Nostalgic Mystery Radio

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
For over twelve years, from 1949 through 1962 (including a one year hiatus in 1954-1955), this series recounted the cases "the man with the action-packed expense account, America’s fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar". Johnny was an accomplished 'padder' of his expense account. The name of the show derives from the fact that he closed each show by totaling his expense account, and signing it "End of report... Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar".

The Dead First Helpers: Johnny goes to work in a Pittsburgh steel mill to solve a series of seniority murders. Originally aired April 11th,1950.

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Barrie Craig Confidential Investigator
William Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye Barrie Craig while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a specialty."

Death Buys A Bedroom:  On his vacation in the mountains, Barrie meets a beautiful girl, a mysterious body and a dead man aboard the train.
Originally aired July 27th, 1954.

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Agatha Christie's Death In The Clouds

From seat No.9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No.13, sat a Countess with a poorly-concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No.8, a detective writer was being troubled by an aggressive wasp. What Poirot did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No.2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman.

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Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer.

The Body On The Slab: Nick Carter investigates the case of a husband who disappeared at a bar and finds a sinister conspiracy.
Originally aired November 3, 1943.

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Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.
Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.
Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends.

The Martin Hyer Case: June Hyre hires Dick to follow her husband. Dick follows him right to a corpse! Originally aired July 23rd,1949.

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Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.

Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.

The Lonesome Reunion: Marlowe finds himself in Lonesome Arizona, on the trail of the loot from a bank robbery. Originally aired February 12th,1949.

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Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).
Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were changed to protect the innocent".
Dragnet broke a few radio taboos as well, such as dramatizing sex crimes. Children also were killed on occasion as in the episode "Twenty-Two Rifle For Christmas". The series eventually went to television and ran there for many years.

The Big Press: Two young purse-snatchers, who also beat their victims, are working in a Los Angeles neighborhood. Originally aired June 15th,1950.

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In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor, six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: ‘Captain Trevelyan… dead… murder.’

Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately, his home is six miles away and, with snow drifts blocking the roads, someone will have to make the journey on foot.

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Pat Novak For Hire: Classic old time radio showing starring Jack Webb (1946, 1949) and Ben Morris (1947-48) as Pat Novak, a street wise guy who rents boats and anything else a good man pays a bad one to do.

Novak is always getting into scrapes when taking on jobs for hire or occasionally as a favor to a friend. When he does, he goes to see "The Only Honest Guy I Know" an ex-Doctor and a boozer named Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owens). Novak's nemesis is Lieutenant Hellman of Homicide (played by Raymond Burr and others) who's constantly trying to get Novak sent to the gas chamber.

Rory Malone: Pat Novak gets an offer for $300 from a beautiful woman to stay away from boxer Rory Malone, and $300 from Malone’s manager. Whichever side he ends up on, it’s going to be trouble. Originally aired March 20th,1949. 

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The Mysterious Traveler ran on Mutual from December 1943 until about September of 1952. This tremendously popular radio show was truly an all around favorite for any mystery lover of the time. It was the brainchild and magnum opus of golden age writing greats Robert Arthur and David Kogan.


New Year's Nightmare:  A man goes on a year-end bender and wakes up a year later married to a strange woman. Originally aired January 5th,1947.

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The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie.  It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon.  The show ran from 1946 to 1951.  Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.

The Rowdy Dowser Caper: Spade travels to North Tacaloma to find $53,000 that has disappeared. Originally aired April 20th,1951.

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Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.

Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.

Death Shaft: A skeleton is discovered in a closed-up mine.
Originally aired September 30th,1951.

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Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer.

The Double Disguise: Nick Carter tries to help a down on his luck man that’s become a mugger and ends up investigating a deadly robbery and impersonating a two bit hood. Originally aired January 8th,1944.

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Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.
Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.
Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends.

A Contemporary Christmas Carol: The characters on Richard Diamond take a week off from mysteries to perform a modern version of the Christmas Carol.
Originally aired December 24th,1949.

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Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.

From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on cinema and radio.

The Night Before Christmas: One of Moriarity’s henchman switches Christmas sacks with Dr. Watson when both are dressed as Santa Claus. Sherlock Holmes has to catch the thief and save Watson and his Christmas party.
Originally aired December 24th,1945.

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Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: the world-renowned, moustachioed Belgian private detective, unsurpassed in his intelligence and understanding of the criminal mind, respected and admired by police forces and heads of state across the globe.

Since his inception over 100 years ago, Poirot has stolen the hearts and minds of audiences from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, and his celebrated cases have been recorded across 33 original novels and over 50 short stories.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas: When the obnoxious multi-millionaire Simeon Lee unexpectedly invites his family to gather at his home for Christmas, the gesture is met with displeasure by many of the guests. The patriarch also sends for Hercule Poirot, as he feels the reunion might prove perillous. This is indeed the case, as one day, he is found with his throat slashed in the middle of his ransacked study. Originally aired December 25th, 1994.

