Golden Age Crime
Talking Books
The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.
Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.
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Detective stories from the Strand magazine. 1991. Read by Michael McStay, 14 hours 2 minutes. TB 9230.
25 stories of mystery and detection first published in the Strand magazine. Authors include: Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, Sapper, Edgar Wallace, Aldous Huxley, Conan Doyle and E.C. Bentley. TB 9230.
Aird, Catherine
The religious body. 1966. Read by Martin Muncaster, 6 hours 15 minutes. TB 29.
Inspector C D Sloan, book 1. When murder comes to a convent in a country village, Inspector Sloan finds the case beset with insurmountable problems. TB 29.
Aird, Catherine
Henrietta who? 1968. Read by Peter Barker, 6 hours 15 minutes. TB 580.
Inspector C D Sloan, book 2. Sequel to: The Religious Body, TB 29. Henrietta Jenkins is called home from university a few months before her twenty-first birthday when her mother is found dead in a lonely country road. The post mortem reveals that, apart from having been run over twice, Mrs Jenkins had never given birth to a child. So - who was Henrietta, where is her birth certificate and why does the murderer strike again? TB 580.
Aird, Catherine
Some die eloquent. 1979. Read by David Sinclair, 6 hours 45 minutes. TB 3679.
Inspector C D Sloan, book 8. Sequel to: Parting Breath. Miss Wansdyke, retired chemistry teacher, lived quietly and modestly. But her death was sudden, and she had recently acquired a great deal of money. All these things and the strange reactions of the beneficiaries under the will concern Inspector Sloan. TB 3679.
Allen, Michael
Spence in Petal Park. 1977. Read by David Strong, 6 hours 15 minutes. TB 3303.
Superintendent Spencer investigates the murder of a playboy. TB 3303.
Allingham, Margery
The Allingham case book. 1995. Read by Sion Probert, 8 hours 24 minutes. TB 11103.
This book records eighteen crimes - from the seedy and sinister to the fashionable and frivolous. Within its pages are more of the exploits of the famous detective Albert Campion, and his friends the policemen Charlie Luke and Stanislaus Oates. TB 11103.
Allingham, Margery
Mystery mile. 1967. Read by George Hagan, 9 hours 10 minutes. TB 6916.
Albert Campion, book 2. Sequel to: The Crime at Black Dudley. Crowdy Lobbett is a man who knows too much - and too little. As an American Judge he has for too long dealt with the evil consequences of the Simister gang and has brought many of them to justice. Furthermore, he has in his possession a clue to the identity of Simister himself. Simister follows Lobbett across the Atlantic, determined to kill him. The trail leads to the heart of the English countryside, to Mystery Mile, and a meeting with Albert Campion ... TB 6916.
Allingham, Margery
Look to the Lady. 1931. Read by John Atterbury, 9 hours 45 minutes. TB 7093.
Albert Campion, book 3. Sequel to: Mystery Mile. The Gyrth Chalice has been the sacred trust of the Gyrth family for centuries. Its beauty and antiquity make it unique. As the scion of a noble house himself Albert Campion is keenly aware of its place at the centre of our heritage and, when its safety is threatened by a ring of wealthy and ruthless collectors, he springs to its defence. Enlisting the help of young Val Gyrth, Campion sets out on a course that is dangerous and possibly deadly. TB 7093.
Allingham, Margery
Police at the funeral. 1931. Read by Rosemary Davis, 10 hours 12 minutes. TB 6934.
Albert Campion, book 4. Sequel to: Look to the Lady. Great Aunt Caroline rules the old Cambridge house, "Socrates Close", with a rod of Victorian iron but now that Uncle Andrew has disappeared, his great niece, Joyce, seeks the help of Albert Campion. Before he can help, news comes of the death "by murder" of the lost uncle. Next for the mortuary is Aunt Julie and suspicion falls all around in this bizarre household of horror. It is a tortuous maze of intrigue for the bland, blue-eyed and deceptively vague detective. TB 6934.
Babson, Marian
Untimely guest. 1976. Read by Stephen Jack, 5 hours 39 minutes. TB 3062.
The arrival of daughter Bridget, ex-nun, disturbs the hopeless life of a London Irish family - but no-one expected there to be a murder. TB 3062.
Babson, Marian
Reel murder. 1986. Read by Helen Horton, 6 hours 22 minutes. TB 7802.
