A Good Read: Denise Mina and Simon Brett

Books and Authors

BBC

Society & Culture, Books

4.2 • 824 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

ABSENT IN THE SPRING by Agatha Christie (writing as Mary Westmacott) (HarperCollins), chosen by Simon Brett IN THE GARDEN OF THE FUGITIVES by Ceridwen Dovey (Penguin), chosen by Denise Mina HIDE MY EYES by Margery Allingham (Penguin), chosen by Harriett Gilbert

Crime writers Denise Mina and Simon Brett join Harriett Gilbert to read each other's favourite books.

Simon chooses Agatha Christie under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, with Absent In The Spring. It’s a story without any detective and one that, perhaps, reveals a more personal side to Christie's writing.

Denise picks the novel In the Garden of the Fugitives by South African-Australian author Ceridwen Dovey, an epistolary novel which begins with a letter that breaks seventeen years of silence between a rich, elderly man with a broken heart and his former protegee, a young South African filmmaker.

And for the occasion of having two crime authors, Harriett Gilbert picks a golden age crime book, Hide My Eyes by Margery Allingham, where private detective Albert Campion finds himself hunting down a serial killer.

Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol Join the conversation @agoodreadbbc Instagram

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.2	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:39.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:43.8	Hello, I'm Harriet Gilbert.
0:45.5	Thank you for downloading a good read, the podcasts,
0:48.7	where two guests and I recommend books we love and describe why we love them.
0:53.4	Today we've kidnapped a couple of writers from Crime Fest, Bristol's annual crime fiction convention
0:58.9	and persuaded them to share with us books they love as readers.
1:02.8	Denise Minor is the multi-award-winning author of 19 crime novels, most recently three fires,
1:08.5	and the second murderer, a continuation Philip Marlowe mystery.
1:13.3	Both books are just out in paperback.
1:15.8	With Denise is Simon Brett, who in a slightly longer career has written over 100 books,
1:21.4	including detective novels in the Charles Paris, Feathering and Mrs. Pardetta series.
1:27.2	Simon is a recipient of the Crime Writers Association Top Award,
1:30.9	a Diamond Dagger.
1:33.1	Simon, Brett, would you start us off?
1:35.2	What is your choice of a good read?
	...

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