Detective and Mystery – Retro Radio Podcast

Joe Collins, a boxer and old friend phones Simon Templar. What kind of trouble is the boxer in? Is there a connection when a toddler named Donnie is placed in…

After hinting at being Shanghaied to his secretary, Effie, Sam Spade tells about his dangerous adventure at sea. In voiceover, we find it starts with a dame. Marsha Hopkins shares…

Audio seems a bit mushy, and can be difficult to hear in spots. The setting is on an island farm. The run down farm has been a challenge to sell,…

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson soon find themselve in a museum. The main display in the small museum is an artifact from the East. Confusing overlap of the various cultures…

Joe Friday and partner, Frank Smith are just finishing up with a case, and talk about Frank’s home life. He is having woman troubles after forgetting Valentine’s Day. Friday isn’t much help in the advice department, but at least offers a sympathetic ear. Their conversation is interupted by a call to investigate a robbery that turned into murder of a store clerk. At the scene, it is clear that the .38 caliber slug killed the clerk, passed through his body, but can’t be found on the scene. Other local store workers don’t offfer up much more help, but a doctor who treated a bullet wound has information that sends Friday and Smith to a residence to question a housewife. The woman’s husband has been out of town all week at a sales convention. She has a photo that Joe takes, and the doctor uses it to identify the man. After just a moment of confusion, he points out that it was the housewife’s brother, not her husband. It doesn’t take much to track down the errant young man. Once questioned, he tries to deny his activity, but is soon becomes clear that he was involved, and what his part in the murder was. Note: This situation sounds very familiar, but different. There was an episode not long ago where Friday was on the trail of a young married couple, but the doer turned out to be the younger brother of the wife. There was even a mix up over a jacket. In that one though it was a set of contact lenses that cracked the case, instead of the missing .38 slug.

What has the hardboiled detective shaken up? Before he can head out to seek comfort with his best gal, Helen, a customer demands Richard’s attention. A package of important papers needs delivered. Though it would be unethical to peek into the package, Richard does, and discovers valuable diamonds. A phone call is all the assurance that somebody is setting him up, so Walt is called to witness what goes down. Is Richard pulling his own prank on his police buddies? How does the missing diamonds play into a murder that Walt is under pressure to solve? Tracking down addresses, Richard encounters a dame. What next? A thump on the head? You know it. Will he be any closer to learning why he was picked as the pigeon in the heist? The diamond seem long gone, but a plan begins to form, and Richard gets the answers he needs. Danger looms as Richard’s plan goes into affect. Calling on Walt to cover his back, the thugs won’t have long before they’re under wraps.

A well known doctor and psychiatrist in Rushville phones his daughter with a warning. A patient has escaped from his mental hospital, and he’s concerned for the safety of his daughter. Is he too late? When the girl is found dead, the doctor takes the case to Mr Keen. Why didn’t the patient just wait and ambush the doctor at work? Good question Mr Keen, but psychotic people don’t do things that are rational. Mr Keen advises the doctor to take precautions. Since the patient is still on the loose, Mr Keen volunteers to trade places. The two gents swap homes for a short time. Mr Keen and Mike meet the husband of the dead girl, and a few family secrets emerge. Jealousy over lover becomes a good motive for murder. The sister of the mental paitient pleads her case for innocense. Death threats come in. When the mental patient is seen lurking, Mr Keen tries to corner her to see what she may have to say. A man with a death threat shows up to face off with the doctor. Freaky things begin to happen. The man is run over by his own car. The crazy lady has an ax, and confronts Mr Keen. Mr Keen slaps the cuffs on the killer, and when he shares the finer points of the case, it becomes clear who did it and why.

A dispute over a baby picture of his girlfriend, Helen, is interrupted by a little woman who needs the help of Richard Diamond. She tells about a problem when her daughter Gloria found a package of money. Is Bill involved in something illegal? Is he just a hard worker who sends cash to his mom to help her? Doing his good deeds of the day, Richard returns the picture, and begins investigating for the little woman to get to the bottom of her troubles. At the police station, Walt already has his corpse on his hands, but the aggravation sets in, when its Bill Kirby. To make it worse, the victim’s mother and sister got beat up. Now Richard leads the way, with Walt to get at the core of the matter. The important package doesn’t contain cash, only a shoe. There may be no helping Bill, but Richard is in it for revenge, and justice for Mrs Kirby. A trail of clues is begun, when Richard talks with Gloria. Thugs soon find Richard, and after a thump on the head, Diamond gets back on the trail. Is there progress with the crime lab, and learning the secret of the shoe? Danger is sure to be in store for Richard as he turns up his next step in the case. Secrets explode to the surface about robbing a gold shipment. Will knowing the gang’s operation do any good if Richard ends up dead? Gunplay, chases, and freshly captured thugs to hand over to Walt and the cops. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "retrootr-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Sam Spade on Amazon"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B00BDR8A9M,B006421JJY,1570196451,1932806229"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "d044d97d5e71edb0df9497c070c428e8";

On a sweltering day in April, Philip recieves a telegram to check out a burlesque show and report on the girl in the gold mask. Marlowe does his best to describe the sultry dancer known as Heat Wave, and in the name of doing business, he goes back stage to meet her. Instead, he gets the business from her tough guy handlers. Why is there so much secrecy? Is she really the sister of Marlowe’s client? Mrs Driscoll wants to know before midnight, and the race is on for Marlowe to find out before his deadline. Philip is a glutton for punishment, and expects to be roughed up, but he didn’t expect to discover the body of a woman. When the mask comes off, a tangle of identities comes out, but who actually killed Mrs Driscoll? Philip knows, but he needs to get the police on the case, and stop more killings from going down.