Trixie Dolan, book 1. Evangeline Sinclair has been a star all her life. From silent films, through talkies, down to a retrospective showing at the recently opened Cinema in the sky, she has commanded the limelight. Never more so than when a horrendous moment from one of her old films is re-enacted in the garden of the London house where she is staying - only this time the corpse is real...TB 7802.
Bell, Josephine
A hole in the ground. 1971. Read by Stanley Pritchard, 5 hours 52 minutes. TB 1955.
Returned to Cornwall after a twenty year absence, Martin discovers the secrets surrounding the gory bundle and blood-soaked sacking he had found on his earlier stay. TB 1955.
Bell, Josephine
The trouble in Hunter ward. 1976. Read by Carol Marsh, 6 hours 37 minutes. TB 3119.
In the amenity ward at the top of the hospital building they were short of staff because of a strike. Even before the mysterious death of Sister Hallet there was chaos ...TB 3119.
Bentley, E Clerihew
Trent's last case. 1936. Read by Clive Champney, 8 hours 30 minutes. TB 667.
Philip Trent, book 1. A powerful and ruthless American capitalist is found dead in the garden of his English country house. But why is he not wearing his false teeth? Why is his young widow so relieved at his death? The artist and amateur detective Philip Trent arrives to find that there is more to the case than the solving of a puzzle: he must also accept his own fallibility, in detection and in romance. TB 667.
Bingham, John
I love, I kill. 1968. Read by Jon Curle, 7 hours 15 minutes. TB 660.
In which a publicity agent is suspected of the murder of the actor-husband of a girl with whom he had once been in love. TB 660.
Blake, Nicholas
A question of proof. 1935. Read by Robert Gladwell, 7 hours 25 minutes. TB 1038.
Nigel Strangeways, book 1. After murder at a prep. school, a private detective soon suspects the murderer but has to wait until a second murder is committed before he has the necessary proof. TB 1038.
Blake, Nicholas
A penknife in my heart. 1958. Read by Jack de Manio, 6 hours 34 minutes. TB 1709.
Two men, one needing money, the other tied to an exasperating wife, make a murder pact in which each shall provide an alibi for the other. TB 1709.
Brett, Simon
A nice class of corpse. 1986. Read by Elizabeth Proud, 5 hours 44 minutes. TB 7416.
Mrs Pargeter series; book 1. Few brochures were sent out by the hotel in Littlehampton. The clientele tended to arrive by personal recommendation: "nice" people. Miss Naismith, the unnervingly refined proprietress, had no need to advertise in "The Lady", now: there was always a waiting list of elderly people when an occupant "moved on". The trouble was that, in rapid succession, two residents moved on permanently very soon after the arrival of Mrs Pargeter. TB 7416.
Brett, Simon
So much blood: a crime novel. 1976. Read by Bruce Montague, 7 hours 20 minutes. TB 4390.
Charles Paris series; book 2. Sequel to: Cast in Order of Disappearance. The setting (and almost a member of the cast) is Edinburgh at Festival time. The sleuth, Charles Paris - middle-aged, booze-ridden and highly sexed - is dividing his time between the various fringe shows and his own one-man effort on Thomas Hood. TB 4390.
Canning, Victor
Doubled in Diamonds. 1966. Read by Arthur Bush, 7 hours 30 minutes. TB 81.
Rex Carver series; book 2. Sequel to: Whiphand. A private investigator is hired to trace a missing legatee - and becomes involved in diamond hauls and drug trading. TB 81.
Cecil, Henry
Tell you what I'll do. 1969. Read by Peter Barker, 6 hours 31 minutes. TB 1102.
Harry, an amiable criminal, prefers a safe and lazy life, either with the unsuspecting colonel to whom he had once been batman, or in the security of one of the most modern of English prisons. TB 1102.
Chandler, Raymond
The big sleep. 1967. Read by Marvin Kane, 7 hours 6 minutes. TB 1165.
Philip Marlowe series; book 1. Justice of an unexpected sort is done after a series of murders while a case of blackmail is being investigated. TB 1165.
Chandler, Raymond
Farewell, my lovely. 1940. Read by Marvin Kane, 8 hours 15 minutes. TB 2482.
Philip Marlowe series; book 2. Philip Marlowe's accidental entanglement with Moose Malloy involves him in adventures which end in the underworld of Los Angeles. TB 2482.
