard Davidson from Scotland Yard are quickly summoned and discover a cluster of potential suspects among the guests.
00:07:45
Speaker
Quietly recruiting the four queens of crime, DCI Wiles must sort through the aftermath of Sir Henry's death to solve the mystery and identify the killer. Brooke, this sounds amazing. I love the idea of these women working together to solve a mystery. i I love the trope of a famous person, famous real-life person, investigating mystery.
00:08:12
Speaker
I do too. i thought you would like the setup on this one and to have all four of them together. I'm looking forward to seeing how the author portrays their different personalities. And I think it's going to be ah a lot of fun.
Sarah Explores 'The Documents in the Case'
00:08:26
Speaker
So I actually have two Golden Age books on my list. The second is by Dorothy L. Sayers, and this is The Documents in the Case. And I wanted to read this because it is told in an unusual format, and we did an episode a long time ago that.
00:08:44
Speaker
that So this was published in 1930. The grotesquely grinning corpse in the Devonshire shack was a man who died horribly with a dish of mushrooms at his side.
00:08:55
Speaker
His body contained enough death-dealing muscarine to kill 30 people. Why would an expert on fungi feast on a large quantity of this particularly poisonous species? A clue to the brilliant murderer who had baffled the best minds in London was hidden in a series of letters and documents that no one seemed to care about except the dead man's son.
00:09:17
Speaker
Wow, you're going to hit two previous episodes, Sarah. You've got Unusual Format and Poisons. And probably a few other items in there, too.
00:09:29
Speaker
Well, and Dorothy L. Sayers, right? And Dorothy L. Sayers.
Joint Reading: 'Holmes is Missing'
00:09:34
Speaker
Well, I have one more pick, and this is something we haven't done before, and that is Sarah and i are both choosing one of the same books for our list. And the one we're going to be reading is a continuation of a series we started as a read-along, and it's Holmes is Missing by James Patterson and Brian Sitz, and this also just released in 2025.
00:09:59
Speaker
Success has come quickly to Holmes, Marple, and Poe investigations, the New York City agency led by three detectives, Brendan Holmes, the brain, Margaret Marple, the eyes, and August Poe, the muscle.
00:10:13
Speaker
With famous names and mysterious pasts, the firm is one major case away from cementing its professional reputation. But as a series of child abductions tests the PI's legendary skills, the cerebral home's absence leaves a gaping hole in the agency roster.
00:10:32
Speaker
Only by closing ranks and solving the mystery within can they recover all that's been lost. So I'm really excited to be both reading the same book this summer, and then we can talk about it when we're finished.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah, I think this will be really fun, Brooke, especially because we did do a read along for the first book, as you said. So I've got a couple of other books that I think I would like to read, but I don't know if they're going to come through in my library loan requests. So if they do come through, maybe I'll share them in our wrap up episode.
Brooke's Movie Pick: 'Holland'
00:11:08
Speaker
um But ah do you have anything else, Brooke, that you're planning to read or watch this summer? I do have one ah movie that I'm hoping to watch, and this is Holland with Nicole Kidman.
00:11:22
Speaker
ah It just recently released on Prime Video. In this wildly unpredictable thriller, Nicole Kidman is the meticulous Nancy Vandergroot, a teacher and homemaker whose picture-perfect life with her family in tulip-filled Holland, Michigan, tumbles into a twisted tale.
00:11:42
Speaker
Nancy and a friendly colleague become suspicious of a secret, only to discover nothing in their lives is what it seems. And, you know, there might be a certain reason why this premise interests me so much, but you'll have to stay clued in on updates from Sarah and me to find out exactly why.
00:12:03
Speaker
Well, that sounds like a great show, Brooke, and I look forward to hearing what you think. Brooke, it sounds like you have a great list and some wonderful mysteries in store. As do you, Sarah. I can't wait for our recap episode coming sooner than we probably think it will.
Wrapping Up and Listener Engagement
00:12:20
Speaker
And we hope, listeners, that you have a great list of mysteries that are in your queue for this summer. Let us know what's on your list. But for today and for this season, thank you for joining us on Clued in Mystery.
00:12:35
Speaker
I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery. Clued in Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers.
00:12:46
Speaker
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.
00:13:01
Speaker
We're on social media at Clued in Mystery.