#the doughty sleuth

[anomaly-beans-draws]

And to go with Blair and her private eye agency... well. She could use helping hands... or paws?

Meet Becky (the Hunchbacked Secretary) and Ester (the Doughty Sleuth)!

[frary-us]

“i’ve never done a ghost story before...”

Till death do us part: Matt and Lisa are torn apart – but why?

3 MIN READ

PLATFORM 7 | ITVX THURSDAY 

This supernatural thriller – based on Louise Doughty’s 2019 novel of the same name – follows Lisa Evans, a young woman who frequents platform seven of a railway station. After witnessing a tragic event at the depot, Lisa’s blurred memories come into focus, unearthing a connection between that moment and her own life – and death. The four-parter stars Jasmine Jobson (Top Boy) as Lisa; Toby Regbo (A Discovery Of Witches) as her boyfriend Matt; Rhiannon Clements (Hollyoaks’ Summer Ranger) as Lisa’s best friend Izzy, and telly veteran Phil Davis as Edward – a man with an unearthly connection to Lisa. Here, Jasmine, and Toby tell Inside TV more… 

Hi, both! What appealed to you about this series?

Jasmine It has to be the supernatural thing. There’s something about being a spirit and being around people without their knowledge, and playing about with them when they’ve irritated you! And I hadn’t played anybody like Lisa before, so it was also about trying something new.

Toby This is the first modern piece I’ve done in ages. I seem to just do period dramas! So to make the switch towards psychological realism, I feel as though you can get away with more. And I’ve never done a ghost story before. 

The doctor will see you now: Matt and Lisa feel the chemistry

It must feel strange not acknowledging that the other actor is there? 

Jasmine Yeah, it definitely felt weird being in scenes yet not really being involved. I had to get used to not having anything to say! 

Toby Trying to pretend that somebody isn’t there is surprisingly difficult. It’s interesting how your body just responds to somebody being there, like trying to pass right beside someone without making any little movements that you naturally do to accommodate another human being. 

How was it playing those moments where Lisa walks through walls?

Jasmine So that took a while to figure out. I’d walk through open doors, and I accidentally pushed a door open once! But once we knew what we were doing, it was wicked. 

Toby, do you think that Matt believes in ghosts?

Toby No – I think, as a doctor, he’s a man of science. I don’t think he has any inkling that Lisa is standing behind him, nor that he has a sense thatt there’s life after death. Which is interesting in terms of where the story goes…

There’s also an important relationship between Edward and Lisa – Jasmine, what was it like working with Phil Davis? 

Jasmine Oh, Phil was absolutely amazing. He’s such a phenomenal actor. Our scenes together were very special. It was a delight to have him at the station playing Edward – who has quite an interesting secret of his own…

Do you believe in ghosts?

Jasmine I sometimes see spirits and I can tell if there’s a presence around me. One thing that I’ve always been aware of is you must never say hello to them if they’re in your home. You need sage and frankincense, and you need to bless your house. 

Toby I haven’t had any first-hand experiences with the supernatural and I’ve always tended to err on the side of the material. However, that doesn’t mean to say that when I’m staying at my friend’s place in the Dorset countryside, when the moon’s out and there are owls, that I don’t sprint across the lawn to get back inside the house! 

CHIEF in-spectre 

RHIANNON CLEMENTS TELLS US HOW HER ALTER EGO TURNS AMATEUR SLEUTH… 

When it comes to her best friend’s untimely passing, Rhiannon’s character is fixed on finding the truth… 

“The big thing for Izzy is that she doesn’t believe Lisa’s death was suicide,” she says. “She thinks that there’s something else to be uncovered – and won’t let it lie till she knows what.” 

As for believing in the supernatural, making the series led to a spooky coincidence for the star...

“Phil’s character has a dog, and in some scenes, it barks at what’s seemingly an empty space,” shares Rhiannon. “I recently moved into a Victorian house, and my dog has now started barking at empty spaces. It does leave me with chills!”

[open-hearth-rpg]

Open Hearth Video Roundup - April 26, 2024

Welcome to the Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!

These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page.

