Decline of the English Murder

Decline of the English Murder

From Shedunnit by Caroline Crampton

April 15, 2026 · 22 min

About this episode

The episode explores what George Orwell can teach us about detective fiction.

What George Orwell can teach us about detective fiction. Support the podcast by joining the Shedunnit Book Club and get extra Shedunnit episodes every month plus access to the monthly reading discussions and community: shedunnitbookclub.com/join. Books and essays mentioned in this episode:— "Decline of the English Murder" by George Orwell— Animal Farm by George Orwell— The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins— "The Vernon Murder" by George Orwell— The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle— "The Ethics of the Detective Story from Raffles to Miss Blandish" by George Orwell— No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley— "The Simple Art of Murder" by Raymond Chandler To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Caroline Crampton

Topics covered

  • detective fiction
  • George Orwell
  • literature analysis
  • murder mystery
  • ethical storytelling
  • classic literature

Keywords

  • detective fiction
  • George Orwell
  • murder
  • literature
  • analysis
  • mystery
  • ethics
  • classic novels

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Decline of the English Murder, Animal Farm, The Moonstone, The Vernon Murder, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Ethics of the Detective Story from Raffles to Miss Blandish, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, The Simple Art of Murder

More episodes of Shedunnit

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Shedunnit podcast page.