Lighting the Pipes

In February 1923, Howard Carter unearthed the tomb of Tutankhamun and fed the '20s zeitgeist an abundance of ancient-world dopamine hits. One writer who picked up on this wave was Agatha Christie, who would return to Egypt five more times in her famous stories. Here, however, she pits Hercule Poirot against a series of sudden deaths at the excavation site of Men-her-Ra's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. As tensions mount and another life hangs in the balance, Poirot must separate myth and whispers of a Pharoah's curse from human greed and murderous methodology. LTP sinks its feet into the soft, deceptive sands of Christie's pocket-size prose in this short episode. Summary@5:00; PIPES@23:00

In this episode, we crack open "Swag" from 1976, one of Elmore Leonard's leanest Detroit crime novels. This caper follows Frank Ryan and Ernest "Stick" Stickley, two likeable rogues from the morally-ambiguous side of the tracks who pair-up with a plan to get rich. As the stick-ups slowly stack up, Leonard dismantles the partnership's illusory hold on their American dream and makes room for hubris and happenstance. So keep your head on a swivel because, like any good con, there's a lot more going on beneath the surface of this pacy tale! FastFacts@8:30; Summary@29:50; PIPES@1:03:20

When an inconvenient corpse is discovered in a Battersea bathtub, a complex puzzle unfolds for the London authorities. What's with the pince-nez and birthday suit combo? And isn't that a surgical college just across the rooftops? In this episode we strike a match and settle in with Dorothy L Sayers' "Whose Body?" and review the first appearance of Lord Peter Wimsey, her amateur sleuth of impeccable tailoring and disarming flippancy. Layered with mistaken identity, social satire and post-war unease, this celebrated mystery from 1923 balances classic whodunnit mechanics with sharp observations about entitlement and trauma in a changing world.FastFacts@12:45; Summary@47:25; PIPES@1:18:00

When a celebrated Soviet hero is alleged to have marched among the SS in some of history's worst butchery, James Bond is sent to validate the claims and protect the source. Along the way 007 poses as cameraman in a deep-fake propaganda production designed to rewrite history and redirect the dying embers of cold war chaos. Marked by inter-agency intrigue and a staggering cast of secondary characters, John Gardner's "The Man from Barbarossa" was supposedly the writers favourite and might just earn the award for "thickest narrative stew" here on LTP.Lights, camera, action?... well, sort of!Summary@08:00; Review@23:00

LTP Noir returns with a bang for a close look at the original 1947 adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's novel "Nightmare Alley". From the fascinating, tormented life of its author to the tension between rising star and skeptical studio mogul, Josh gives the lowdown on how this conmen thriller and its controversial carnies were brought to life. This episode tracks the full-flavoured story of a once-forgotten Noir that's finally found its redemption.Origins@02:30; Summary@08:30; Production@31:50; Rewiew@1:01:30

Inspired by the real life Tang-dynasty magistrate, Di Renjie, Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee stories continue a rich history of Chinese crime writing, gong'an, featuring government figures who solve mysteries. In this adventure, Judge Dee and his entourage find themselves seeking shelter in the Morning Cloud Monastery, suspiciously linked to the mysterious deaths of three young women. Dee and his lieutenant Tao Gan leave no stone unturned (and no tea undrunk) in their pursuit to unravel the dark secrets of this two-faced, peace-proclaiming sanctuary! We had a great time talking about this intriguing text, recommended to us by our buddy Nick over at The Book Graveyard (https://www.youtube.com/@TheBookGraveyard).FastFacts@9:45; Summary@46:00; PIPES@1:07:15