Revisit a time from the first world war as Blair chases after a famous spy. In London, Blair talks about police cases with a friend. A lovely young lady uses her charms to get through border checkpoints. Surely there’s no harm in that? Relive the account with Blair, and his police force of investigators, track this spy as she tries her best to sabotage the war effort.

Sitting alone at his desk, Richard enjoys a phone call from his best girl, Helen. She tips him to a client who is to pop in. The sensational hat maker fears a theft before his Fall showing. Is a rival out to sabotage him? Gerald Winters is his long time partner, but would he stoop so low to do such a thing? In the upscale studio, Richard looks into the ill feelings, and condescending attitudes. The receptionist, Lillian isn’t falling for his ruse as a designer, when Richard looks more like a fullback k on the football field. All Richard needs to do is safe guard the designs until the show. A phone call from Walt Levinson break’s the news to Richard that murder has crept into his simple case of protecting the designs. On the scene of the car crash, does it prove to be just an accident, or is foul play involved? Richard smells a rat, and its time to put the pressure on high. Richard lines up all the potential enemies, and digs for motives, and who had the most likely one. Winters is the obvious choice, but Richard isn’t one for settling for the obvious. Joined by his cop friends, Otis and Walt, Richard moves in. Just how dangers will this take down be? The killer falls into the trap, and all the secrets are revealed.

A lawyer has news for Marlowe about a will and an estate. Philip goes to investigate the quirky collection of heirs. Get ready for a surprise at the reading of the will that has even Marlowe taken in. The joke comes to a crashing end when a body is found, pushed from the upper floors of the estate. With a whole houseful of likely suspects, Philip puts his detective skills to good use to account for the whereabouts of everybody. Nobody is getting off this island estate until the police arrive, and Marlowe can hand over the killer. Before it’s over, he ends up with a thump on the head, but explains what gave the killer away.

Under the guise of a fishing trip, Blair gets hired to take on a missing persons case. Pressman has disappeared in broad daylight, and hasn’t been heard from since. Blair begins by learning all he can about Pressman’s past. Might there be motives stemming from a bad business deal? Trouble in a love affair? Blair gets what little is known of Pressman’s last sighting before the disappearance. With a few more details and clues at the baffling puzzle, Blair has learned all there is to know. Listen in, and you’ll know too. Blair has reached his conclusion. Have you?

After sharing about some of the loudly colored fashions of the day, Richard shifts to a matter of Harry Baker becoming involved with his private secretary. Is Connie moving too fast, or pushing the issue with Harry too far? Dropping into the police station, Richard teases his cop friends, and enjoys a comedy of errors regarding a nonexistent corpse. On a shopping trip with his girlfriend Helen, Richard spots a petty kleptomaniac. Is the shoplifter something to worry about, or report? Mrs Baker is one of the stores better customers, an eccentric, and the store sends bills to her husband to cover for her. Meanwhile, a serious robbery has taken place, and Richard spots the scam.. though the crime has been stopped, Richard checks out the store for other signs of conspiracy. Is Mrs Baker involved somehow? Back in the police station, word of a suicide comes in, but Richard smells a rat with the death of Mrs Baker. Doing his own checking, Richard turns up another body. Dots are soon connected, and a confrontation is in store. With the details laid bare, the heat is turned up to expose the scheme of murder. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "retrootr-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Sam Spade on Amazon"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B00BDR8A9M,B006421JJY,1570196451,1932806229"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "d044d97d5e71edb0df9497c070c428e8";

Marshall Blair has just been promoted to Inspector, so let’s join him in his office as he tells about his first case. A murder on a train has him puzzled. It is made to look like a suicide, but the family is pressing to investigate closer. It would be a classic mystery novel crime with the murder taking place in a sealed room, with no way in or out, and alibis all around for the players. The audio gets a little broken up mid way through. Blair scrutinizes the physical clues and evidence, and the forensics man thinks Blair is a little too old fashioned to appreciate today’s modern 1938 technology. Blair uses his old fashioned ways to fill in a gap or two that the scientific methods can’t explain. Piecing together the new evidence, that was previously overlooked, Blair figures out a motive, and a timeframe that implicates a suspect. PS: I don’t think it’s so much a battle of old fashoned ways, and the weakness of the forensics. Whoever did the original investigation of the crime scene clearly didn’t gather all the clues, or evidence to be analyzed. It boils down to a matter of having an experienced crime scene investigator, which Blair certainly is.