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Classic Detective Stories: Daily Summaries Delivered
by John Anthony Walker
Step into the shadows with Tony Walker in the captivating podcast, "Classic Detective Stories." From the intricate puzzles of the Golden Age to the gritty streets of the Hardboiled era, this podcast traverses the thrilling landscape of crime fiction. Each week, delve into timeless tales penned by masters like Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Edgar Allan Poe, and Dashiell Hammett.Starting from Edgar Allan Poe’s groundbreaking "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the series spans decades up to the 1950s, exploring the rich heritage of detective literature. Alongside a host of guest narrators, and occasional visits from the legendary Sherlock Holmes himself, "Classic Detective Stories" revives the intrigue and suspense of classic whodunits.Tune in for a weekly dose of mystery, where each story promises a twist that will keep you guessing until the very end.
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- 1 weeks ago1h 5m
The Great Valdez Sapphire by Ellen Mary Clerke
Not by Mary Agnes Clerke but her sister Ellen Mary Clerke... A country‑house dinner, a proud gem‑collector, and a bishop who turns suddenly pale at the sight of a certain blue stone. The menu is flawless, the conversation carefully civilised, yet something crooked sits at the table: a sapphire whose history is supposed to be locked away in an ecclesiastical strong‑room, not winking at the candles from the throat of a woman with altogether too much laughter and altogether too much past. As the evening lengthens, old scandals, forged loyalties, and the uneasy difference between knowing and merely believing begin to press in on the assembled guests, until the question of what is genuine—stone, story, or reputation—refuses to stay politely buried. The Great Valdez Sapphire, written by the Irish author, poet, and scholar Ellen Mary Clerke (1840–1906), first appeared in the April 1892 issue of the British monthly periodical The Argosy (Vol. 53, No. 317). It achieved a long afterlife in early twentieth‑century crime and mystery collections, including Julian Hawthorne’s multivolume The Lock and Key Library (1909) and Joseph Lewis French’s Masterpieces of Mystery (1920), and was often misattributed as “Anonymous” due to its frequent reprinting without a clear byline. Ellen Mary Clerke was a Skibereen born journalist, translator, and popular science writer who worked in several European languages and published on subjects ranging from Italian poetry to astronomy and world geography. Best known in her lifetime for essays and leaders in The Tablet and the Dublin Review, she also produced poetry, fiction, and informed, quietly incisive work on the cultural and scientific concerns of her age.v Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 3 weeks ago26 min
The Story of the Czarina's Diamonds by Richard Harding Davis
Following on from The Story of the Naval Attaché last week, we move onto part 2 of Richard Harding Davis's novella: In The Fog, in which a Queen's Messenger has an encounter with the seductive, charming, ruthless, femme fatale, Russian spy Princess Zichy. It takes place not in the fog, but in an overnight train from Paris to the French Riviera. Oozing period charm, it reminded me a bit of The Lady Vanishes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Oct 6, 20261h 15m
The Story of the Naval Attache by Richard Harding Davis
On a winter night when London has quite forgotten the idea of light, an American naval attaché loses his way in the yellow murk near Knightsbridge. The streets are gone, the landmarks drowned; only an occasional scrap of gaslight or distant music proves the city is still there at all. Groping along an iron railing, he finds an open gate, a half‑closed door, and a silent, richly furnished house that should not be open to the fog or to him. Someone has just left in haste. Someone else, he soon discovers, has not left at all. In that strange, luxurious quiet, the fog outside begins to feel less dangerous than whatever is waiting in the rooms within. In the Fog first appeared in 1901, serialised in The Windsor Magazine, and was later collected by Charles Scribner’s Sons. It is now in the public domain and widely available, including in the Library of Congress Crime Classics edition. Richard Harding Davis (1864–1916) was an American war correspondent, journalist, and bestselling author of adventure and mystery tales. His work helped define the image of the dashing foreign correspondent and shaped popular fiction on both sides of the Atlantic at the turn of the twentieth century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 29, 20261h 19m
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches by Arthur Conan Doyle
Miss Violet Hunter has been offered a post as governess at a salary so far above the ordinary. The conditions attached are small, and each on its own might be put down to an employer's eccentricity. She goes a handsome house in the Hampshire countryside, where the beech trees burn copper in the evening light. But, as you might imagine, things are not what they seem. "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" first appeared in The Strand Magazine in June 1892, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. It was collected later that year as the twelfth and final story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) trained as a doctor in Edinburgh before turning to writing, and created Sherlock Holmes in 1887. He wrote fifty-six short stories and four novels about the detective, alongside historical fiction, science fiction and tales of the supernatural. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 22, 20261h 10m
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet by Arthur Conan Doyle
