You may remember that I recently reviewed Murder on the Way! (1935) by Theodore Roscoe — but what you won’t know until now is that I was rereading it in part because I’d been invited onto Death of the Reader to talk about it.
For the unaware, Death of the Reader is an Australian crime fiction podcast from two guys called Flex and Herds, and built around an idea so superb that I’m jealous I didn’t think of it first: every few weeks, one of them reads a book in its entirety, and the other reads only the first few chapters. They then discuss the events therein, with the partial reader putting forward predictions for the latter stages while the fully-informed reader either attempts to red herring them away from the correct answers or just generally throws whatever they can in the spokes of the predictor’s conclusions.
The following week, the same is done over the approximate middle third of the book, at which point the predictor (I don’t want to say “guesser” because these guys are very good at this, and there’s no way it’s down to mere luck) puts forward their thoughts on how the book will play out, and then the third week sees the concluding chapters discussed and points attributed for accuracy on the part of the predictor’s…predictions.
So, for the next three Sundays, I will be the fully informed reader as both Flex and Herds try to make sense of the cock-a-hoop insanity of Roscoe’s design. For this opening week we discuss chapters 1 to 5, and so it’s obviously best enjoyed if you’ve read the book already — full spoilers, no other warnings will be given. You can find it on Apple podcasts, on Spotify, and at various other places via the link above, or watch the YouTube version below (or, hey, on YouTube):
And, as an added incentive, this first episode includes an interview with Anthony Horowitz — who I’ve never even had the courage to approach for a podcast, meaning that Flex and Herds have effortlessly bested me on two fronts. Dammit.
Next week: Chapters 6 to 9…
The Invisible Event 
Give them,madman’s room,he who whisper or any Carr .
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I think they plan to do this for a while yet, so there’s plenty of time to get into the classics. Plus, there are doubtless other people better qualified to talk about those…!
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We definitely intend on getting to Carr – it’s just a matter of finding the right place in our Murder Mystery World Tour, which is to say find a chain of people his writing influenced we can feature with it!
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Thanks for bringing this podcast to my attention. Great idea – seems I have a lot of interesting listening ahead of me!
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They’re a lot of fun, not least because of how enthused Flex and Herds get — reminds me of when I was young and had energy like that…!
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You were plenty energetic when we put you on the spot, JJ, youth might still have a hold on you yet!
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I think that was mainly delirium, on account of how early in the morning it was…
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What a wonderful idea!
Looking forward to listen to the podcast.
Thanks for sharing
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Hope you enjoy it, Eve š
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They are, indeed, very good at sussing out solutions. Whoever was trying to solve The Honjin Murders and The Decagon House Murders sussed onto the basic solution the first week! Compare that to how their buddy Sean botched And Then There Were None!
I have decided to play along and FINALLY read the Roscoe. I’m playing this fairly and so far I think I’m doing okay. One of the boys even agrees with me, so I’m heartened.
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Oh, that Decagon House Murders semi-deduction absolutely floored me, and I told them as much when we recorded.
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Figuring out The Decagon House Murders live on air in my head while I was in the middle of presenting an incorrect solution was one of the most exhilarating mystery solves and hardest hosting moments I’ve ever had, I doubt I’ll ever forget it.
Also, Poor Sean, we really did him dirty with that one, I have so many clips of us just dangling the carrot in front of him.
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