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 Fontunzelman. This is

the Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, Radio, Podcasts.

Hello. Today on Open Book, as it's Valentine's Week, we turn to affairs of the heart and dreams of romance. Later, it's stolen glances across the desktop with a star-crossed office

affair in Madeleine Gray's funny, yet heartbreaking new novel that grapples with millennial love, green dot.

But first, some romanticacy.

Yep, the loved-up literary portmanteau of romance and fantasy fiction seems to be taking the sales charts by storm.

The number one romanticity author Sarah J. Mass has just seen her new book, House of Flame and Shadow,

hit the top of the

charts on publication this month. Her total global sales are now over 48 million. But what is it

about this steamy hot new genre that's set in publishers and readers pulses racing in 2024?

Its soaring success has been led by authors such as Mas, Rebecca Yaros, and some

seriously spicy writing, like this from bestseller Sora El Arifie. Fury's hand brushed her cheek,

her thumb rubbing over the swell of Yerin's bottom lip. Yerine shuddered and Fury's eyes turned hot and perilous.

She felt herself lean forward until their lips brushed.

Yerin enjoyed the moment of tension she could feel tightening within Fury.

She was like a coil, waiting to spring.

So what's new about Romanty and why is it becoming so popular now?

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