Charteris, Leslie
The Saint to the rescue. 1961. Read by Anthony Parker, 7 hours. TB 2840.
Simon Templar series; book 34. Sequel to: Senor Saint. However devious and deadly the ways of the ungodly, Simon Templar continues to be more than a match for them. TB 2840.
Chesterton, G K
The innocence of Father Brown. 1910. Read by Adrian Waller, 8 hours. TB 801.
Eleven more stories in which Father Brown, priest-detective, solves plots of murder and mystery. TB 801.
Chesterton, G K
The incredulity of Father Brown. 1929. Read by Michael Aspel, 7 hours 30 minutes. TB 272.
Short stories in which Father Brown unmasks criminals and murderers by using plain common sense. TB 272.
Christie, Agatha
Parker Pyne investigates. 1998. Read by Peter Barker, 6 hours 54 minutes. TB 10976.
Parker Pyne series; book 1. On the front page of "The Times" there appeared daily this cryptic announcement: 'Are you happy? If not consult Mr Parker Pyne, 17 Richmond St.' And in response to this advertisement lie the varied and amazing events of this unique book by Agatha Christie. TB 10976.
Christie, Agatha
The secret adversary. 1987. Read by Rosemary Davis, 9 hours 59 minutes. TB 8592.
Tommy and Tuppence series; book 1. Two young adventurers get more than they bargained for when they hire themselves out to the sinister Mr Whittington. TB 8592.
Christie, Agatha
The mysterious affair at Styles. 1995. Read by Andrew Sachs, 5 hours 28 minutes. TB 10857.
Hercule Poirot series; book 1. When Mrs Inglethorp, wealthy mistress of Styles Court, is murdered the clues seem strangely unrelated - a mysteriously destroyed will, a shattered coffee cup, a splash of candle grease, an old envelope, a newly planted bed of begonias... Small matters to most, but intriguing enough to feed the curiosity of Hercule Poirot. TB 10857.
Christie, Agatha
The murder on the links. 1923. Read by Raymond Adamson, 6 hours 45 minutes. TB 7224.
Hercule Poirot series; book 2. An urgent appeal for help brings Hercule Poirot to France with unaccustomed haste, but he is too late - his client, a mysterious millionaire, has been brutally stabbed to death and his body flung carelessly into an open grave. As the Belgian detective unravels the strange circumstances of this case, he finds a clue that is to take him back to another crime committed more than 20 years earlier. TB 7224.
Christie, Agatha
The murder at the vicarage. 1976. Read by Alistair Maydon, 7 hours 15 minutes. TB 6040.
Miss Marple series; book 1. When the irascible church warden Colonel Protheroe is found shot through the head in the vicar's study there seems to be no shortage of suspects. Miss Marple declares that at least seven people have a motive, and three people confess to having committed the crime. So who really did kill the bad- tempered old man? TB 6040.
Christie, Agatha
Thirteen problems. 1972. Read by Marilyn Finlay, 7 hours 34 minutes. TB 9821.
Miss Marple series; book 2. Miss Marple appears in each of these thirteen stories, solving the most amazing mysteries quietly and unobtrusively from her chair by the fireside. TB 9821.
Christie, Agatha
Secret of chimneys. 1987. Read by Mark Elstob, 7 hours 59 minutes. TB 10618.
Superintendent Battle series; book 1. Anthony Cade, master of intrigue and adventure, is caught up in a web of blackmail, assassination, and double-cross. Stolen love letters, a precious manuscript, a terrorist organization and a fabulous jewel make up the clues to a sinister international conspiracy. TB 10618.
Christie, Agatha
Sparkling cyanide. 1993. Read by Robin Bailey, 6 hours 11 minutes. TB 11032.
Six people sat down to dinner at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place was a sprig of rosemary - in memory of Rosemary Barton who had died at that same table a year before. A toast was drunk to Rosemary, there was a pause, and one of the party slumped down in his chair, fighting for breath... TB 11032.
Collins, Wilkie
The woman in white. 1860. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 25 hours. TB 1651.
Late one night, a drawing teacher has a midnight encounter on a lonely road with a mysterious and agitated woman dressed entirely in white, whom he helps to escape from pursuers. Who is she, and what is her connection to the teacher's new pupil, a beautiful heiress? TB 1651.
Creasey, John
The Toff and Old Harry. 1948. Read by George Hagan, 6 hours 46 minutes. TB 8686.