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Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky.
He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius.

The Slaughtered Santas: It is 48 hours before Christmas. Archie Goodwin receives a telephone call from Santa Claus! He is coming around to Nero's office at 8pm. Two Santa's have been murdered and this Santa is very worried. It seems that someone is trying to murder all the Santa Claus's of Carlisle Avenue and they seem to be succeeding! Originally aired December 22nd,1950.

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Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: the world-renowned, moustachioed Belgian private detective, unsurpassed in his intelligence and understanding of the criminal mind, respected and admired by police forces and heads of state across the globe.
Since his inception over 100 years ago, Poirot has stolen the hearts and minds of audiences from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, and his celebrated cases have been recorded across 33 original novels and over 50 short stories.

The Adventure Of The Christmas Pudding: When a priceless ruby, belonging to a Far Eastern prince, is stolen from him whilst he is on a visit to England, Poirot is asked to make a quiet investigation. The ruby was destined for the prince’s bride-to-be and a scandal must be avoided.

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Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.

Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.

Birds On The Wing: When a wealthy playboy falls in with some aerialists and gets a threatening letter, Marlowe is hired by the boy’s aunt to get him out of trouble.
Originally aired November 26th,1949.

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Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky.
He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius.

The Case Of The Malevolent Medic: The wife of a millionaire dies. The doctor says its a heart attack, but the husband suspects murder and hires Wolfe.
Originally aired February 23rd,1951.

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Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).
Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were changed to protect the innocent".
Dragnet broke a few radio taboos as well, such as dramatizing sex crimes. Children also were killed on occasion as in the episode "Twenty-Two Rifle For Christmas". The series eventually went to television and ran there for many years.

The Big Parrot: Arson in a rooming house is covering up a double murder.
Originally aired November 16th,1950.

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Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.

A Scandal In Bohemia: Sherlock Holmes finds himself evenly matched when he is employed by the King of Bohemia to retrieve an indiscreet photograph from the American actress and singer, Irene Adler.

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Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.

Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.

Conspiracy: A woman’s complaint that her husband was murdered and inconsistencies in the stories of local law enforcement send two Rangers down to an oil boom town to investigate. Originally aired April 15th,1951.

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Pat Novak For Hire: Classic old time radio showing starring Jack Webb (1946, 1949) and Ben Morris (1947-48) as Pat Novak, a street wise guy who rents boats and anything else a good man pays a bad one to do.

Novak is always getting into scrapes when taking on jobs for hire or occasionally as a favor to a friend. When he does, he goes to see "The Only Honest Guy I Know" an ex-Doctor and a boozer named Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owens). Novak's nemesis is Lieutenant Hellman of Homicide (played by Raymond Burr and others) who's constantly trying to get Novak sent to the gas chamber.

Rubin Calloway's Pictures: Pat Novak comes across a man tossed in the bay, who gives him the key to a bus locker. A woman pays him $200 to bring her the contents of the locker. Originally aired March 13th, 1949.

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Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.
Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.
Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends.

The Man Who Hated Women:  A serial killer is on the loose, slashing women and threatening Lt. Levinson's job! Originally aired July 16th,1949.

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The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie.  It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon.  The show ran from 1946 to 1951.  Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.

The Civic Pride Caper: After an auditorium collapses, Garrett Welsh, the architect, hires Spade to find out why it happened. Originally aired April 13th,1951.

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Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. Nick and Patsy's friend was reporter Scubby Wilson (John Kane). Nick's contact at the police department was Sgt. Mathison (Ed Latimer). The supporting cast included Raymond Edward Johnson, Bill Johnstone and Bryna Raeburn. Michael Fitzmaurice was the program's announcer.

The Substitute Bride: A friend of Nick Carter’s suspects his fiancee’ may be an imposter. Originally aired November 17th,1943.

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Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky.
He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius.

The Party For Death: Archie attends a cocktail party at which Nero Wolfe expects the guest of honor to be murder! Originally aired February 16th,1951.

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Jack Benny was among the most beloved American entertainers of the 20th century. He brought a relationship-oriented, humorously vain persona honed in vaudeville, radio, and film to television in 1950, starring in his own television series from that year until 1965.

The Turkey Murder Trial: Jack has a strange dream wherein he is tried for murder by a court of turkeys. Originally aired November 30th,1947.

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Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective. Quite frankly, she doesn’t look like a detective at all. But looks can be deceiving... For a woman who has spent her life in the small village of St Mary Mead, Miss Marple is surprisingly worldly. But as she often points out she has had every opportunity to observe human nature.

They Do It With Mirrors Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not.