You can now listen to sessions as podcasts as well!

Open Hearth Gaming Calendar

Urban Shadows 2E Cale P runs for Brandon Brylawski, Elle, Jesse A., and Kae Session 0 (Character creation and world building) for an Urban Shadows quarterly.

Urban Shadows 2E (Session 1) Cale P runs for Brandon Brylawski, Elle, Jesse A., and Kae In which Red is friend-napped, Cary is mauled, and Dancy and Dara react to these offronts.

Urban Shadows 2E: Guest Stars! Cale P runs for David Miessler-Kubanek and Steven S. We prep guest stars Morgan (a Gargoyle) and Miss Mash (a Tainted) for the next session.

Urban Shadows 2E (Session 2) Cale P runs for Brandon Brylawski, David Miessler-Kubanek, Kae, and Steven S. Our cast collides and revolves around the friend-napped Red.

Trail of Cthulhu: Fearful Symmetries: Arc Two (Session 8) Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Paul Rivers, Sherri, and Will H With the death of one of Lady Verity's entourage, Dr. Whitewood goes into full sleuth mode. Richard and other others look further into the magical and supernatural happenings. Isabella deals with the artifacts in Jaeger's safe. But the situation grow more complicated and meta, leading to the center of a maze, the telling of a story, and the temptation of a king.

The Mecha Hack: Q’ku Riposte (Session 9) Anya Reyes runs for Lowell Francis, Marc Majcher, and Sherri (Due to a recording problem this session is uploaded in two parts.) The strike team sets off to attack the Collective main facility and the Kaiju weaponization program. If they succeed the collective presence in the quadrant will be all but obliterated. It's just a matter of destroying the most secure building on the planet.

The Mecha Hack: Q’ku Riposte (Session 10) Anya Reyes runs for Lowell Francis, Marc Majcher, and Sherri [Epilogue] - A week has passed since the strike team took The Collective kaiju weaponization program facility. Selim has recovered and needs to answer to Prince Selina. Meanwhile the vipers set off to find their allies. Everyone stands to decide the future of Aurelia.

Girl by Moonlight: On a Sea of Stars (Session 3 of 5) Donogh runs for Ian, Matthew Doughty, and Sabine V. Iris/Horizon the Time Traveler arrives back from a solo mission just in time to defend the Last Bastion. But with the delay in their launch, only they are still aboard to come face to face with a Leviathan as it breaches their hangar, wreaking havoc and sowing dissent...

Girl by Moonlight: On a Sea of Stars (Session 4 of 5) Donogh runs for Ian, Matthew Doughty, and Sabine V. In the aftermath of their defence of the Last Bastion, relationships are frayed and nerves raw. Iris struggles with her place in the congregation and with her secret lover. Jet's workcrew throw abuse in his direction for his role in the Relic's destruction. And Cordelia's faith shines through, despite her mentor's misgivings over her official rejection from the pilot programme...

Girl By Moonlight: Divine Engines (Session 10) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack We return to this series after a mid-season break. Our pilots deal with the fallout from their last mission and begin to sense troubles in Bastion. The other team isolated and information becomes scarce. Then, after days of not being told anything, the secrets of this penultimate mission are finally revealed.

Star Wars Saturday

Fellowship (Session 8) Rich Rogers runs for Cody Eastlick, Kae, Steven Watkins, and Tyler Lominack An unexpected revival drives the fellowship into a showdown in Malicos' Tower.

Stars in the Dark: Stars in the Dark II (Session 7) Anders runs for Marc Majcher, Mark (they/them), Rich Rogers, and Steven Watkins Betrayal?!

Fellowship (Session 9) Rich Rogers runs for Cody Eastlick, Greg G., Kae, and Steven Watkins The fellowship deals with the aftermath of their fight with Taron Malicos.

Off-Calendar Highlights

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: In the Wake of Secrets (Session 3) Madelancholy runs for Dom, James, Jazy, and Mike Ferdinando The survivors take on the Hunter in the Maze and welcome a sentient mech to their number in combat. The remains of a lost hunter is brought along as a desiccated souvenir. As the group enters the Under-Hull, they find more warped technology in the chemical slurry...among other things...

