Strong Sense of Place

Fictional detectives are some of the most beloved characters in print and on-screen. It’s easy to relate to someone with an overblown sense of justice and a need to set the world right (or as right as it can be). There are nosy neighbors like Nancy Drew and Miss Marple with no real credentials whatsoever and police detectives — Hello, Harry Bosch! Ta, Inspector Lynley! — with entire departments behind them. Relentless journalists, dogged medical examiners, resourceful bounty hunters (We see you, Stefanie Plum!), and, perhaps, the most endearing detectives of them all: private eyes. This show is all about the gumshoes who work outside the pesky laws of search warrants and chain of evidence. Who maybe toil in an office with a frosted glass door and a dame with moxie tapping away at a typewriter — or perhaps the dame with moxie is the detective. This installment celebrates independent investigators who distract and delight in their search for the truth. In this episode, we meet the world’s first PI and first American lady detective, delve into Poe scholarship and the problem with his ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue,’ and discuss one of the kindest mystery authors. Then we recommend five books we love that put us in the thick of dangerous inquiries, including the escapades of a thoroughly modern detective agency, an urban mystery with a bookish PI, a British caper with an unforgettable hero, a how-to for wannabe detectives, and a noir-tinged fantasy novel about a reluctant sleuth. Here are the books about Detective Agencies we recommend on the show: The Verifiers by Jane Pek IQ by Joe Ide Odds Against by Dick Francis The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating by Steven Kerry Brown The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of Detective Agency: Discrete Inquiries, Mysteries Solved Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Bookseller of Venice by Giovanni Montanaro (translator: Edward Williams) and _ Creation Lake_ by Rachel Kushner. Then Mel recommends the immersive, interactive walking tours from Secret City Trails.  Links The Bookseller of Venice by Giovanni Montanaro, Edward Williams (translator) Libreria Acqua Alta Libreria Studium Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner Secret City Trails interactive walking tours Transcript of this episode. The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com Join our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel. Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace As always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Central American country of Panama is like a stretched-out letter S, lying on its side to soak up the sun — with the Pacific and the Caribbean snuggling up to its curves. The capital, Panama City, in the bottom arch of the S, invites you to stroll down red-brick streets lined with lush palm trees and white colonial buildings that look like layer cakes. You can stroll along the seafront and gaze out across the Pacific — and daydream about the 17th-century pirates that sailed nearby. When you’re ready for adventure, you might hike to the top of Panama’s highest mountain — Volcán Barú — to watch the sun rise over both the Atlantic and Pacific, volunteer in Cerra Hoya National Park to study jaguars, spend the night a traditional village in the jungle with the Emberá people, or kick back at an artistic island resort. Maybe it’s more your speed to spend endless days in your bathing suit, eating fresh fish just pulled from the sea, or sipping some of the world’s best coffee. Panama has all of that and more. In this episode, we get curious about the Panama Canal, discuss the relative sobriety of dwarf sloths, and get real about what it’s like to spend time in the jungle.  Then we recommend five great books that took us to Panama on the page: Seducing the Spirits by Louise Young Born to Be Hanged: The Epic Story of the Gentlemen Pirates Who Raided the South Seas, Rescued a Princess, and Stole a Fortune by Keith Thomson Silver People: Voices From the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle Panama Fever: The Epic Story of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time—the Building of the Panama Canal by Matthew Parker The World in Half by Cristina Henríquez For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of Panama: Jump Back, What’s That Sound? Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Divide: A Novel by Morgan Richter and Mina’s Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa, Stephen B. Snyder (translator). Then author Morgan Richter explains why now is a great time to read Batman comics.  Links The Divide: A Novel by Morgan Richter Mina’s Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa, Stephen B. Snyder (translator) The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, Stephen B. Snyder (translator) Morgan Richter’s website, YouTube channel, and Twitter Nightwing Vol. 1: Leaping Into the Light by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo (illustrator) Catwoman 1: Trail of the Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke & Ed Brubaker (illustrated by Cameron Stewart, Mike Allred, Brad Rader) Transcript of this episode. The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com Join our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel. Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace As always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, Norway has cities that are well worth a visit — Hallo, Oslo! Hei, Bergen! God morgen, Tromsø! — but nature is right there at every moment. Where the coast of Norway meets the Norwegian Sea, there are more than 1700 fjords, stunning waterways lined with sheer rock cliffs and dotted with dramatic waterfalls, storybook villages, and friendly goats and sheep. The best way to experience the fjords? By boat, of course: a dinner cruise, catamaran, sailboat, kayak, ferry, whale watching boat, or a breathtaking ride on a fjord safari. Inland, you can meet the locals of past and present. Stop by the fascinating Viking Village to time travel to 1000 (and learn to throw an axe!) — or spend an afternoon among the bears, reindeer, wolves, lynx, and leopards at the Bjørn Parken (Bear Park). You can feed a fox! When you’re ready for a meal, too, sink your teeth into Norway’s national snack: the hot dog — with lingonberry jam and french-fried onions — or try the ubiquitous and one-of-a-kind brunost (brown cheese). Caramelized, savory, and surprising, it’s just what you want on a cracker or waffle. And don’t sleep on the smoked salmon, pickled herring, or shrimp plucked from the nearby icy waters. In this episode, we get excited about all the exhilarating, unexpected, delightful adventures Norway offers — and talk about why the Norwegian government employs financial planners and moral philosophers. Then we recommend five great books we love that took us to Norway on the page: The Bell in the Lake by Lars Mytting, Deborah Dawkin (translator) We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth The Hike by Lucy Clarke Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of Norway: Vikings, Bears, Boats, and Bergen Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices