3 Weirdly Perfect Books to Read Now + Gavin Bell on 138 Main Street - Summer Special

Recorded live at Capital Crime Book Festival, Philippa talks to Gavin Bell — also known as Mason Cross, also known as Alex Knight — about his gripping new thriller 138 Main Street. But first, three festive reads for anyone who, like Philippa, enjoys a Christmas book in the height of summer.

3 Christmas Books for Summer

The Winter Guest – Sarah Moss

Two strangers share Christmas Eve dinner in a remote Irish hotel as a snowstorm gathers outside — and each has a confession to make. Atmospheric and unexpected.

A Carol and a Killing – Reverend Richard Coles

A festive cathedral choir concert ends in tragedy when a soloist falls — or was he pushed? A cosy, witty Christmas murder mystery.

The Case of the Christmas Card – Elly Griffiths

Charles Dickens turns up on time-travelling detective Allie Dawson's doorstep just before Christmas, and the two team up to solve two cases at once — all while Dickens tries to find his way home.

Gavin Bell on 138 Main Street

A killer is targeting victims who all live at the same address — 138 Main Street — but there are 7,664 Main Streets in America. How do you predict where they'll strike next?

Gavin and Philippa discuss:

• Writing under three different names, and the moment he had to invent a Gavin Bell signature on the spot at his book launch
• His dream holiday on the Orient Express, with separate compartments for family, friends, and quiet decompression time
• Reading The Godfather for the first time and why watching the film first makes you appreciate the book more
• His nightmare holiday: Benidorm 1996, hangovers in the heat, and reading the backs of cereal boxes for entertainment
• Where the idea came from — an offhand line in another book, plus a real-life unlocked-doors estate that spooked him into writing it
• Why short, sting-in-the-tail chapters are deliberate, and why "I read it in three hours" is the highest compliment a thriller writer can get
• Why he keeps his day job, and the colleagues (and CD collection) who keep accidentally ending up as character names

Ice cream order: "Marathon Man" Snickers ice cream in a waffle cone — no sauce, no flake, just pure peanut-chocolate perfection.

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