Episodes
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We discuss the second part of Simogo's 2024 mystery-puzzle-box video game 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes'. The jig is up, and Lorelei Weiss finally has to be honest with herself about what happened in 1963. Our final puzzles see us answering the Quiz Club on all of the knowledge we've acquired so far, and delving right into the heart of the supercomputer at the core of it all.
We're also joined by Iain Ryan to talk about his second novel in his Queensland Quarter - 'The Dream'. As Fantasyland's construction stalls on the 1980s Gold Coast, the cauldron of political corruption surrounding the big money of The Strip gets the gears turning, lubricated with blood and blackmail.
Thank you to Ultimo Press for sending copies of 'The Dream' and helping arrange our time with Iain. -
We discuss the second part of Simogo's 2024 mystery-puzzle-box video game 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes'. As we delve deeper into the realm of Lorelei Weiss, we're challenged by anachronisms, a cast of characters that could be one person or many, and so, so many padlocks. What further mysteries does the mansion hold, and how can we untangle the fragmented maze buried within it?
We're again joined by Vanessa McCausland to talk about her newest novel 'The Last Illusion of Paige White'. The past bleeds into the future as we learn about the past of the town Jane and Paige once called home, as the women each live out their respective purgatories in the quest to understand themselves.
Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Last Illusion of Paige White, and for helping arrange our time with Vanessa. -
Missing episodes?
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We discuss the first part of Simogo's 2024 mystery-puzzle-box video game 'Lorelei and the Laser Eyes'. The hotel Letztes Jahr, or 'last year' is a monochrome mansion with a splash of red. A body has been found in the courtyard, after our character, whoever she might be, was summomned, whyever she might be, by the enigmatic Renzo Nero, film director. Or is that all? Combination locks and impossible chronology abound as we attempt to unravel the life of Lorelei Weiss... We think.
We're also joined by Vanessa McCausland to talk about her newest novel 'The Last Illusion of Paige White'. An influencer is found dead and as her former best friend tries to juggle her job as a journalist with the emotional trauma of the case, it turns out Paige White might not be the only one in purgatory.
Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Last Illusion of Paige White, and for helping arrange our time with Vanessa. -
A dive back into the recent past as we talk with Melbourne-based author Aoife Clifford about her latest novel, 'It Takes a Town'. Policewoman Carole, distressed mother Frankie, town drunk Mer(maid) and a gaggle of schoolchildren reminiscent of the Scooby Gang all team up to corner the killer of local town star Vanessa Walton, recently returned from a grand tour of fame and fortune, now found dead in the cottage of local MP Barton Langridge.
Thank you to Ultimo Press for providing copies of 'It Takes a Town' and helping to arrange our time with Aoife. -
We're joined by author and playwright Gabriel Bergmoser to talk about the print edition of his story 'The Hitchhiker', originally published as an audiobook. With the latest iteration in his 'Maggieverse', 'The Lodger' out on Audible, and a great interview from our friend Crag Sisterson up recently, we decided to revisit our earlier chat with Gabriel and share the full deep-dive (dubbed 'The Full Berg' by our editor). Diving into the layout of the Maggieverse, Gabriel's writing interests, the challenges of audio adaptation, and the role of spoilers, it really is 'The Full Berg'.
Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Hitchhiker, and helping arrange our time with Gabriel. -
We're joined by author Benjamin Stevenson to talk about his Christmas Special for Ernest Cunningham, 'Everyone this Christmas has a Secret'. Ernest receives a call from his ex-wife Erin - she's been arrested in the Blue Mountains, accused of her husband's murder. Lyle was days away from a big fundraiser event for his charity, only to turn up dead, the word 'Christmas' scrawled on the floor next to him in his own blood. The rest of his blood? All over Erin, asleep in bed. Ernest is invited backstage at the charity event to investigate the suspects the cops have ignored over the easy catch, but has he progressed enough as a detective to come in cold to a case after the fact?
Thank you to Penguin Australia for sending us copies of 'Everyone this Christmas has a Secret' and for their help in arranging the interview. -
We take another visit to the floor of BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2024, to talk all about the mysteries we love so much, and the network of authors that bring it together. It takes all sorts to write mystery of all sorts, and we look at where some of Australia's best authors have been moving their ideas. The Crime Fiction community has amazing festivals all over the world, and here at Death of the Reader we're lucky enough to have BAD in our own backyard. This week, we discuss the resurgence of classic mystery, the journalistic pursuits that inspire fiction, and the community at the heart of it all.
Thank you to BAD: Sydney for tickets to the event, and the many publishers, who whether or not they provided review copies (we didn't keep track, sorry), it is in their graces we can conduct these interviews.
