[audio:/podcasts/pdm10.mp3]
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Story: A Paris housewife is widowed, only to discover that a number of parties want money her husband hid… and think she’s the one who has it.
Detective: Regina Lampert/Peter Joshua
Release Date: December 5, 1963
Writer: Peter Stone
Source: “The Unsuspecting Wife” by Peter Stone and Marc Behm
Mystery Analysis:
Detective as protagonist?
Jenny: Yes. Reggie’s pretty much forced into it because everybody thinks she killed her husband and hid the money.
Lani: Yes, although an amateur, forced into the role by circumstance, but still functioning as a detective in the story.
Murderer as antagonist?
Jenny: Terrific antagonist. All his moves are logical and smart and yet you never see him coming.
Lani: Yes, and wonderfully present throughout.
Conflict created by murder?
Jenny: The body falls off the train at the very beginning, and even that flirting scene at the beginning is Peter/Alex trying to find out if she killed him.
Lani: Yes, and also by the mystery of where the money is.
Fair play with all the clues given?
Jenny: Yes
Lani: Yes.
Solved using deduction, not luck?
Jenny: Yes. She tracks down every clue.
Lani: Yes; it’s Reggie who figures out how Charlie hid the money, and it’s through her deduction that she’s able to follow the trail through to the end
Story Analysis & Ratings:
Jenny says: 5 Pops
Mystery: 5, Craft: 5, Suspense: 5, Romance: 5
Lani says: 5 Pops
Mystery: 5, Craft: 5, Suspense: 5, Romance: 5