Red Herrings [Afternoon Reading]

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Mangia, Mangia, Ti Fa Bene!

20090428

20101219 (R4)

Short story by acclaimed crime writer Donna Leon.

Read by Greta Scacchi.

A dark tale that warns against over-indulgence... An attentive Italian housewife prepares a mouth-watering meal to beguile her taciturn husband. The title translates as Eat! Eat! It's Good for You.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

By Donna Leon. The pleasure of a sumptuous meal beguiles a taciturn husband.

Unwanted Presence

20101102

Unwanted Presence by Lynda La Plante.

Read by Rory Kinnear.

Crime writing at its twisted best... Leading authors Lynda La Plante, Brian McGilloway and Andrew Taylor tackle the red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal - in a series of new short stories specially written for BBC Radio 4.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

About the author:

Born in Liverpool, Lynda La Plante trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Work with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company led to a career as a television actress with regular roles in dramas such as Fox, Minder and The Sweeney.

While filming The Gentle Touch as an actress, La Plante wrote four plot outlines and sent them to the show's producers. All were returned as unsuitable, but on one someone had written 'this is wonderful!' That was all the encouragement La Plante needed, and that brief synopsis eventually became the phenomenally successful TV series Widows. La Plante's original scripts for the highly acclaimed Prime Suspect (starring Helen Mirren) garnered many awards and set a new standard for television drama.

Rory Kinnear reads Unwanted Presence by Lynda La Plante.

In Pursuit Of The Uneatable

20101103

Crime writing at its twisted best... The red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal - inspires this series of new short stories by leading exponents of the genre.

In Pursuit of the Uneatable by Brian McGilloway. Read by Eugene O'Hare.

A new case for McGilloway's detective hero Inspector Benedict Devlin. Protesters get more than they bargained for at a fox hunt on the Irish borderland.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

About the author:

Brian McGilloway was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin series. His first novel, Borderlands, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as 'one of (2007's) most impressive debuts.' The second novel in the series, Gallows Lane, was shortlisted for both the 2009 Irish Book Awards/Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010. The new Inspector Devlin novel, The Rising, was published in the UK earlier this Spring in hardback, alongside the paperback of the third novel, Bleed A River Deep.

Eugene O'Hare reads In Pursuit of the Uneatable by Brian McGilloway.

The Difference

20090429

20101226 (R4)

By Reginald Hill. A young murderer's confession has far reaching consequences.

Catch 13

20101104

Catch 13 by Andrew Taylor.

Read by James Fleet.

Last in a series of short stories inspired by the red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal.

Andrew Taylor won the 2009 Crime Writer's Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. In Catch-13, specially written for Radio 4, Taylor displays his pedigree with a brilliant story that twists and turns its way to a stimulating conclusion.

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

About the author:

Andrew Taylor's first novel Caroline Minuscule won the CWA's John Creasey Award in 1982. He is the only author to have won the Ellis Peters Historical Award twice, in 2001 for The Office of the Dead and in 2003 for The American Boy (about the English boyhood of Edgar Allan Poe), which also won the US Audie in the literary fiction category. He has been shortlisted for the Gold Dagger, the Edgar, and many other awards in the UK and abroad. His latest novel is The Anatomy of Ghosts.

James Fleet reads Catch-13 by Andrew Taylor.

The Soothmoothers

20090430

20110116 (R4)

By Ann Cleeves. Tension between guests at a Shetland hotel spark a local woman's curiosity

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	Mangia, Mangia, Ti Fa Bene!	20090428	20101219 (R4)	Short story by acclaimed crime writer Donna Leon. Read by Greta Scacchi. A dark tale that warns against over-indulgence... An attentive Italian housewife prepares a mouth-watering meal to beguile her taciturn husband. The title translates as Eat! Eat! It's Good for You. Produced by Kirsteen Cameron. By Donna Leon. The pleasure of a sumptuous meal beguiles a taciturn husband.
01	Unwanted Presence	20101102		Unwanted Presence by Lynda La Plante. Read by Rory Kinnear. Crime writing at its twisted best... Leading authors Lynda La Plante, Brian McGilloway and Andrew Taylor tackle the red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal - in a series of new short stories specially written for BBC Radio 4. Produced by Kirsteen Cameron. About the author: Born in Liverpool, Lynda La Plante trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Work with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company led to a career as a television actress with regular roles in dramas such as Fox, Minder and The Sweeney. While filming The Gentle Touch as an actress, La Plante wrote four plot outlines and sent them to the show's producers. All were returned as unsuitable, but on one someone had written 'this is wonderful!' That was all the encouragement La Plante needed, and that brief synopsis eventually became the phenomenally successful TV series Widows. La Plante's original scripts for the highly acclaimed Prime Suspect (starring Helen Mirren) garnered many awards and set a new standard for television drama. Rory Kinnear reads Unwanted Presence by Lynda La Plante.
02	In Pursuit Of The Uneatable	20101103		Crime writing at its twisted best... The red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal - inspires this series of new short stories by leading exponents of the genre. In Pursuit of the Uneatable by Brian McGilloway. Read by Eugene O'Hare. A new case for McGilloway's detective hero Inspector Benedict Devlin. Protesters get more than they bargained for at a fox hunt on the Irish borderland. Produced by Kirsteen Cameron. About the author: Brian McGilloway was born in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin series. His first novel, Borderlands, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2007 and was hailed by The Times as 'one of (2007's) most impressive debuts.' The second novel in the series, Gallows Lane, was shortlisted for both the 2009 Irish Book Awards/Ireland AM Crime Novel of the Year and the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2010. The new Inspector Devlin novel, The Rising, was published in the UK earlier this Spring in hardback, alongside the paperback of the third novel, Bleed A River Deep. Eugene O'Hare reads In Pursuit of the Uneatable by Brian McGilloway.
02	The Difference	20090429	20101226 (R4)	By Reginald Hill. A young murderer's confession has far reaching consequences.
03	Catch 13	20101104		Catch 13 by Andrew Taylor. Read by James Fleet. Last in a series of short stories inspired by the red herring - that most effective weapon in the crime writer's arsenal. Andrew Taylor won the 2009 Crime Writer's Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. In Catch-13, specially written for Radio 4, Taylor displays his pedigree with a brilliant story that twists and turns its way to a stimulating conclusion. Produced by Kirsteen Cameron. About the author: Andrew Taylor's first novel Caroline Minuscule won the CWA's John Creasey Award in 1982. He is the only author to have won the Ellis Peters Historical Award twice, in 2001 for The Office of the Dead and in 2003 for The American Boy (about the English boyhood of Edgar Allan Poe), which also won the US Audie in the literary fiction category. He has been shortlisted for the Gold Dagger, the Edgar, and many other awards in the UK and abroad. His latest novel is The Anatomy of Ghosts. James Fleet reads Catch-13 by Andrew Taylor.
03	The Soothmoothers	20090430	20110116 (R4)	By Ann Cleeves. Tension between guests at a Shetland hotel spark a local woman's curiosity