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 launchHis dream holiday on the Orient Express, with separate compartments for family, friends, and quiet decompression timeReading The Godfather for the first time and why watching the film first makes you appreciate the book moreHis nightmare holiday: Benidorm 1996, hangovers in the heat, and reading the backs of cereal boxes for entertainmentWhere the idea came from — an offhand line in another book, plus a real-life unlocked-doors estate that spooked him into writing itWhy short, sting-in-the-tail chapters are deliberate, and why "I read it in three hours" is the highest compliment a thriller writer can getWhy he keeps his day job, and the colleagues (and CD collection) who keep accidentally ending up as character namesIce cream order: "Marathon Man" Snickers ice cream in a waffle cone — no sauce, no flake, just pure peanut-chocolate perfection.