On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.

It was an extraordinary news story.

The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,

mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.

One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for Lucan.

It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime.

I'm Alex von Tundselman.

This is The Lucan Obsession.

Listen on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Hello and welcome. Music, Radio Podcasts.

Hello and welcome to Open Book.

I'm Alex Clark and this week I'd like you to join me and my guests on what might be the last picnic of summer.

Now the past few months have felt particularly fibrile. We've seen extreme weather conditions, widespread travel disruption and a far from settled political climate. So we wanted

to explore some of the ways in which fiction both past and present has reflected the intensity

of summer, the changes it brings, its pleasures and its

perils, its promises and its disappointments, and the inevitable hints of the autumn and winter to come.

So whether you've been luxuriating in the sunshine or eagerly awaiting the first nip in the air,

please join us as we lay out our tartan blanket, unpack

the egg sandwiches and swap the wasps away from our most beloved paperbacks. Throughout the

program, we'll be hearing from Meg Rousseau, who is two parts through a trilogy about summer

and the immense changes it can herald. The first book, The Great Godden, is set by the English seaside.

...