Out of Order Book Club

Mal Bernhardt
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The Out of Order Book Club podcast is aimed at avid readers and aspiring writers everywhere who are interested in books from all sorts of genres. Every fortnight, Mal takes you through a random book from a crime, fantasy or sci-fi series and asks whether this book in the series can be read out of order. Email: outoforderbookclub@outlook.com

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  1. Gladys Mitchell's Late, Late in the Evening (1976)

    EPISODE 1

    Gladys Mitchell's Late, Late in the Evening (1976)

    Mal begins Season 3 with a "forgotten" Golden Age crime writer - Gladys Mitchell and her novel 'Late Late in the Evening' part of her Mrs (later Dame) Bradley series. Mitchell is an author I've wanted to read for quite a while ever since I read about her existence in Christopher Fowler's 'Book of Forgotten Authors', a book every avid reader should acquaint themselves with. The creation of Mrs Bradley and the experimental nature of Mitchell's approach means she has some devoted followers but, in this episode, I'll ask whether this could be the reason why she is not as well-known. It isn't a new question to ask, as you'll be able to tell from a lot of the research and writers who have devoted time to looking into Mitchell's writing. In this episode, as well as asking whether this book can be understood out of order, we'll look at the themes of 'Late Late in the Evening', how it reads more like a twisted children's story than a crime novel, and how I feel I haven't really read a 'proper' Mrs Bradley novel...yet! Special thanks to Jason Half who has created 'The Stone House' website in honour of Glady Mitchell and Mrs Bradley in particular. It is a fascinating resource and well worth a visit to find out more about this author. I've put the link below. Quick reminder: The podcast will be publishing episodes fortnightly this season to give me time to do some creative writing, so I can put what I learn from these authors into action! Email: outoforderbookclub@outlook.com Content warning: Contains a little swearing. Plus, I call writer Ronald Knox 'Roland', so apologies for that! Useful links and Helpful Sources The Stone House (or gladysmitchell.com) - A brilliant website, and as I mention in the episode a great resource for my podcast. It certainly made researching and learning about Mitchell so much easier. Jason Half, who created the site, also includes reviews of all of the Bradley books as well as reviews of other Mitchell works. If you are even slightly Mitchell-curious after listening to this, I would recommend exploring the site. Shedunnit podcast - A great 20 minute podcast looking at Gladys Mitchell and what makes her a fascinating yet forgotten 'Golden Age' writer. Lee O'Brien's Gladys Mitchell's Mrs Bradley: Detection, Difference and The Rising of the Moon (1945) - 'The Rising of the Moon' (which I haven't read, I admit) seems to be similar to Late Late in the Evening, as it focuses on two children within the mystery. The research itself is a very interesting look at how Mitchell's style and her willingness to experiment made her an interesting if an 'unpopular' writer. Paul Peppis' Querying and Queering golden age detection: Gladys Mitchell's Speedy Death and popular modernism - Very interesting research about 'Speedy Death', Mitchell's first novel which seems to break a lot of the 'rules' set out by people like Knox while also playing with society's ideas of sexuality. Christopher Fowler's Blog - Fowler mentions Mitchell a lot in his blog. However, this link will take you to a specific page (rather than the home page) where Fowler lists 10 forgotten authors he thought people should know about. His summary of the charms of Mitchell (which is at the bottom) is memorable. The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler - Every home of every avid reader should have a copy of this! Support your forgotten authors!

    1 hr
  2. Steph Cha's Beware, Beware (2014)

    EPISODE 2

    Steph Cha's Beware, Beware (2014)

    In the second episode of season 3, Mal will be taking a look at 'Beware, Beware' by Steph Cha. This is the second book in the Juniper Song novel trilogy. This was an interesting one for me, since I'd never heard of Steph Cha or the Juniper Song series before. This isn't necessarily weird, there are plenty of novel series out in the world I'm unaware of, but the Juniper Song trilogy is a feminist 21st Century Korean American take on Raymond Chandler and noir(ish) 'private eye' novels. As a fan, but not an afficionado, of Chandler this definitely got my attention! In this episode we'll be taking a long look at Juniper Song and how, as an 'out of order' reader, her motivation and feelings may throw up more questions than answers. We'll take a look at how she might reflect standard feelings of despair, at least 'standard' in noir detective fiction. In addition, we'll ask whether this novel can standalone or should you start with the first novel in the trilogy in order to know what is going on? Content Warning: Mention, but no description, of rape and sexual assault. Email: outoforderbookclub@outlook.com Useful Links and Helpful sources Steph Cha's website: You can find all her novels here, plus the list of awards and nominations Cha received for her fourth novel 'Your House Will Pay'. Michael Caleb Tucker's article: This is called 'Despair and the Noir Character' and can be found in Clues - A Journal of Dectection (Volume 42/Number 1). It was published in 2024. I can't say I understood all of it, I'm no philosopher, but the links to Juniper Song as a 'private eye' were striking. The Writing Disorder Interview with Steph Cha: This interview is from 2013 when 'Follow Her Home', the first novel in the Juniper Song trilogy, was published. It is quite a wide ranging and light-hearted interview which takes in Cha's motivation for writing the novel and her background as well. The Outliers Writing University Interview with Steph Cha: This is a 20 minute interview where Cha talks about where she is now in her writing as she spent the last few years working on the TV series 'Butterfly' and her role as series editor of 'The Best American Mystery and Suspense'. This was the most recent interviews with Cha I listened to, so it was useful for finding out what she has been doing since her last novel which was published in 2019. The Wendy Kendall Interview with Steph Cha: This interiew is about 8 years old and Cha talks about her writing process and in more detail about her motivations about writing the Juniper Song series and updating Chandler. This is a source I dipped in and out of, I didn't know about this YouTube Channel and I'll definitely be revisiting it. The Young Lions Award Interview with Steph Cha: This interview happened in 2020 and is part of a series of interviews for the Young Lions Award. Cha talks in detail about her ideas and the process behind her 2019 novel, 'Your House Will Pay'. I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this because it was a flashback to 2020 and watching so many interviews conducted online! The LitHub Article by Steph Cha: In this article from 2021, Cha writes about the importance of crime fiction in the 21st century and how she sees her role, and the role of crime fiction, in 'The Best American Mystery and Suspense'. It is a fascinating read, as it makes a clear argument for the importance of crime fiction in addressing the world we live in.

    58 min
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The Out of Order Book Club podcast is aimed at avid readers and aspiring writers everywhere who are interested in books from all sorts of genres. Every fortnight, Mal takes you through a random book from a crime, fantasy or sci-fi series and asks whether this book in the series can be read out of order. Email: outoforderbookclub@outlook.com

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