Featured and referenced in this episode (by Panel):
Takes All Sorts Panel:
Sulari Gentill
Amanda Hampson
David Whish-Wilson (referenced)
Sue Turnbull (referenced)
All Crime is Local Panel:
Alan Carter
Natalie Conyer
Michael Duffy (referenced)
Michaela Kalowski
Friends or Enemies Panel:
Hayley Scrivenor
Nicola Moriarty
Candice Fox
Michael Brissenden
Community:
Michael Burge
Susannah Glenn
Mitch Jennings
Zahid Gamieldien
Lisa Kenway -
We take a visit to the floor of BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2024, to talk all about the big themes, and the way that crime fiction is tied up with the world of Justice. The Crime Fiction community has amazing festivals all over the world, and here at Death of the Reader we're lucky enough to have BAD in our own backyard. This week, the pressing issues that inspire our crime fiction. From accounts of under-resourced courts in the Australian Outback with Jamelle Wells, to fiction grappling with the horrors of a mind that can't trust itself with Susannah Glenn and Zahid Gamieldien.
Thank you to BAD: Sydney for tickets to the event, and the many publishers, who whether or not they provided review copies (we didn't keep track, sorry), it is in their graces we can conduct these interviews.
Featured and referenced in this episode (by Panel):
The Bush Justice Rodeo
Michael Burge, member of the BAD Board
Jamelle Wells
Kate Holden (referenced)
Dinuka McKenzie (referenced)
Justice and The Wisdom of the Elders
Aunty Barbara Nicholson
Veronica Gorrie (referenced)
Aunty Bronwyn Penrith (referenced)
Speaking Out with Larissa Behrendt (Full Panel)
Women in Peril and the Women Who Write Them
Lisa Kenway
Claudine Tinellis (Talking Aussie Books)
Susannah Glenn
Brooke Hardwick (referenced)
Danger, Danger Everywhere
Zahid Gamieldien
Bruce Nash
Mitch Jennings -
Flex talks with Australian Crime Fiction great Chris Hammer about his newest novel, 'The Valley'. Ivan and Nell are summoned, suspiciously early, to a homicide just outside the town of Saltwood, in a community called The Valley. Struggling after decades of failed schemes to restore wealth to the resource-rich town, Nell stumbles upon a personal link to the crime, and has to juggle her professional interest with the risks a personal case can pose to getting a conviction. Water politics is once again the canvas upon which Chris Hammer paints his thrills.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing copies of The Valley to Death of the Reader, and arranging our time with Chris. -
We discuss Memories of Murder, the 2003 Crime-Drama film by Bong Joon-Ho. In rural South Korea, a series of horrifying murders has paralysed and overwhelmed the local police, who are under-resourced and inexperienced in crimes of this scale. Fortunately, a cop from the big city is here to fix everything up and save the small-town cops from themselves. Or so you'd think. We're joined by our editor Cameron Furlong of 2SER's Inquiry as we discuss the film that put the 'Parasite' and 'Snowpiercer' director on the map.
We're also joined by author Riley James to talk about her debut crime fiction novel 'The Chilling', its links with classic arctic-horror fiction and the idea of escapism gone wrong. Thank you to Allen & Unwin for arranging our time with Riley at BAD: Sydney Crime Writers Festival, and the festival itself for providing us with media tickets. -
We discuss chapters 19-27 of Ngaio Marsh's Eighth Roderick Alleyn novel, 'Overture to Death'. The stage is set to catch a killer, and the domino that tipped all this monstrosity into place. So the ordeal began in the theatre, it will return. Roderick Alleyn and his squad of investigators must bring all the information together to decide on who is guilty, who is responsible, and if those two are even the same person.
We also talk with Gabriel Bergmoser about the print release of his latest audiobook; The Hitchhiker. Almost a theatre piece itself, one lone and unprepared man ventures happily into the outback, only for an unsettled teen to flag him down and join the ride.
Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of The Hitchhiker, and helping arrange our time with Gabriel. -
We discuss chapters 10-18 of Ngaio Marsh's Eighth Roderick Alleyn novel, 'Overture to Death'. Alleyn is now on the case, and unpicking the local drama of Pen Cuckoo. The murder weapon is determined to be a rigged-up pistol linked to the soft-pedal of the piano. More the domain of childish pranks than murder weapons, Alleyn hunts down clues that lead him to Georgie Biggins, a local boy who confesses to setting the trap, but with a water pistol. As the list of suspects presents themselves to Alleyn, can he prove who turned Biggins' prank deadly?
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We discuss chapters 1-9 of Ngaio Marsh's Eighth Roderick Alleyn novel, 'Overture to Death'. In Pen Cuckoo, the village's top families get together to discuss their latest community effort - a fundraising play to buy a new piano. All of the village drama comes to the fore as the inheritor of the largest estate seeks to marry, setting off dominos of interpersonal drama in the love lives of those involved. It all comes to a head when on opening night, the last-minute pianist for the concert's head erupts in blood as a gunshot fires from within the venue. How did this grizzly fate come to bear? Herds is tasked to find out.
