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Classic Detective Stories

Classic Detective Stories

John Anthony Walker 70 Episodes Aug 11, 2026

Classic Detective Stories is a weekly podcast hosted by Tony Walker that explores the rich heritage of crime fiction, from the intricate puzzles of the Golden Age to the gritty streets of the hardboiled era. Each episode features timeless tales written by masters such as Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Edgar Allan Poe, and Dashiell Hammett. The series begins with Poe's groundbreaking “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and spans stories through the 1950s. Guest narrators and occasional appearances by Sherlock Holmes bring these classic whodunits to life, promising a twist that keeps listeners guessing until the very end.

Episodes

A Case of Identity by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)
A Case of Identity by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) Aug 11, 2026 3710 A woman comes to Baker Street with a hundred pounds a year, a typewriter, and a fiancé who has vanished into thin air as if he had never existed at all. Sherlock Holmes never leaves his chair but deduces its solution anyway. Somewhere in a plush sleeve, a torn glove, an ill-fitting boot, the truth is already sitting in plain sight — waiting only to be noticed by those who know how to think. "
Dancing Dan's Christmas by Damon Runyon
Dancing Dan's Christmas by Damon Runyon Dec 25, 2025 3266 On Christmas Eve during Prohibition, a burglar named Dancing Dan drinks hot Tom and Jerrys at Good Time Charley's speakeasy with the narrator and the proprietor. Dan has been courting Miss Muriel O'Neill, a nightclub worker, despite the dangerous attention of Heine Schmitz, a violent Harlem mobster who considers her his own. As the evening wears on and the liquor flows, Dan arrives with a suspicio
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle Dec 19, 2025 4121 A battered hat. A Christmas goose. A puzzle that begins in jest. On a winter evening in Baker Street, what starts as idle curiosity leads Sherlock Holmes into the heart of London's markets and back alleys, where something precious has gone astray and the wrong man may pay the price. The trail winds through shopkeepers and strangers, each holding one fragment of the truth. But detection is not me
Rear WIndow by Cornell Woolrich
Rear WIndow by Cornell Woolrich Dec 11, 2025 5841 Read by Brendan Sullivan A man, stuck inside with time on his hands, watches the small theatre of neighbouring lives through a single window. Patterns harden into questions; silences feel heavier than noise. An ordinary evening acquires edges: late footsteps, a restless light, a habit broken. Curiosity grows teeth. What do you really know about people you never meet—only study from across the bri
The Inoffensive Captain by E C Bentley
The Inoffensive Captain by E C Bentley Dec 3, 2025 4369 A dangerous prisoner has escaped from Dartmoor, and the police are certain he will return to where he stashed the stolen jewels whose whereabouts remain maddeningly obscure. When Inspector Muirhead comes to Philip Trent's rooms, he brings not evidence but an enigma: a letter whose phrasing seems deliberately cryptic, as though its author were speaking in code. First published in The Strand Magazi
The Mystery of the Child's Toy by Leslie Charteris
The Mystery of the Child's Toy by Leslie Charteris Nov 27, 2025 4034 wo men are out late for dinner in a swanky hotel: one is a detective, the other writes detective stories. They notice three Wall Street tycoons at a nearby table. Before the night ends, one of those men is found dead. The detective says it’s suicide. The detective story writer says it’s not. Publication: First published in 1934 in Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, Third Series
The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle Nov 5, 2025 3872 A young woman arrives at Baker Street with a story of barred shutters, a locked room, and a low whistle in the small hours. Holmes and Watson travel to a crumbling country house where money, menace, and family obedience coil tightly together. There is a dying warning that makes no sense, a bed fixed to the floor, and a bell-pull that rings nothing. Night falls; the air grows close; and in the hush
Death on the Air by Ngaio Marsh
Death on the Air by Ngaio Marsh Apr 12, 2025 5636 Was it accident, or murder? On a frosty Christmas morning, the household of Septimus Tonks awakens to a grim discovery: their patriarch lies lifeless beside his wireless set, seemingly electrocuted. Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn arrives to find more than just a tragic accident; he finds a family simmering with resentment, secrets festering beneath a veneer of festive cheer, and a tangled web of
The Red-Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Red-Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle Mar 29, 2025 4700 Can a hair colour be sinister, Holmes? A London pawnbroker, lured by the absurd Red-Headed League, unwittingly becomes a pawn in a far grander scheme. As Jabez Wilson carries out his bizarre task, Sherlock Holmes meticulously unravels a plot far more audacious than it seems. What is the motive behind this strange organisation? Join us as we investigate dark motives and cunning schemes in this clas
Abraham Lincoln's Clue by Ellery Queen
Abraham Lincoln's Clue by Ellery Queen Mar 22, 2025 3549 This story by two American cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, writing under the name Ellery Queen, is a classic of Golden Age American detective fiction, narrated for us by the accomplished Brendan Sullivan with his classic smooth voice! I hope you enjoy the story and enjoy Brendan's narration. Tony Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Cheating the Gallows by Israel Zwangill
Cheating the Gallows by Israel Zwangill Mar 15, 2025 3059 Two men share a room, yet live separate lives. One vanishes with a fortune, the other consoles the abandoned bride. But the evidence stacks up, a man is condemned, justice is served. Or is it? In the fog-shrouded streets of Victorian London, a shocking story begins to unfold. A scandal, a disappearance, a ghostly visitation... prepare to be drawn into a web of intrigue and deceit, where nothing is
Wrong Pigeon by Raymond Chandler
Wrong Pigeon by Raymond Chandler Mar 8, 2025 6034 How far does corruption reach? A single pencil, sharpened to a point, sends a shiver down Marlowe's spine. The message is clear: stay out. But for a man with a code, some lines can't be crossed. Dive into a world where cops and criminals dance a dangerous tango, and a good deed might get you killed. Tune in. ⭐ Join my Patreon ⭐ https://patreon.com/barcud Go here for a library of ad-free stories,

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