Nostalgic Mystery Radio

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 Critical Author Caper: Spade is hired to find Gabrielle Leggitt, who has disappeared. The author of murder mysteries plays an important part in the case.
Originally aired August 15th,1948.

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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 Mysterious Affair At Styles: A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work.

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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 Pair:  A couple run a racket of selling all the furniture in the houses of families out of town, starting with a little girl and her grandfather. Originally aired September 21st,1950.

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Respected as one of the greats of modern crime writing, Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014), known as P. D. James, came to fame for her mystery series starring New Scotland Yard Commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh. She was also the author of a number of stand-along novels including The Children of Men, which was the basis for the movie Children of Men, and Death Comes to Pemberly, which was adapted into a BBC mini-series. Many of her Adam Dalgliesh books were also adapted for television. In 1991 she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.

Cover Her Face: Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill.

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Respected as one of the greats of modern crime writing, Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014), known as P. D. James, came to fame for her mystery series starring New Scotland Yard Commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh. She was also the author of a number of stand-along novels including The Children of Men, which was the basis for the movie Children of Men, and Death Comes to Pemberly, which was adapted into a BBC mini-series. Many of her Adam Dalgliesh books were also adapted for television. In 1991 she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.


Cover Her Face: Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill.

Support the show

Respected as one of the greats of modern crime writing, Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014), known as P. D. James, came to fame for her mystery series starring New Scotland Yard Commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh. She was also the author of a number of stand-along novels including The Children of Men, which was the basis for the movie Children of Men, and Death Comes to Pemberly, which was adapted into a BBC mini-series. Many of her Adam Dalgliesh books were also adapted for television. In 1991 she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.


Cover Her Face: Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill.

Support the show

Respected as one of the greats of modern crime writing, Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014), known as P. D. James, came to fame for her mystery series starring New Scotland Yard Commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh. She was also the author of a number of stand-along novels including The Children of Men, which was the basis for the movie Children of Men, and Death Comes to Pemberly, which was adapted into a BBC mini-series. Many of her Adam Dalgliesh books were also adapted for television. In 1991 she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.


Cover Her Face: Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill.

Support the show

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.

Play For Keeps: Jace Pearson tracks down the crooked constable who killed Sheriff Smithers in cold blood. Originally aired September 2nd,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.

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

The Strange Case Of The Murder In Wax: Scotland Yard calls on Sherlock Holmes to assist in catching a serial killer who has killed ten young women.

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Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?
Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuition based on his familiarity on men’s souls.

The Mystified Mind: A young man is accused of killing a window-cleaner, but Father Brown believes he’s innocent. Originally aired August 13, 1945.

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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 Beautiful Archer: A young heir is killed while sitting in a car with his ex-girlfriend. Is she the murderer? Originally aired November 24th,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.

Three Act Tragedy: At an apparently respectable dinner party, a vicar is the first to die…

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Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through in his passion and dedication to his job. He tirelessly patrolled the city streets and instilled fear into the hoodlums and villains that threatened the peace. Remarkably enough, the program enjoyed a lengthy run from 1949-1954, unlike its other contemporaries who only lasted for a season.

The Jane Darwell Murder Case: Scandal reporter Jed Stacy has received a prophesy in the mail...Jane Darnell will be found murdered tonight. Originally aired August 11th,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 Sure Thing Caper:  "Five Dollar Frankie" has been cheated by "Gentle Joe Higgins," a known horse-doper. "Gentle Joe" has a sure thing, however, it's a most unusual sure thing!
Originally aired February 9th, 1951.

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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 Open Window:  A beautiful girl with amnesia visits Marlowe and ends up getting pushed out of his window! Originally aired October 8th, 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 Indiscretion of Mr. Edwards: Holmes is called in by the foreign office to investigate a lady bareback rider who has captured the heart of an English prince.
Originally Aired: February 4, 1946

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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.

A Murder Is Announced: The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are summoned by a newspaper notice to the house of Letitia Blacklock, anticipating a murder game. But things become too real when someone is shot dead.

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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.

A Murder Is Announced: The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are summoned by a newspaper notice to the house of Letitia Blacklock, anticipating a murder game. But things become too real when someone is shot dead.

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.

A Murder Is Announced: The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are summoned by a newspaper notice to the house of Letitia Blacklock, anticipating a murder game. But things become too real when someone is shot dead.

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.

