Octavia's triumphant new dress designs are the only thing on her mind - but is it safe to ignore the ominous dressmaker's doll which appears in her workshop? Today's cut-throat fashion industry provides this story's backdrop.

With World War II at an end, Charles Hayward is finally free to marry the woman he loves, Sophia Leonides. However, she refuses - the unexplained death of her grandfather, wealthy businessman Aristide Leonides, draws her back to the suffocating environment of her family home. Charles follows, but his arrival coincides with the discovery that Aristi...

Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, like some monstrous swollen Buddha, sat the corpse of Mrs. Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist was the only sign of the fatal injection that had killed her. With only 24 hours available to solve the mystery, Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark he'd overheard back in Jerusalem: "You see, don't you,...

In this delightful tale, an Eastern Prince arrives in England with some family jewels which he's having reset as a gift for his fianc‚e. However, the Prince also has a mistress; she asks to wear one particularly enchanting piece that features a huge ruby, and then promptly disappears with it. Poirot discovers a connection with a house party a...

Actor and reluctant sleuth Charles Paris is facing chaos on the domestic front. He's lodging with his ex-wife Frances, and now their pregnant daughter has moved in as well. It's all a bit much... So he is over the moon when he lands a job on the BBC Radio Rep - but the ink is barely dry on his contract when a murder takes place in Broadcasting Hous...

BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring John Moffatt as the great Belgian detective. When Richard Abernethie, last master of Enderby Hall, dies suddenly in his sleep, the family are eager to discover how his riches have been divided. However, the reading of the will is rudely interrupted by his youngest sister Cora - "he was murdered, wasn't h...

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring John Moffatt as the great Belgian detective with Simon Williams and Philip Jackson. Alice Ascher, a poor, elderly shopkeeper, is murdered in Andover. Betty Barnard, a young waitress, is strangled with her own belt at Bexhill-on-Sea. Next comes Carmichael Clarke, collector of Chinese art, clubbed to dea...

A middle-aged man in search of adventure, Bobby Roberts answers an advert in The Times and is dispatched to Milan, to collect a harmless package from a scientist. However, he very soon gets caught up in a terrifying murder...

This is another six-part case for crime novelist and detective Paul Temple and his Fleet Street journalist Steve. First transmitted in 1965, it was the penultimate episode of the series, which on and off had spanned 30 years from 1938 to 1968.

'The Wizard of Evesham': Agatha is alarmed when her new wizard of a hairdresser seems keen to take on more than just her split ends. She soon discovers that everyone in his salon has a secret and that he practices a very dark magic indeed. 'The Moment of Truth': Agatha must quickly discover the identity of the prisoner, but James is refusing to hel...

'A Very Rude Woman' finds Precious Ramotswe facing change at The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, while Mr J.L.B. Matekoni meets the rudest person in all Botswana. 'Talking Shoes' sees a new detective taking on a case for the Agency, while Mma Ramotswe, among others, has a problem with high blood pressure.

'There is No Such Thing as Free Food' finds Precious Ramotswe, owner and founder of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, preoccupied both professionally and personally by the subject of food. 'The Best Profession for a Blackmailer' sees Mr Polopetsi, part-time mechanic and would-be assistant detective, taking on a case of his own; while Mma Makutsi f...

'The Return of Note' finds Mma Ramotswe in a compromising situation when her past catches up with her. But things are looking brighter for her assistant, Mma Makutsi, when she takes up ballroom dancing... 'The Ceremony' sees Mma Ramotswe's agency work under control at last, so she has time to take care of her own problems. Can she release her fianc...

'The Maid' sees Mma Ramotswe visiting the house of the mechanic she has agreed to marry, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. But there is a shock in store for her... Back at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, there is the mystery of the erratic doctor to look into, and a 'cold case' involving an American who went missing from a communal farm. 'Tears of the Gira...

Two stand-alone BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas adapted by Alexander McCall Smith from his much-loved series 'The Kalahari Typing School for Men' opens with bad news for Mma Ramotswe - her agency has competition in the form of the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency, run by a man. Mma Makutsi has entrepreneurial ambitions too, and has conceived t...

Warm, humorous and uplifting, Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular novels featuring Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of Botswana's only female private detective agency, have become international bestsellers, sold over seven million copies, and been translated into 26 languages.These acclaimed productions, complete with vibrant music, bring the exot...

'The Daddy' introduces us to Mma Ramotswe as she embarks on her first case and takes on a new secretary, the resourceful and talented Mma Makutsi. Together, they must find the truth about a Daddy who appears to have returned from the dead - as well as investigating a wayward teenage girl and attempting to find a vanished child. 'The Bone' sees the...

'The Chief Justice of Beauty' finds the ladies hired by a beauty contest judge to check up on the integrity of the finalists in a forthcoming competition, following the embarrassing arrest for shoplifting of a previous winner. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotsweis worried about her fianc‚, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. 'The Confession' sees Mma Ramotswe consulti...

In a thrilling case that takes Paul and Steve to exotic Egypt, Paul Temple is called in to investigate a mysterious murder. The twisting trail takes them from London to the back streets and nightclubs of Cairo...

This case involves the Fergusons, who Paul and Steve meet while on the way home from New York. They are flying to England to visit their son Richard, a student at Oxford University. But at the airport, there is shocking news: Richard has been murdered, found shot dead in his room. The only clues are a postcard from Harrogate signed `Jonathan', and...

Two full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Ngaio Marsh short stories. In 'Opening Night', a leading actor is found gassed in his dressing room. It looks like suicide, until it transpires that he was widely detested. Inspector Alleyn quickly realises that almost everyone in the theatre had a motive for his murder. 'When In Rome' finds Inspector All...