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: In the Wake of Secrets (Session 4) Madelancholy runs for Dom, James, Jazy, and Mike Ferdinando The Fabricator-Forges upgrade and improve raw material and scavenged tech as they prepare the survivors - with the proper offering - furthering their journey. The survivors find their way into The Vastness--nothing can go wrong, communicating and communing with the Dark...

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: In the Wake of Secrets (Session 5) Madelancholy runs for Dom, Jazy, and Mike Ferdinando The ASRU unit follows a different directive in exploring The Vastness while keeping contact with Somni. Somni finds signs of her sister which fuels her obsession to go deeper into The Ship to find her. Quixote Communes and merges with the vestiges of dark consciousness and Pol finds a sentient contact, divining a necessary sacrifice is needed to go further. The remainder of the party make their way from the Dark Void to...the Engine.

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: Whispers in Exile (Session 3) Madelancholy runs for Amanda/iamatrex, B, Jonn, and Marc Majcher A plunge into chemical slurry. Encounters with camouflaged crawlers. An...offering made to twisted technology. Memories bleeding into the warped present, as someone makes a startling discovery about themselves. With all this, the survivors make it out of the Under-Hull and into the next area...

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: Whispers in Exile (Session 4) Madelancholy runs for Amanda/iamatrex, B, Jonn, and Marc Majcher The Vastness overwhelms with its breadth and strange paths over a cascade of living Darkness. A tenuous connection remembered, a memory before entering cryo-sleep. A ride on a membranous elevator increases tension. Altars call out in this cathedral-like space and a survivor is lost...

Trophy Gold: Hissing Darkness: Whispers in Exile (Session 5) Madelancholy runs for Amanda/iamatrex, B, Jonn, and Marc Majcher Another survivor - Jaxu's sister Jada - has followed the group into the Dark Void out onto the hull. Dr. Mullen and Cecile Commune with the Darkness and understand what needs to be done when they reach the Engine. Hart tries to save them from themselves but without success. Jada decides it needs to all come down... [Content warning: narrations of blood, sacrifice, murder.]

The Between: Stars and Suns, Season Two (Session 10) Madelancholy runs for Jack, Mike, Sarah W., and Steph "The Morning After" - Discussions, dessert, and recriminations the morning after. A protegé is sent away for his own safety. Strange details on a body in the morgue are pointed out over port.

The Between: Stars and Suns, Season Two (Session 11) Madelancholy runs for Jack, Mike, and Steph "Lost Souls" - This Night Phase sees the hunters attempt to resolve the demonic Threat residing at Kilborn Abbey, each in their own way, while a play of twisted science occurs across town. The Mask of Sacrilege was narrated to horrifying effect at the end of the session.

[books-coffee-and-the-woods]

2, 8 and 12 please?

Hi!!

2. What are 2-5 already published nonfiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

Funnily enough, I have exactly 5 nonfiction books on my tbr shelf:

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

The Family Next Door: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and their Extraordinary Rescue by John Glatt

We are Bellingcat: The Online Sleuths Solving Global Crimes by Eliot Higgins

Unmasked: My Life Solving Cold Cases by Paul Holes

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

8. Are there any reading challenges you want to try?

Not really. I'm a mood reader so it's hard to do challenges because I might not be in the mood to read all of one type of book for a month or something.

12. What's your 2023 stance on rating/reviewing books?

Hmm, I keep forgetting to rate books on Storygraph, unless I really liked them, in which case I give them 5 stars. Review-wise, I've accepted that I'll never be the kind of person who can review every book they read - I just don't feel that strongly about a lot of books even if I like them. Instead of formal reviews you can continue to expect a whole lot of disconnected rambling posts haha

[papapiusxiii]

50 Great Thrillers by Women, as recommended by 10 of the UK’s female crime writers

Sophie Hannah:

Summertime by Liz Rigbey. Follows a woman who loses her baby and whose father unexpectedly drowns. When her husband and sister close ranks against her, she begins to suspect they are lying to her.

