Peter Lovesey: A BBC Radio Crime Collection

Synopsis

Three full-cast dramas by popular crime writer Peter Lovesey, plus a selection of short stories recorded for radioPeter Lovesey is well known for his murder mysteries featuring Victorian policeman Sergeant Cribb, Bath detective Peter Diamond and Bertie, Prince of Wales. He has won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger, Gold Dagger and Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. Collected here are adaptations of three of his historical whodunnits, alongside four short stories with a twist in the tale.Keystone – 1916. Arriving in Hollywood looking for a job, British actor Warwick Easton is hired to play a Keystone Cop. But no sooner has filming begun than comedy turns to tragedy… Set among the real stars of the silver screen in the heyday of silent movies, this diverting thriller stars Mark Straker and Jennifer Ehle.Rough Cider – Evacuated to a Somerset farm, nine-year-old Theo is unwittingly involved in a terrible murder. Twenty years later, he is forced to return and relive his childhood memories. Did he contribute to a miscarriage of justice? Rob Edwards stars in this gripping drama set in the 1960s.Bertie and the Crime of Passion – Paris, 1891, and the Prince of Wales turns royal sleuth to investigate a fatal shooting at the fashionable night club Moulin Rouge – aided and abetted by France’s most famous and glamorous actress, Sarah Bernhardt. Starring Robert Lang as Bertie and Jane Lapotaire as Sarah.Vandals – Miss Parmenter takes an instant dislike to the young man on her doorstep. In his leather jacket and jeans, he looks no better than a vandal. But she has been waiting a long time for this opportunity, and she is not going to let it slip away. Read by Auriol Smith.Curl Up and Dye – A captive client finds himself at the mercy of a talkative barber with a hair-raising story to tell. Read by John Baddeley.The Stalker – Months after his resignation from the police, the senior detective in the Sharon Eakins murder investigation sets down the extraordinary truth about the case. Read by James Bryce.Murdering Max – Peter Lovesey is proud to have written the world’s first, and only, ‘youdunnit’. So when he discovers that a rival writer has come up with the same idea, he sets about getting rid of him… Read by James Bryce.Text copyright © Peter Lovesey 1983 (Keystone), 1986 (Rough Cider), 1993 (Bertie and the Crime of Passion, ‘Vandals’), 1996 (‘Curl Up and Dye’), 2002 (‘The Stalker’, ‘Murdering Max’)All rights reservedCast and creditsWritten by Peter LoveseyKeystoneCast: Mark Straker, Jennifer Ehle, Roger Gartland, Kerry Shale, Lorelei King, Don Fellows, Ann Windsor, John Church, Gordon ReidRough CiderCast: Rob Edwards, Briony Glassco, Neville Jason, Tina Gray, Oona Beeson, Peter Whitman,David Jarvis, Malcolm Ward, Frances Jeater, Don McCorkindale, Lyndam Gregory, Gavin Muir, William WortleyBertie and the Crime of PassionCast: Robert Lang, Jane Lapotaire, Olivier Pierre, David Timson, Andrew Branch, Roger May,Paul Jenkins, Tracy Wiles, Geoffrey Whitehead, John Hartley, Zulema Dene, Linda Regan, Tessa Worsley, Diana Payan, Stephen Critchlow, Daniel Philpott‘Vandals’Read by Auriol Smith‘Curl Up and Dye’Read by John Baddeley.‘The Stalker’Read by James Bryce‘Murdering Max’Read by James Bryce© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd