As Americans head to the polls to pick a president, we'll hear some old time radio mysteries centering on the seedier side of the political process. Fortunately, The Green Hornet is on hand to keep things safe for democracy and to deliver a decisive blow against the crooked machines who try to get corrupt politicians elected. We'll hear the Hornet and his loyal sidekick Kato in "Votes for Sale" (originally aired on Mutual on October 9, 1940), "Ballots and Bluff" (originally aired on Mutual on...

Get ready for thrills, chills, and spills with trick-or-treat tales both scary and silly in the annual Down These Mean Streets Halloween special! Ray Milland reprises his big screen role as The Screen Director's Playhouse presents "The Uninvited" (originally aired on NBC on November 18, 1949). Then, two radio gumshoes face off against things that go bump in the night: The Saint in "The Ghosts Who Came to Dinner" (originally aired on NBC on April 8, 1951) and Barrie Craig, Confidential...

It's the witching hour - well, closer to two witching hours, to be precise - for old time radio detectives in this week's episode. We've got four mysteries involving witches just in time for Halloween. First, an author plagued by a witch's hexes seeks the help of Nick Carter in "The Witch of Donderberg Mountain" (originally aired on Mutual on April 22, 1945). Next, a witch at a Halloween party sees danger in Boston Blackie's future. Then, Casey, Crime Photographer investigates the murder of a...

Yippie-ki-yay, old time radio fans! We're heading west for some radio mysteries set in the wide open spaces of the American frontier. Alan Ladd is on the trail of his brother's murderer in "A Killing in Abilene" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950), and Joel McCrea hunts for a cowboy's killer in "The Cactus Pear" from Tales of the Texas Rangers (originally aired on NBC on December 17, 1950). As Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Edmond O'Brien has to determine if - and why -...

Great Scott...600 episodes?! To mark the occasion, I'm on a trip to 221B Baker Street with my favorite radio adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In this super-sized Sherlock special, we'll hear John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson in "A Scandal in Bohemia." Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are Holmes and Watson in "The Notorious Canary Trainer" (originally aired on Mutual on April 23, 1945) and "The Speckled Band" (originally aired on Mutual on November 12, 1945), and then Bruce is joined by Tom Conway...

I may not know art, but I know what I like - and I like these four radio mysteries involving masterpieces, the artists who make them, and the crooks who try to steal them. First, Boston Blackie is forced to participate in an art heist to save his friend (syndicated episode known as "The Abbott Painting"), and a beautiful woman wants a missing artist found in "The Barefoot Boy with Shoes Gone" from Jeff Regan, Investigator (AFRS rebroadcast of a show from January 25, 1950). The Saint steps...

Several great actors gave voice to The Shadow, but today we're shining a spotlight on those stars and their roles outside of the cloak of radio's invisible avenger. We'll hear Frank Readick as a crook in "The Case of the Cincinnati Narcotics Ring" from Gang Busters (originally aired on ABC on September 25, 1948). Then, Bill Johnstone is a newlywed with a secret in "Devoted Couple" from The Whistler (orignally aired on CBS on July 9, 1950) and Lt. Ben Guthrie in "The Cop Killer" from The...

Over the long run of the Dragnet radio series, Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) was paired with four different partners. Each of these cops brought a different energy to the show and had a similar but different dynamic with Friday. We'll hear all four of them in this week's episode. First, Barton Yarborough is Sgt. Ben Romero in "The Big Ben" (originally aired on NBC on March 15, 1951). Then, Barney Phillips plays Sgt. Ed Jacobs in "The Big Almost No-Show" (originally aired on NBC on January 31,...

Tap gloves and tune in for a quartet of radio mysteries set in and around the boxing ring. First, a crooked gambler is killed when he tries to a fix a fight in "Death is a Knockout" from Crime Club (originally aired on Mutual on June 12, 1947). Next, Dick Powell gives a heel turn as a boxer out to ruin a rival in "Slow Burn" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1950). Reporter Randy Stone tries to help a fighter under pressure to throw his next bout in Night Beat (an episode...

Catch a plane and begin a daring mission with these four radio super spies and sleuths. As Steve Mitchell, Brian Donlevy heads to London to keep enemy agents guessing in Dangerous Assignment (originally aired on NBC on March 3, 1951) and The Man Called X is off to Monte Carlo to find out why a fellow agent was killed (originally aired on NBC on May 4, 1951). Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. hunts for missing scientists and plans for the weapon they built in "The Gigantic Hoax" from The Silent Men...

Feathers and fiends are on the agenda this week with four old time radio mysteries involving birds. A crow may foil a killer's plans to get away with murder in "Bird of Death," a syndicated episode of The Haunting Hour. Then, Blackstone, the Magic Detective explains how a canary helped him solve the case of "The Bird of Doom" in a syndicated tale. Bob Bailey investigates when a parrot's owner keels over after the parrot tells him to in "Drop Dead" from Let George Do It (originally aired on...

Fur coats are in demand in this week's radio mysteries, as our detectives tackle cases involving the pricey outerwear. First, Dick Powell investigates a fur warehouse fire that may be arson in "Fortune in Furs" from Rogue's Gallery (originally aired on Mutual on December 20, 1945). Then, the cops of The Line-Up hope a fur coat can help them identify a Jane Doe in "The Fur Flaunting Floozy" (originally aired on CBS on September 26, 1951). Finally, Johnny Dollar hunts for 80 stolen mink coats...