On a bitter winter morning in London, a respected banker arrives at Baker Street half‑mad with terror. In his keeping was one of the most precious ornaments of the British Empire; now it lies twisted and mutilated, and every sign points to betrayal within his own house. Snow has fallen, secrets have stirred, and somewhere between a locked bureau and a silent suburban garden, honour, love, and ruin have become entangled. Holmes listens, then walks out into the cold to read what the night has written on the world. First published in The Strand Magazine in May 1892, “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet” later appeared as the eleventh tale in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It sits among the early Strand stories that fixed Holmes and Watson in the public imagination. Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician and writer who created Sherlock Holmes while practising medicine in Southsea. His work ranges from detective fiction and historical romance to science fiction and spiritualist writings. Buy the print version of my Sherlock Holmes story here https://payhip.com/b/6fMUh In collection Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 15, 20261h 5m
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor (Sherlock Holmes) by Arthur Conan Doyle
A bride vanishes from her own wedding breakfast. Her clothes are found floating in the Serpentine. A jealous woman is taken away by the police. Every sign points toward something dark, something final — and yet Sherlock Holmes, reading the morning papers over his breakfast in Baker Street, has already seen something that no one else has thought to look for. Not all disappearances are what they seem. Not all mysteries contain a crime. A bride vanishes from her own wedding breakfast. Her clothes are found floating in the Serpentine. A jealous woman is taken away by the police. Every sign points toward something dark, something final — and yet Sherlock Holmes, reading the morning papers over his breakfast in Baker Street, has already seen something that no one else has thought to look for. Not all disappearances are what they seem. Not all mysteries contain a crime. "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" was first published in The Strand Magazine in April 1892, and later that year collected as the tenth story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published in London by George Newnes. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. A physician by training, he created Sherlock Holmes in 1887 and went on to become one of the most widely read authors in the world. He died in 1930."The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" was first published in The Strand Magazine in April 1892, and later that year collected as the tenth story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published in London by George Newnes. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859. A physician by training, he created Sherlock Holmes in 1887 and went on to become one of the most widely read authors in the world. He died in 1930. Buy my Sherlock Holmes Puzzle Story: The Case of the Cumberland Kidnapping here https://payhip.com/b/6fMUhv v Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 10, 20261h 10m
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb by Arthur Conan Doyle
A young hydraulic engineer is offered an unusually generous fee for a small, secret piece of work. The commission requires absolute discretion; the journey must be made at night; and the house to which he is taken seems designed to vanish from memory. What begins as an odd professional errand becomes a winter journey into locked rooms, guarded silences, strange machinery, and a danger too close to name. In “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb,” Arthur Conan Doyle allows Sherlock Holmes to stand at the edge of a tale whose real centre is one man’s account of an encounter he will carry in his body for the rest of his life. First published in *The Strand Magazine* in March 1892, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. Collected later in 1892 in *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes*, published by George Newnes. Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician, novelist, and creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. Though best known for Holmes, he also wrote historical fiction, adventure tales, science fiction, spiritualist works, and supernatural stories. Buy my Sherlock Holmes Story: The Case of the Cumberland Kidnapping here https://payhip.com/b/edCsa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Sep 1, 20261h 21m
The Man With The Twisted Lip (Sherlock Holmes) by A. Conan Doyle
In a reeking opium den on the riverside, Dr Watson is looking for a lost soul when he stumbles on something stranger than any drugged vision: an old man who isn’t what he seems, and a disappearance that may not be a crime at all. Clothes without a body, blood on a windowsill, a woman who insists her husband is alive when everyone else is certain he is dead. First published in The Strand Magazine in December 1891. Collected as the sixth story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician and writer. He created Sherlock Holmes, the world’s best‑known consulting detective, and wrote widely in historical, adventure, and speculative fiction. 📚 Buy my paperbacks here: https://books.by/tony-walker-books 🎙️ Buy my ebooks and audiobooks here: payhip.com/TheClassicGhostStoriesPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About Classic Detective Stories
Step into the shadows with Tony Walker in the captivating podcast, "Classic Detective Stories." From the intricate puzzles of the Golden Age to the gritty streets of the Hardboiled era, this podcast traverses the thrilling landscape of crime fiction. Each week, delve into timeless tales penned by masters like Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Edgar Allan Poe, and Dashiell Hammett.Starting from Edgar Allan Poe’s groundbreaking "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the series spans decades up to the 1950s, exploring the rich heritage of detective literature. Alongside a host of guest narrators, and occasional visits from the legendary Sherlock Holmes himself, "Classic Detective Stories" revives the intrigue and suspense of classic whodunits.Tune in for a weekly dose of mystery, where each story promises a twist that will keep you guessing until the very end.
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