Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy

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The true crimes which inspired The Golden Age of Murder

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 • Duration 36:29

The Detection Club, established in 1930, is the world’s first social network for crime writers.

It’s founder fathers and mothers included Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and Anthony Berkeley.

Its current membership includes Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Richard Osman.

The current (and only the eighth) President, Martin Edwards, has released an updated edition of his book ‘The Golden Age of Murder’ in which he talks about the true cases which inspired the literary greats of the Inter-War years.

And he describes how many of our classic crime novels riff around the subject of a ‘justified murder.’

To WATCH this interview, click here: https://open.substack.com/pub/robertmurphy/p/video-interview-martin-edwards-president?r=1lsdh7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

More about Martin Edwards : https://martinedwardsbooks.com/ and https://substack.com/@martinedwardsbooks/

This podcast mentions an earlier episode about the Thompson-Bywaters with laura thompson case. You can hear that here:

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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John Le Carré - taking on the spymaster's Smiley series: Nick Harkaway

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 • Duration 36:26

How do you take on one of the biggest literature legacies of the past half-century? That’s what Nick Harkaway was asked to do after his father, David Cornwell (aka John Le Carré) died in 2020.

Karla’s Choice, Nick’s latest in the George Smiley world puts us in a sinister world of subterfuge, Hungarian agents and 1960s London.

In this interview, Nick tells us how he approached the writing of Karla’s Choice, what he learned from his father - and what he had to learn on-the-job, and how he balances writing in the Le Carré world with his own books.

You can get Karla’s Choice here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Karlas-Choice-John-Carr%C3%A9-Novel-ebook/dp/B0CZPPHPCR?ref_=ast_author_mpb

PLUS: My book ‘Decoy’ won ‘Book of the Year’ at the True Crime awards in London last week. Judges praised the quality of the writing, the high-end research and journalism and the issues raised.

You can grab a copy here:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Decoy-secretive-historical-undercover-operations/dp/0008666814/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

USA: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Decoy/dp/B0CS6XNB54?ref_=ast_author_dp

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Decoy-secretive-historical-undercover-operations-ebook/dp/B0CLTGQDQJ?ref_=ast_author_dp

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Decoy-secretive-historical-undercover-operations-ebook/dp/B0CLTGQDQJ?ref_=ast_author_dp

Want to watch this interview? Check it out here: https://robertmurphy.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/165538997/share-center

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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Jackie Malton: The Real Prime Suspect. Ep 2

Tuesday, July 16, 2024 • Duration 35:10

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE: ROBERTMURPHY.SUBSTACK.COM

By the late 1980s, Jackie Malton seemed to have it all. She was one of only three female detective chief inspectors in the Metropolitan Police. She had worked on major inquiries and was a noted leader.

But she had also stood up against the force’s grey male authority, against corruption, misogyny and freemasonry. Bruising encounters which left her unliked by some, stymied in her career and battling with alcohol.

Then she received the phone call which changed her life.

After retiring, Jackie has continued to work with television firms. She advises TV drama producers and is an expert used for crime analysis on shows and podcasts.

She also works in prison to rehabilitate killers. In this episode she speaks about her work helping to reform murderers: how its done and the successes and failures she has encountered.

Jackie’s book is The Real Prime Suspect. You can grab a copy here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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Jackie Malton: The Real Prime Suspect. Ep1

Tuesday, July 9, 2024 • Duration 53:13

#Subscribe for FREE: robertmurphy.substack.com #

Jackie Malton was a policing pioneer, joining a British provincial force in 1970, then transferring to the Metropolitan Police where she served in the Fraud Squad, Flying Squad and murder squads. She was often the only woman serving in each team.

In this episode, she describes how she overcame homophobia and misogyny, clashed with corrupt officers and worked on one of London’s most controversial inquiries: The New Cross Fire investigation.

Jackie’s book is The Real Prime Suspect. You can grab a copy here.

Please rate and review Behind The Crimes wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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Lynda La Plante: Prime Suspect, DCI Jane Tennison and the importance of true crime

Tuesday, July 2, 2024 • Duration 40:42

It was the early 1990s and Lynda La Plante was desperate. She had a few TV drama successes under her belt, but everything she was pitching was greeted with a ‘no’ from commissioners.

Then, in a pitch meeting, she dreamt up Prime Suspect when the TV boss said she wanted a ‘cop show with a female detective and a murder.'

But to create Det Ch Insp Jane Tennison, Lynda needed to research true crime. Enter Met detective Jackie Malton - and months of research.

This interview coincides with the release of Lynda’s final Jane Tennison book, Whole Life Sentence which takes readers to the detective’s life before Prime Suspect.

In this episode, Lynda talks Tennison, Jackie Malton, the importance of grounding her fiction in fact and research.

Whole Life Sentence is released on July 4th 2024. You can grab a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whole-Life-Sentence-pulse-pounding-Detective-ebook/dp/B0CSTSGNS8

To learn more about Lynda, click here:

https://lyndalaplante.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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The Science of a Manhunt: crime analysis

Tuesday, June 25, 2024 • Duration 01:08:03

For extras subscribe at: robertmurphy.substack.com

Samantha Robins was the Intelligence Manager on the Major Crime Team at Surrey Police in May 2010 when, late in the evening, the call came in: a young mother had been murdered in her home.

