Death of the Reader 2SER 107.3FM

We discuss Bruce Hamilton's 'Too Much of Water', chapters 5-8. The deaths keep adding up - a child drowned by the pool, and a man found drowned in a bath. Only two suspects have alibis that make them possible suspects, but neither seems a likely culprit, so which way does the finger of blame point? Our unlikely detective Edgar is stuck on a boat with a serial killer, a friend under suspicion, and no clue as to when the killing spree might end. I suppose we might as well plan a concert to keep everyone calm.
We're also joined by Martin Edwards, chair of The Detection Club, crime fiction historian, and author, to talk about how Bruce Hamilton is one of the genre's 'nearly men', and the missing link he provides between the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, and the era he wrote in.

We discuss Bruce Hamilton's 'Too Much of Water', chapters 1-4. Flex is back, and it's time to dive into a water-based mystery aboard the Goyaz. Edgar Cantrell is bound for Barbados, and all manner of high society find themselves aboard the boat together. Singers, cricketers, barristers, and of course military-man Major Major. One too many bumps on a stormy night signals the pre-emptive departure of boat-enthusiast Mr. Rottentosser. Soon, the crew summons our unlikely hero Edgar to play detective to figure out how such an able seaman went overboard, and what other dooms may befall this voyage.
We're also joined by Fantasy Author Samantha Shannon, to talk about religion, character motivations, and how her deep political intrigue in the 'Roots of Chaos' series represents its own game of whydunnit. Samantha is in town for the Sydney Writers Festival, and you can find the details of her talks here.

The finale of Who Shot JR at last. One of the most viewed episodes of American tv in history and the series that inspired Who Shot Mr Burns, Dallas spends most of their reveal episode recapping the last four epiusodes for those of us that weren't paying attention! Sue Ellen finally takes centre stage as our true detective when she is thrown in jail and bailed out overnight by a mysterious benefactor. The rest of the Ewing family is all but ready to throw Sue under the bus, but she's finally ready to show everyone what she's made of through the power of hypnosis. Herds is going to do his best to steal as many of Cam's points as he can, but will that stop our challenger from figuring out this whodunnit? And does the whydunnit even matter? Certainly not the howdunnit.

It's all a bit of a mess but that's Dallas, baby!

Herds and Cam are back at it again, by popular demand, with the middle section of Dallas' 'Who Shot JR?' in which honestly, not much very important happens. The elusive 3rd Ewing brother Greg visits from his own spinoff show, JR struggles to run the Ewing oil company from his hospital bed, and Bobby is essentially forced to stay on the show when his father puts him in charge of everything (at least in theory). Cam may have lost one of his solving points after a blunder in the first episode, but that's not going to stop him from trying to outwit Herds and solve this 45 year old mystery.

And can we all agree that the Dallas theme slaps?

Herds and Cam discuss the season finale of Dallas' third season, 'A House Divided', and take a crack at solving the America-wide sensation 'Who Shot JR'? After JR, eldest son of the wealthy Ewing estate executes one too many backdoor oil schemes he is shot twice in the abdomen and left for dead. The episode explores the motivations of the many people who would have reasons to shoot him, whether for financial or personal reasons. From Marilee Stone, whose husband takes his own life in grief, to Alan Beam, attorney at law investigating JR with the help of Kristin Shepard, JR's old flame and sister of his wife Sue Ellen, a woman who according to every trick in film school definitely committed the shooting. All of these and more rear their heads and declare bloody revenge in the charming villain JR.

The boys attempt to sort out this magnanimous soap opera's cast of characters, but will they crumble under the weight of these great expectations? Will Herds execute his own JR-style scheme to steal all of the points he can fit into a burlap sack? Only time (and these episodes) will tell...

We discuss chapters 25-36 of Aoife Clifford's brand new collective-detective murder mystery, 'It Takes A Town'. Herds and Cam come to the end of all things, 'Jaz 'the visual' Langridge is kidnapped (for real) this time, incompetent cop Billy and town drunk Mer work together to navigate a sudden and dangerous showdown. The friendship of Mer and Frankie is put to the ultimate test and the final culprit is revealed in a classic confrontation between them and real detective of this collaborative investigation tale. Cam maligns his past self as Herds really puts the screws to him, put maybe Cam will have the chance for redemption just round the bend?
Thank you to Ultimo Press for providing Death of the Reader copies of 'It Takes a Town.'