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Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective. Quite frankly, she doesn’t look like a detective at all. But looks can be deceiving... For a woman who has spent her life in the small village of St Mary Mead, Miss Marple is surprisingly worldly. But as she often points out she has had every opportunity to observe human nature.

They Do It With Mirrors Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not.

Support the show

Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective. Quite frankly, she doesn’t look like a detective at all. But looks can be deceiving... For a woman who has spent her life in the small village of St Mary Mead, Miss Marple is surprisingly worldly. But as she often points out she has had every opportunity to observe human nature.

They Do It With Mirrors Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not.

Support the show

Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective. Quite frankly, she doesn’t look like a detective at all. But looks can be deceiving... For a woman who has spent her life in the small village of St Mary Mead, Miss Marple is surprisingly worldly. But as she often points out she has had every opportunity to observe human nature.

They Do It With Mirrors Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not.

Support the show

Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective. Quite frankly, she doesn’t look like a detective at all. But looks can be deceiving... For a woman who has spent her life in the small village of St Mary Mead, Miss Marple is surprisingly worldly. But as she often points out she has had every opportunity to observe human nature.

They Do It With Mirrors Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not.

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Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.

Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.

Name To Remember: Marlowe is hired to find out the identity of a man with a t-shirt who has been stalking his client. The client is found dead and he’s not the only one.
Originally aired: April 9th,1949.

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Dragnet ran from June 3rd,1949 to February 26th,1957 on NBC at various times and days and starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander).
Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were changed to protect the innocent".
Dragnet broke a few radio taboos as well, such as dramatizing sex crimes. Children also were killed on occasion as in the episode "Twenty-Two Rifle For Christmas". The series eventually went to television and ran there for many years.

The Big Meet: Friday tries to trap Howard Scully, a careful narcotics wholesaler, by posing as a buyer. Originally aired October 26th,1950.

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Tales of the Texas Rangers, a western adventure old-time radio drama, premiered on July 8, 1950, on the US NBC radio network and remained on the air through September 14, 1952.

Movie star Joel McCrea starred as Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, who used the latest scientific techniques to identify the criminals and his faithful horse, Charcoal (or "Charky," as Jayce would sometimes refer to him), to track them down. The shows were reenactments of actual Texas Ranger cases.

Bad Blood: An aircraft plant worker is murdered after receiving orders calling him up for military service. Originally aired April 8th,1951.

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Sherlock Holmes, fictional character created by the Scottish writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The prototype for the modern mastermind detective, Holmes first appeared in Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of 1887. As the world’s first and only “consulting detective,” he pursued criminals throughout Victorian and Edwardian London, the south of England, and continental Europe.

From 1939 to 1946, Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes with his friend Nigel Bruce on cinema and radio.

The Fifth Of November: Holmes and Watson are off on a Guy Fawkes Day Adventure when a Mr. James Stuart comes in on November 5 and retains Holmes to protect him from his cousin, Guy Falkenberry, who Stuart says is planning to blow him up.
Originally aired November 5th,1945.

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Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in these classic BBC radio dramatisations of Dorothy L Sayers' Golden Age crime novels.

Gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey starred in a number of novels and short stories by Dorothy L Sayers. These full-cast adaptations – first broadcast on BBC radio between 1979 and 2010 – are cherished by crime aficionados worldwide.

Whose Body?: The tale that first introduced Lord Peter to the world, and sees him investigating the case of a corpse in a Battersea bathtub and a vanished oil millionaire.

Episodes:

1. The Body in the Bath

2. Disappearance of a Financier

3. Lunch at Lady Swaffham's

4. Shellshock

5. Bunter Brings a Letter

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Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in these classic BBC radio dramatisations of Dorothy L Sayers' Golden Age crime novels.

Gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey starred in a number of novels and short stories by Dorothy L Sayers. These full-cast adaptations – first broadcast on BBC radio between 1979 and 2010 – are cherished by crime aficionados worldwide.

Whose Body?: The tale that first introduced Lord Peter to the world, and sees him investigating the case of a corpse in a Battersea bathtub and a vanished oil millionaire.

Episodes:

1. The Body in the Bath

2. Disappearance of a Financier

3. Lunch at Lady Swaffham's

4. Shellshock

5. Bunter Brings a Letter

Support the show

Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in these classic BBC radio dramatisations of Dorothy L Sayers' Golden Age crime novels.

Gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey starred in a number of novels and short stories by Dorothy L Sayers. These full-cast adaptations – first broadcast on BBC radio between 1979 and 2010 – are cherished by crime aficionados worldwide.

Whose Body?: The tale that first introduced Lord Peter to the world, and sees him investigating the case of a corpse in a Battersea bathtub and a vanished oil millionaire.