The Spider’s House by Sarah Diamond. Also published as In the Spider’s House. When Anna Howell discovers that a 1960s child murderess was the previous resident of her old cottage, her marriage, sanity and life come under threat.

Hidden by Katy Gardner. When a young mother’s seven-year-old daughter disappears, she finds herself questioning everything in her life. Then a police officer starts asking about the murder of a woman 14 months earlier …

A Shred of Evidence by Jill McGown. DI Judy Hill and DCI Lloyd investigate the murder of a 15-year-old girl on a patch of open parkland in the centre of town.

Searching for Shona by Margaret Jean Anderson

The wealthy Marjorie Malcolm-Scott trades suitcases, destinations and identities with orphan Shona McInnes, as children are evacuated from Edinburgh at the start of the second world war.

Val McDermid:

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey. A teenage war orphan accuses two women of kidnap and abuse, but something about her story doesn’t add up.

Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. The Booker-longlisted author of Snap follows it up with the tale of a medical student with Asperger’s who attempts to solve a murder.

The Field of Blood by Denise Mina. The first in the Paddy Meehan series sees the reporter looking into the disappearance of a child from his Glasgow home, with evidence pointing the police towards two young boys.

A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine. Writing under her pen name, Ruth Rendell tells of the discovery of a woman and child in the animal cemetery at Wyvis Hall, 10 years after a group of young people spent the summer there.

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson. In the third Jackson Brodie book, a man is released from prison 30 years after he butchered the mother and siblings of a six-year-old girl in the Devon countryside.

Ann Cleeves:

Little Deaths by Emma Flint. Inspired by the real case of Alice Crimmins, this tells of a woman whose two children go missing from her apartment in Queens.

The Dry by Jane Harper. During Australia’s worst drought in a century, three members of one family in a small country town are murdered, with the father believed to have killed his wife and son before committing suicide.

Devices and Desires by PD James. Adam Dalgliesh takes on a serial killer terrorising a remote Norfolk community.

The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina. Heavily pregnant DS Alex Morrow investigates the violent death of a wealthy woman in Glasgow.

Fire Sale by Sara Paretsky. The inimitable VI Warshawski takes over coaching duties of the girls’ basketball team at her former high school, and investigates the explosion of the flag manufacturing plant where one of the girl’s mothers works.

Sharon Bolton:

Gone by Mo Hayder. In Hayder’s fifth thriller featuring Bristol DI Jack Caffrey, he goes after a car-jacker who is taking vehicles with children in them.

Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. A murderous revenge is being plotted against the boys’ grammar school in the north of England where eccentric Latin master Roy Straitley is contemplating retirement.

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. A time-travelling, murderous war veteran steps through the decades to murder extraordinary women – his “shining girls” – in Chicago, in this high-concept thriller.

The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood. Two women who were sentenced for murdering a six-year-old when they were children meet again as adults, when one discovers the body of a teenager.

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty. Married scientist Yvonne, who is drawn into a passionate affair with a stranger, is on trial for murder.

Sarah Ward:

A Place of Execution by Val McDermid. Journalist Catherine Heathcote investigates the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl in the Peak District village of Scarsdale in 1963.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths. Forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway investigates the discovery of a child’s bones near the site of a prehistoric henge on the north Norfolk salt marshes.

The Ice House by Minette Walters. A decade after Phoebe Maybury’s husband inexplicably vanished, a corpse is found and the police become determined to charge her with murder.

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard. When a body is found in Dublin’s Grand Canal, police turn to the notorious Canal Killer for help. But the imprisoned murderer will only talk to the woman he was dating when he committed his crimes.

This Night’s Foul Work by Fred Vargas (translated by Sian Reynolds). Commissaire Adamsberg investigates whether there is a connection between the escape of a murderous 75-year-old nurse from prison, and the discovery of two men with their throats cut on the outskirts of Paris.