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We discuss chapters 24-33 of Michael Te Arawa Bennett's 'Return to Blood', the second novel in the Hana Westerman series. As the pieces of the puzzle begin to slot into place, Hana once again is forced to wrangle with the personal cost of justice. Addison is deep in Kiri's social circle, coming to terms with how similar they may have been had Kiri's parents not been ripped away from her as a kid. The Gods of Auckland have no favours to lend in the dying hours of this case.
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We discuss chapters 12-23 of Michael Te Arawa Bennett's 'Return to Blood', the second novel in the Hana Westerman series. It would seem the killer has been revealed, but could it be so easy? Hana's investigation digs up clues as to the disappearance of Paige, 20 years ago, but can she link him to Kiri's recently found skeleton? And crucially, can she do it without committing crimes herself? Addison is drawn deeper into the world of Kiri Thomas, as a rift develops between her and definitely-not-lover Plus One.
We're also joined by Catherine du Peloux Menagé, the artistic director of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, to talk about some of this years' upcoming panels and themes.
Thank you to BAD Sydney and DMCPR for providing tickets to this year's festival to Death of the Reader. -
We discuss chapters 1-11 of Michael Te Arawa Bennett's 'Return to Blood', the second novel in the Hana Westerman series. Hana has retired from the Auckland police, but her place as a crime fiction protagonist means trouble is never far away. Her daughter stumbles upon a skeleton in the sand in her hometown on a weekend away, replicating a horrible murder that happened in Hana's youth. Was the wrong killer put away, or is a copycat on the loose? Hana's successor in the police is on the case, but can Hana herself stay on the right side of the law?
We're also joined by Margaret Hickey to talk about her latest novel, 'The Creeper'; a young cop is stationed in a small town ten years on from its darkest day. As the shadow looms again, will Sally White find the truth was buried deep enough?
Thank you to Penguin Australia for providing us copies of 'The Creeper' and helping us arrange our time with Margaret. -
We discuss various screen adaptations of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple story, 'A Caribbean Mystery'. As is often the case with Christie's less renowned stories, the writers of adaptations take creative license that either makes things better, or makes things "better". This time around, Flex brought us the ever-reliable BBC adaptation; Agatha Christie's Miss Marple starring Joan Hickson, and Herds brought the French reimagining, Les Petits Meurtres D'Agatha Christie. Where one absorbs the flaws of the novel and reimagines them to tell arguably a stronger story, the other takes absurdities and turns it comedic. What remake did you watch?
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We discuss chapters 18-25 of Agatha Christie's 10th Miss Marple Novel, A Caribbean Mystery. The resort is plunged into open chaos as a third murder takes place and it's up to the unlikely duo of Miss Marple and the deposed Mr Rafiel to solve everything at the last minute and set the record straight. Flex and Herds debate the implications of a medical murder mystery as Nemesis takes the stage...
We're also joined by Michael Brissenden again to discuss his recent novel release 'Smoke' and to talk about how murder mystery goes hand in hand with voicing the unvoiced. A lesson that Agatha Christie adapters have taken to heart... but more on that next week!
Thank you to Affirm Press for providing copies of Smoke, and arranging our time with Michael Brissenden. -
We discuss chapters 10-17 of Agatha Christie's 10th Miss Marple Novel, A Caribbean Mystery. A second murder has shaken up the holidaygoers in St Honoré. One of the hotel staff, Victoria, found dead by a bloodied Molly Kendal. Molly was seen roaming with the knife that did her in, but no alibi seems to quite line up. Has a killer struck twice, or is desperation turning more of us to monsters? It's up to Herds to find out...
We're also joined by Nicola Moriarty to talk about her latest novel 'Every Last Suspect', expanding our week of complex marriages to talk about the chaos that protagonist-of-sort Harriet Osman is left to reflect on in a pool of her own blood as she tries to leave a message to solve her own murder.
Thank you to Harper Collins for providing copies of Every Last Suspect, and arranging our time with Nicola. -
We discuss chapters 1-9 of Agatha Christie's 10th Miss Marple Novel, A Caribbean Mystery. Sent on her lonesome for a holiday she'd perhaps rather not have taken, Jane Marple is in St Honoré. After an abrupt conclusion to conversation with the usually verbose Major Palgrave, Miss Marple's perplexion turns to alarm when he is found dead the following morning. Who amidst the many scorned lovers on the island has the most to hide?
We're also joined by Michael Brissenden to talk about his newest novel; Smoke. Alex Markov is tangled amidst bushfires, corruption, and the local politics of the small town Big Jasper. You're challenged to peer through the haze of privilege and violence as she struggles to set things right.
Thank you to Affirm Press for providing copies of Smoke, and arranging our time with Michael Brissenden. - Show more