Episodes:

1. The Body in the Bath

2. Disappearance of a Financier

3. Lunch at Lady Swaffham's

4. Shellshock

5. Bunter Brings a Letter

Support the show

Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in these classic BBC radio dramatisations of Dorothy L Sayers' Golden Age crime novels.

Gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey starred in a number of novels and short stories by Dorothy L Sayers. These full-cast adaptations – first broadcast on BBC radio between 1979 and 2010 – are cherished by crime aficionados worldwide.

Whose Body?: The tale that first introduced Lord Peter to the world, and sees him investigating the case of a corpse in a Battersea bathtub and a vanished oil millionaire.

Episodes:

1. The Body in the Bath

2. Disappearance of a Financier

3. Lunch at Lady Swaffham's

4. Shellshock

5. Bunter Brings a Letter

Support the show

Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in these classic BBC radio dramatisations of Dorothy L Sayers' Golden Age crime novels.

Gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey starred in a number of novels and short stories by Dorothy L Sayers. These full-cast adaptations – first broadcast on BBC radio between 1979 and 2010 – are cherished by crime aficionados worldwide.

Whose Body?: The tale that first introduced Lord Peter to the world, and sees him investigating the case of a corpse in a Battersea bathtub and a vanished oil millionaire.

Episodes:

1. The Body in the Bath

2. Disappearance of a Financier

3. Lunch at Lady Swaffham's

4. Shellshock

5. Bunter Brings a Letter

Support the show

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense, and its tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler. The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice. A spooky melodramatic organ score (played by Lew White) punctuated Raymond's many morbid jokes and playful puns. Raymond's closing was an elongated "Pleasant dreeeeaams, hmmmmm?" His tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the standard for many such horror narrators to follow, from fellow radio hosts like Ernest Chappell (on Wyllis Cooper's later series, Quiet, Please) and Maurice Tarplin (on The Mysterious Traveler)

The Wailing Wall: A good story about a man (Boris Karloff) who strangles his wife and is haunted by her moans...for forty years!
Originally aired: November 6th, 1945.

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Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot: the world-renowned, moustachioed Belgian private detective, unsurpassed in his intelligence and understanding of the criminal mind, respected and admired by police forces and heads of state across the globe.
Since his inception over 100 years ago, Poirot has stolen the hearts and minds of audiences from Azerbaijan to Vietnam, and his celebrated cases have been recorded across 33 original novels and over 50 short stories.


Halloween Party: When a young girl is found drowned at a Halloween party after boasting about a murder she had seen, Ariadne Oliver, the famous crime novelist, sends for her old friend Hercule Poirot. But has Poirot one death to investigate--or two?

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The Adventures of Sam Spade was a suspense/detective radio show starring Howard Duff in the colorful title role along with Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie.  It was based on the private detective character created by Dashiell Hammett, well-known from the book and movie The Maltese Falcon.  The show ran from 1946 to 1951.  Duff was replaced by Steve Dunne in later episodes.

The Red Star Caper: Sam Spade attends a lecture where the speaker ends up shot dead. Originally aired January 12th,1951.

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Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart.
Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.
Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends.

The Bloody Hat Case: Bert Kalmus is framed for murder in an early version of a classic scam. Originally aired July 2nd,1949.

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Nero Wolfe is a fictional character, a brilliant, oversized, eccentric armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky.
He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West 35th Street in New York City, and he is loath to leave his home for business or anything that would keep him from reading his books, tending his orchids, or eating the gourmet meals prepared by his chef, Fritz Brenner. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's sharp-witted, dapper young confidential assistant with an eye for attractive women, narrates the cases and does the legwork for the detective genius.

The Case Of The Vanishing Shells: Archie gets Nero Wolfe hired by an actress who is afraid of being cut out of a lead role in a play.
Originally aired February 2nd,1951.

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Pat Novak For Hire: Classic old time radio showing starring Jack Webb (1946, 1949) and Ben Morris (1947-48) as Pat Novak, a street wise guy who rents boats and anything else a good man pays a bad one to do.

Novak is always getting into scrapes when taking on jobs for hire or occasionally as a favor to a friend. When he does, he goes to see "The Only Honest Guy I Know" an ex-Doctor and a boozer named Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owens). Novak's nemesis is Lieutenant Hellman of Homicide (played by Raymond Burr and others) who's constantly trying to get Novak sent to the gas chamber.

Fleet Lady: Pat Novak’s hired to find a horse, and he finds the horse and a dead body.
Originally aired March 6th,1949.

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Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.

Philip Marlowe was Los Angeles's toughest detective in the groundbreaking series by Raymond Chandler that helped establish the "hard-boiled" detective subgenre.

The Bum's Rush: Marlowe is hired to find an old geezer, and finds murder instead.
Originally aired September 3rd, 1949.

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