What followed was a multi-pronged inquiry.

Sarah Thomas was a 38-year-old mother of three who was found in her flat in a quiet English village.

Her boyfriend raised the alarm - and was arrested.

But when it became clear he was not responsible for Sarah’s death, suspicion passed to a dark character with an horrific criminal record.

As the inquiry moved through the gears and a major manhunt was begun, detectives started leaning heavily on Samantha and her team of analysts which was sifting through the influx of sightings and clues.

* Who was Sarah’s killer?

* Why had he murdered her?

* Where had he been spotted?

And when the full history of the killer’s criminal record became known, the manhunt became a race against time.

You can learn more about Sam here: https://x.com/SamRobins

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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Janice Hallett: The fiction best-seller based on 'true crime research'

Tuesday, June 18, 2024 • Duration 24:24

Janice Hallett has created three of the most inventive crime books of recent years. When I first started reading ‘The Appeal’ I was a bit dubious. How could a crime novel with big characters really be told through emails and messages?

Then I got into the book…

Next came The Twyford Code with a main character, a prisoner Steve Smith who can neither read nor write, who reveals his story through transcripts of audio recordings.

It is GENIUS!

And now there is the Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, told through research papers left by a journalist investigating a cult. Another triumph.

In this episode Janice talks of how she is inspired by true crime, how she never plots her books and how her previous careers as a screenwriter and speechwriter have helped her as a fiction writer.

To find out more about Janice and her books, click here.

Her latest book, The Examiner, will be available from August 29th.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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The Fall: The Skydive Murder Plot ii: Lead detective Paul Franklin

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 • Duration 01:08:17

#To watch this interview - subscribe at robertmurphy.substack.com#

Det Insp Paul Franklin was in charge of the inquiry to bring the murderous, cheating husband Emile Cilliers to justice.

But it wasn’t easy. There was little direct evidence that Cilliers had tampered with the parachute of his wife, Victoria.

There was no CCTV nor DNA.

And Victoria did not support the investigation into her husband.

A new docudrama about the case is being broadcast in the UK. To coincide with this, Paul has given this new interview to Behind the Crimes to discuss how he built the case, the challenges of Victoria becoming a hostile witness, how dangerous Cilliers is - and the long-term impact of the inquiry on everyone.

And it is now the subject of a brilliant three-part docudrama, made by Story Films for Channel4 in the UK:

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-fall-skydive-murder-plot/on-demand/75275-002

Victoria has written her own account too.

If you are impacted by issues raised in this interview, please read more here: https://refuge.org.uk/i-need-help-now/coercive-control/

https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/coercive-control/

https://survivingeconomicabuse.org/i-need-help/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

The Fall: The Skydive Murder Plot. Interview with Det Sgt Maddy Hennah

Tuesday, June 11, 2024 • Duration 55:57

#To watch this interview - subscribe at robertmurphy.substack.com#

Emile Cilliers made global headlines in 2018 when he was convicted of the attempted murder of his wife Victoria.

He was an upstanding army sergeant, a family man, who led a debaucherous double life of sex clubs, girlfriends and payday loans.

He tried to murder Victoria by tampering with the gas meter in their home. When this failed, he sabotaged her parachute - both her main and reserve canopies.

Somehow, Victoria survived the 4,000-foot drop.

There was little direct evidence: no DNA, no CCTV. No clue that Emile was responsible.

But after taking a spine-tingling call and arresting Cilliers, detective Maddy Hennah became convinced he was the perpetrator.

What followed was a long, arduous inquiry leading to a sensational pair of trials.

It has been the subject of my own eight-part podcast series:

And it is now the subject of a brilliant three-part docudrama, made by Story Films for Channel4 in the UK:

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-fall-skydive-murder-plot/on-demand/75275-002

Victoria has written her own account too.

If you are impacted by issues raised in this interview, please read more here: https://refuge.org.uk/i-need-help-now/coercive-control/

https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/coercive-control/

https://survivingeconomicabuse.org/i-need-help/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

Laura Lippman: why crime fiction has a 'sidewinder approach to empathy.'

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 • Duration 52:37

#Subscribe for free: robertmurphy.substack.com#

Laura Lippman spent more than 20 years as a journalist working in Texas and Baltimore.

She has won Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Barry, Nero and Shamus awards (among many others) for her 25 novels - which include 12 featuring the private investigator Tess Monaghan

Her latest, Prom Mom, has a loose inspiration by the 1997 case of Melissa Drexler a New Jersey teenager who gave birth during her prom, but then something truly awful happened…

Laura discusses the ethics of True Crime - including the aftermath of Baby Reindeer, how being a journalist helped her ‘research to task’ and why Nick Hornby likened Laura to ‘a big American cheeseburger’ (Patricia Highsmith was a steak!)

There’s more about Laura here: https://lauralippman.com/

And subscribe for extras: robertmurphy.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertmurphy.substack.com

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Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

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Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Behind the Crimes with Robert Murphy – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other32

Amazon26

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other32

Amazon26