The golden age of radio meets the atomic age with these four mysteries. First, Bulldog Drummond hunts for missing radium in "Claim Check for Death" (originally aired on Mutual on January 17, 1947). Next, villains plot to wipe out New York with an atomic weapon, and only Mr. I.A. Moto can stop them in "A Force Called X07" (originally aired on NBC on May 20, 1951). The feds try to find the man who's smuggling out secrets of a new atomic bomb in "The Case for Dr. Singer" from Suspense...

Sometimes it takes two detectives to crack the case. Fortunately, each of these radio mysteries has a dynamic duo on the scene. First, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons and his partner Mike Kelly solve "The Case of the Ruthless Murderers" (originally aired on CBS on October 27, 1949). Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin take their final bow on the air in "The Case of Room 304" (originally aired on NBC on April 27, 1951). Sgt. Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are on the trail of counterfeiters in...

Don't hiss - even if you don't like snakes, I think you'll enjoy these four serpent-centric radio mysteries. First, Casey, Crime Photographer investigates a curse that may have followed two explorers home in "The Serpent Goddess" (originally aired on CBS on December 4, 1947). Next, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson tangle with Professor Moriarty and a secret cult in "The Adventure of the Serpent God" (originally aired on Mutual on March 14, 1948). Dick Powell tries to protect his client from...

As we head into the home stretch of summer, here are four seasonal radio mysteries. Frank Lovejoy stars as the owner of a summer resort in dire financial straits who may have turned to murder to keep the lights on in "Last Night" from The Mollé Mystery Theatre (originally aired on NBC on February 22, 1946), and in a syndicated mystery, Boston Blackie finds a marriage racket when he heads to a dude ranch for vacation. A man spends a hot night trying to get rid of a surprise corpse in "Summer...

Say "aloha" to adventure with four radio mysteries set in Hawaii. The Man Called X investigates a land swindle in Honolulu (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1947), and a con artist tries to pose as an heiress to net a fortune in "The Rawhide Coffin" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on April 3, 1949). Philip Marlowe heads to the islands in "The Cloak of Kamehameha" (originally aired on CBS on May 16, 1950) and Orson Welles is in Hawaii hunting for jewels in "Cherchez La Gem"...

Our heroes try to solve some purr-fect crimes in these old time radio mysteries - each involving a cat. First, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (played by Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce) find "The Clue of the Hungry Cat" (originally aired on ABC on October 26, 1946). Next, Bob Bailey tries to help an inventor and finds a murder in "The Iron Cat" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on June 12, 1950). Then, a panther is on the loose in Los Angeles and Sgt. Joe Friday has to track it...

We're saluting James M. Cain - one of the fathers of hard-boiled crime fiction - with two of his stories recreated for radio. First, James Cagney plays a rising racketeer who takes advantage of a crusading reformer in "Love's Lovely Counterfeit" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on January 17, 1948). Then, Burt Lancaster and Joan Bennett plot a murder and a swindle in "Double Indemnity" from The Ford Theatre (originally aired on CBS on October 15, 1948).

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my five favorite installments of Crime Classics - the anthology of true crime stories taken from the pages of history. "Connaisseur of crime" Thomas Hyland (played by Lou Merrill) narrated the tales that ranged from BC until recent history. A dismembered corpse stuns Boston society in "The Terrible Deed of John White Webster" (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1953), and a woman's murder of her philandering boyfriend is only the beginning of the story in...

Welcome to the Rock! Alcatraz - America's most notorious prison - is the subject of this weeks' show. First, Gang Busters presents a dramatic recreation of the most violent escape attempt in its history in "The Battle of Alcatraz" (originally aired on ABC on May 11, 1946). Then, it's a double feature of Pat Novak For Hire when the gumshoe is caught in a pair of Alcatraz escapes and the hunt for the escapees (episodes known as "Joe Feldman and Father Leahy" - originally aired on ABC on April...

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my five favorite installments of The Whistler - the anthology of mystery and murder where we follow the criminal as the commit the "perfect crime," only to be undone at the final curtain. Bill Forman is our sinister storyteller, who "knows the nameless terrors" of these killers' minds. First, a long-suffering wife plans to get rid of her husband and frame him for a series of murders in "Boomerang" (originally aired on CBS on March 11, 1946), and a carnival...

Cast your line for mystery with these old time radio shows involving fishing. Casey, Crime Photographer finds murder on a fishing trip in "Treasure Cave" (originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1947), and a stolen fishing boat leads to a pair of corpses in "Rita Malloy" from Pat Novak For Hire (AFRS rebroadcast from April 23, 1949). Charles Russell stars as Johnny Dollar in "I Caught a Fishing Boat, But You Should Have Seen the One That Got Away" (originally aired on CBS on October 1,...

Pack your bags and take a trip to Mexico in these radio mysteries. First, Burt Lancaster plots a double cross in "The Big Shot" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on September 9, 1948). Philip Marlowe is hired to find out what a woman is up to in "The Mexican Boat Ride" (originally aired on CBS on July 30, 1949), and the cops of Dragnet chase a pair of fugitives in "The Big Border" (originally aired on NBC on March 20, 1952). Finally, Dana Andrews tries to thwart the plans of Soviet...