Queering The Golden Age

Shedunnit

Caroline Crampton

Arts, Books

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if everything we thought about murder mysteries was wrong? Thanks to my guest, Benedict Morrison. Among his many publications, you can read him on Agatha Christie's theatrical work in the Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie. Mentioned in this episode: — The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie — A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie — The “Queer Clues” episode of Shedunnit — Towards Zero by Agatha Christie — The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie — Suddenly At His Residence aka The Crooked Wreath by Christianna Brand — The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie — Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie — Queering Agatha Christie by J.C. Bernthal NB: Links to Blackwell's are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell's is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge. To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter. The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice. Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/queeringthegoldenagetranscript Music by Audioblocks and Blue Dot Sessions. See shedunnitshow.com/musiccredits for more details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Murder mysteries are all about certainty.
0:07.2	It's all there in that nickname we use for the form, the who done it.
0:13.4	That word poses a question, who?
0:16.8	Which the detective ultimately answers, usually in a satisfying final chapter that tidies
0:22.2	everything away into neat boxes labelled guilty, innocent, good and bad.
0:29.9	This black and white take on events can be a big part of why these books are comforting
0:34.2	to read.
0:36.2	No matter what chaos is going on in the rest of your life, you can be sure that your
0:41.0	favourite detective will always close the case in a satisfyingly final way.
0:47.0	The uncertainties and ambiguities that play us in real life have no place in crime fiction.
0:54.2	Or do they?
0:56.6	This is a genre where deceit is everywhere and characters are constantly adopting false
1:01.5	identities.
1:03.5	What if the apparent simplicity of these books is just another ruse?
1:08.8	What if there's a wealth of complexity and indeed mystery to be discovered beyond those
1:13.7	stark black and white binaries?
1:17.8	When we look at the golden age of detective fiction through the lens of queer theory,
1:22.0	suddenly nothing is as it seems.
1:25.1	And that's what we're going to be exploring today.
1:34.1	Welcome to Shee Dunnett, I'm Caroline Crampton.
1:45.7	Queer theory, it's a phrase and a field of criticism that you may well have encountered
1:50.3	before.
	...

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