A Murder Is Announced: The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are summoned by a newspaper notice to the house of Letitia Blacklock, anticipating a murder game. But things become too real when someone is shot dead.

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.

A Murder Is Announced: The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are summoned by a newspaper notice to the house of Letitia Blacklock, anticipating a murder game. But things become too real when someone is shot dead.

Support the show

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 Careless Cleaner: A beautiful cleaning woman is found murdered in the room of an artist with his marriage on the rocks. Originally aired: November 17, 1950.

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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 Crab Louie Caper: Sam is hired to find out how an Italian crab- fisher was killed. Was it an accident or murder? Originally aired March 2nd, 1951.

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Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through in his passion and dedication to his job. He tirelessly patrolled the city streets and instilled fear into the hoodlums and villains that threatened the peace. Remarkably enough, the program enjoyed a lengthy run from 1949-1954, unlike its other contemporaries who only lasted for a season.

The Val Dane Case: Val Dane, a universally hated author, is found dead of starvation in a room full of food! Originally aired August 25th,1949.

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Respected as one of the greats of modern crime writing, Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014), known as P. D. James, came to fame for her mystery series starring New Scotland Yard Commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh. She was also the author of a number of stand-along novels including The Children of Men, which was the basis for the movie Children of Men, and Death Comes to Pemberly, which was adapted into a BBC mini-series. Many of her Adam Dalgliesh books were also adapted for television. In 1991 she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.

The Private Patient: Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate a murder at a private nursing home for rich patients being treated by the famous plastic surgeon.

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Respected as one of the greats of modern crime writing, Phyllis Dorothy James (1920-2014), known as P. D. James, came to fame for her mystery series starring New Scotland Yard Commander and poet, Adam Dalgliesh. She was also the author of a number of stand-along novels including The Children of Men, which was the basis for the movie Children of Men, and Death Comes to Pemberly, which was adapted into a BBC mini-series. Many of her Adam Dalgliesh books were also adapted for television. In 1991 she was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.

The Private Patient: Commander Adam Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate a murder at a private nursing home for rich patients being treated by the famous plastic surgeon.

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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 Camberwell Poisoning: Holmes and Watson investigate the poisoning of the hated head of a wealthy family. Originally aired February 18th, 1946

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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 Dear Dead Lady:  A religious fanatic has committed murder...or was it the Shakespearean actor? Originally aired November 3rd,1950

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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 Headless Peacock: A woman hires Marlowe to help her fiancé who has a gambling problem. Originally aired July 16th,1949.

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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.

A Caribbean Mystery: Miss Marple is drawn into a case of intrigue and black magic when a Major who bragged of owning a photo of a murderer dies under mysterious circumstances.

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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.

A Caribbean Mystery: Miss Marple is drawn into a case of intrigue and black magic when a Major who bragged of owning a photo of a murderer dies under mysterious circumstances.

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.

A Caribbean Mystery: Miss Marple is drawn into a case of intrigue and black magic when a Major who bragged of owning a photo of a murderer dies under mysterious circumstances.

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.

A Caribbean Mystery: Miss Marple is drawn into a case of intrigue and black magic when a Major who bragged of owning a photo of a murderer dies under mysterious circumstances.

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.

A Caribbean Mystery: Miss Marple is drawn into a case of intrigue and black magic when a Major who bragged of owning a photo of a murderer dies under mysterious circumstances.

Support the show

Rough and tough Hard-boiled detectives grab a lot of attention, but who would have a better insight on the nature of human evil than “a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins”?
Where could you find a more “soft-boiled” character than the parish priest. Mutual brought The Adventures of Father Brown to the air in 1945. Father Brown was the antithesis of the more celebrated soft-boiled detective, Sherlock Holmes. Where Holmes was a master of deduction, Father Brown relied on intuition based on his familiarity on men’s souls.

The Mirror of the Magistrate: After a conservative judge is found shot to death in his garden, Father Brown sets out to prove that the outspoken socialist arrested for his murder is innocent.

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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 Chet: A stuttering robber and his partner are tracked down with the help of a stoolie, who is trying to go straight. Originally aired April 5th,1953

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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 Wheel Of Life Caper:  Sam meets a mystery woman with no memory and a corpse that's been killed by a buzz saw! Originally aired July 11th,1948.

