A good murder mystery has a lot in common with a good magic trick.

Both art forms combine an emphasis on transparency with their audience, while simultaneously trying

their best to deceive. The writer of a fair play mystery has an obligation not to conceal

clues from their reader, just

as a magician might perform with their sleeves rolled up to show that no cards can be hidden

there. At the same time, both are doing their best to redirect attention away from the true

workings of their plot or trick, so that the reveal at the end is still a surprise.

The fun lies in the fact that the reader or watcher could have worked out what was really happening earlier.

The information was all technically there.

One cunning way to achieve this in a detective novel is to raise the possibility of the supernatural.

The classic puzzle mystery is all about logical deduction and empirical evidence, but what if it wasn't this time?

What if for once there isn't a practical explanation for the impossible crime?

What if that shiver down the spine was justified?

By inserting this doubt into a reader's mind and causing them to jump at every shadow,

the writer has a greater chance of pulling off their real plot.

For a genre supposedly rooted in exposing the tangible crimes of this world,

detective fiction is quite interested in the uncanny and the unexplained.

So join me, won't you, for this Halloween look at all things ghostly, witchy and weird.

Music Welcome to She Done It. I'm Caroline Grampton. Before we get into the episode proper, I want to give you an update on the Shedunit Pledge Drive.

At the time I'm recording this episode, just over a week before you're hearing it,

we've already added a whopping 50 new members to the Shedanit Book Club,

meaning that in less than a week, we're already half of the way towards my goal

...