Elly Griffiths: 

R in the Month by Nancy Spain. Sadly out of print, this is an atmospheric story set in a down-at-heel hotel in a postwar seaside town. The period detail is perfect and jokes and murders abound. This is the fourth book featuring the fantastic Miriam Birdseye, actress and rather slapdash sleuth.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. A gripping crime novel in which the detective never gets out of bed and the murder happened over 500 years ago. Griffith says: “I read this book as a child and was hooked – on Tey, crime fiction and Richard the Third.”

The Detective’s Daughter by Lesley Thomson. Cleaner Stella Darnell finds herself tidying up her detective father’s final, unfinished case, after he dies. It is the first in a series featuring Stella and her sidekick Jack, an underground train driver who can sense murder.

A Place of Execution by Val McDermid. Griffiths says: “I could have chosen any of Val’s novels, but this book, about a journalist revisiting a shocking 1960s murder, is probably my favourite because of its wonderful sense of time and place. It’s also pitch perfect about journalism, police investigation and life in a small community.”

He Said, She Said by Erin Kelly. An account of a rape trial at which nothing is quite as it seems. Griffiths says: “The story centres around a lunar eclipse, which also works wonderfully as a metaphor and image.”

Dreda Say Mitchell: 

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. The Gone Girl author’s debut follows journalist Camille’s investigation into the abduction and murder of two girls in her Missouri home town.

Dangerous Lady by Martina Cole. Cole’s first novel sees 17-year-old Maura Ryan taking on the men of London’s gangland.

The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid. Clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill is asked to profile a serial killer when four men are found mutilated and tortured.

Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky. A client tells VI Warshawski he is a prominent banker looking for his son’s missing girlfriend. But VI soon discovers he’s lying, and that the real banker’s son is dead.

The St Cyr series by CS Harris. Mitchell has nominated the whole of this historical mystery series about Sebastian St Cyr, Viscount Devlin – master of disguises, heir to an earldom, and disillusioned army officer. It’s a bit of a cheat but we’ll let her have it.

Erin Kelly:

No Night Is Too Long by Barbara Vine. Tim Cornish thinks he has gotten away with killing his lover in Alaska. But then the letters start to arrive …

Broken Harbour by Tana French. The fourth in French’s sublime Dublin Murder Squad series, this takes place in a ghost estate outside Dublin, where a father and his two children have been found dead, with the mother on her way to intensive care.

Chosen by Lesley Glaister. When Dodie’s mother hangs herself, she has to leave her baby at home and go to bring her brother Jake back from the mysterious Soul Life Centre in New York.

A Savage Hunger by Claire McGowan. Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire investigates the disappearance of a girl, and a holy relic, from a remote religious shrine in the fictional Irish town of Ballyterrin.

The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald. Parents Joanna and Alistair start to turn against each other after their baby goes missing from a remote roadside in Australia.

Sarah Hilary:

The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin. A sleep-deprived young mother tries to stay sane while her fears grow about the family’s new lodger, in this 1950s lost classic.

Cruel Acts by Jane Casey. Leo Stone, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of two women, is now free and claims he is innocent. DS Maeve Kerrigan and DI Josh Derwen want to put him back in jail, but Maeve begins doubting his guilt – until another woman disappears.

Sex Crimes by Jenefer Shute. A lawyer’s New Year’s Eve pick-up spirals into an erotic obsession which leads to graphic cruelty.

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent. Nugent, whom Ian Rankin has compared to Patricia Highsmith, tells the story of a woman who has been passing herself off as an English socialite on the Riviera for 25 years – until the arrival of someone who knows her from her former life prompts an act of violence.

Cuckoo by Julia Crouch. Rose’s home and family start to fall apart when her best friend Polly comes to stay.

Louise Candlish:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. Christie’s classic – with a legendary twist. The best Hercule Poirot?

The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith. A conman on the run with his wife meets a young American who becomes drawn into the crime they commit.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. The author of The Handmaid’s Tale imagines the life of the real 19th-century Canadian killer Grace Marks.

Little Face by Sophie Hannah. Hannah’s thriller debut is about a young mother who becomes convinced that, after spending two hours away from her baby, the infant is not hers.

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane. Newspaper subeditor Frances is drawn into the lives of the Kyte family when she hears the last words of the victim of a car crash, Alys Kyte.