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Broadway is my Beat is a love affair with noir and hardboiled radio detective series blossomed during the 1940's. The golden age of radio had found a new following in the crime drama genre, and managed to churn out several note-worthy serializations. One of the more popular old time radio shows of the period was Broadway is my Beat which featured the talented Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Clover truly loved his beat on the colorful and gritty streets of Broadway and it shined through in his passion and dedication to his job. He tirelessly patrolled the city streets and instilled fear into the hoodlums and villains that threatened the peace. Remarkably enough, the program enjoyed a lengthy run from 1949-1954, unlike its other contemporaries who only lasted for a season.

The Dr. McClure Murder Case: Doctor McClure dies in Danny's office, after being shot with a .22 calibre gun. Originally aired August 4th, 1949

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A Man Called X was a CBS/NBC spy radio series that aired from July 10, 1944 to May 20, 1952. The lead character, Intelligence Agent Ken Thurston, was portrayed by Herbert Marshall. His sidekick, Pagan Zeldchmidt, was played by Leon Belasco. Together, they took various cases, all of which were extremely dangerous, and had happened at different exotic places in the world. The background music was supplied by Gordon Jenkins' Orchestra.

The Girl Who Couldn't Remember: A young woman with amnesia is key to locating a stolen collection of paintings that’s needed to provide a good future to Italian war orphans.
Originally Aired Date: August 15, 1948

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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 Care Worn Cuff: A man with one shirt cuff more worn than the other pays Wolfe $1000 to drop Dorothy Spencer as a client, even though Wolfe never heard of her.
Originally aired October 27th,1950.

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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.


The Mirror Cracked From Side To Side: Miss Marple investigates the murder of Heather Badcock, who consumed a poisoned cocktail apparently meant for American film actress Marina Gregg, Heather's idol. Originally aired August 29th, 1998.

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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 Grim Hunters: Marlowe is lured to a party as a human item in a scavenger hunt. Things take a serious turn when he finds the woman who called him was murdered.
Originally aired March 12th,1949.

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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.

Sleeping Murder: Spinster sleuth Miss Marple probes a woman's terrifying flashbacks to trap a murderer. Originally aired December 8th,2001.

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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 Tomato:  A high school boy named Kenneth Morrow is killed in an auto accident. He had been using marijuana! Friday and the cops track down "The Big Tomato." Originally aired January 25th,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 Girl With The Gazelle: Holmes battles Dr. Moriarty again, as he tries to solve the puzzle of how a valuable painting was stolen from a sealed room. Originally aired March 25,1946.

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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 Biddle Riddle Caper:  Sam is hired by a radio producer to help solve a three-year-old-murder. He finds a reel of recording tape disguised as a typewriter ribbon and exposes the murder with the recording. Originally aired January 5th, 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 in the Cards: A double murder is blamed on a gambler with red hair, but hoofprints in the frost give Jace Pearson an important clue. Originally aired January 14th,1951. 

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A Man Called X was a CBS/NBC spy radio series that aired from July 10, 1944 to May 20, 1952. The lead character, Intelligence Agent Ken Thurston, was portrayed by Herbert Marshall. His sidekick, Pagan Zeldchmidt, was played by Leon Belasco. Together, they took various cases, all of which were extremely dangerous, and had happened at different exotic places in the world. The background music was supplied by Gordon Jenkins' Orchestra.

Rendezvous With Death: Ken Thurston flies to Burma when a telegrapher is shot in Rangoon to prevent him from sending a message. Originally aired November 11th, 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.

Lord Edgware Dies: Lord Edgware is found brutally stabbed, his wife the prime suspect. But did she murder him?

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The Crime Club aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System as a half-hour weekly radio series, beginning on December 2, 1946 and continuing until October 16, 1947, a run of 47 episodes. It aired on Mondays at 8 p.m. through December and then on Thursdays at 10 p.m. It was also heard on Wednesdays and Sundays on some stations.

Each installment was introduced by the series host, The Librarian, portrayed by Barry Thomson and Raymond Edward Johnson (who was perhaps better known as the host of Inner Sanctum Mysteries). The series featured murder and mystery dramas, some of which had already been published by the Doubleday Crime Club. A new Crime Club book was made available to the public each week and distributed though local newsstands and bookstores.

Murder Rents A Room: A rich man "dies" but most of his money is missing. The man's ne'er-do-well nephew is suspect. Originally aired June 5th, 1947.

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