David Ashton

New Year's Day - and through the misty streets of Victorian Edinburgh, an elegant female figure walks the cobblestones with a certain vengeful purpose. Jean Brash, the mistress of the Just Land, brings her cool intelligence to solving a murder, a murder that took place in her own bawdy house (the best in Edinburgh and her pride and joy). A prominent judge, strangled and left dangling, could bring her whole life to ruin, and she didn't haul herself off the streets, up through low, dirty houses of pleasure and violent vicious men, to let that come to pass.

Nine episodes of the BBC Radio 4 detective series set in Victorian Edinburgh, starring Brian Cox as Inspector McLevy. In this collection all eight episodes of series 11 and 12 are joined by 'Meet James McLevy', a remake of the original pilot episode. Inspired by the real-life memoirs of one of Scotland's first policemen, the fictional James McLevy prowls the dark streets of 1860s Edinburgh bringing criminals to justice, with the assistance of Constable Mulholland.

London had Sherlock Holmes. The dark alleys of Edinburgh had Inspector McLevy. Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in a thrilling mystery - the first in a series - set in dark, violent Victorian Edinburgh.

When the body of Thomas Forsythe, tobacco merchant and lay preacher, is discovered near the waters of Leith, Inspector James McLevy is called to investigate. As Christmas approaches, McLevy's investigations lead him to the dockside taverns of Edinburgh and deep into the belly of the beast himself.

At Waverley Station late at night, the body of a man is discovered in the corner of a train compartment. Inspector McLevy's investigations into the murder of the mysterious Count Borromeo, lead him to the Just Land, the best bawdy-hoose in Edinburgh and the pride and joy of Jean Brash.

At the Old Ship in Edinburgh, New Year's Day celebrations are well underway. Nobody pays attention when Dutchman Isaac Caspar enters the tavern - until he collapses in the doorway, dead. Newly arrived in Leith on the good ship St Elmo, Caspar is a stranger in town. A search of his cabin reveals a curious item: a picture of the famous Hartjammer pearl, stolen in Amsterdam some months before. Is there a connection between the robbery and the murder? Inspector McLevy is determined to find out.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in an alleyway, Inspector James McLevy recognises the victim immediately: Peggy Ambrose, former employee at Edinburgh's best bawdy hoose, the Just Land. Peggy had left the Just Land under a cloud, accused of theft, but no one knows where she went next. Working with the inimitable Jean Brash, Inspector McLevy investigates the murder, from the drinking dens of Edinburgh to a mysterious and secret society.

Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in a thrilling mystery - the second in a series - set in dark, violent Victorian Edinburgh. A burglary and murder at the home of Sir Thomas Bouch, the enigmatic architect of the ill-fated Tay Bridge, sets Inspector James McLevy off on a train of brutal killings, lethal liaisons, and double suicide which leads to a violent encounter with an old enemy, Hercules Dunbar.

Hosted by a rotating cast of seasoned comics, each episode covers a different American pastime, region, city, characteristic, or zeitgeist. The show opens with a host introduction, followed by a sound collage that features stand-up comedy, funny interviews with special guests and folks on the street, and even local music. It’s a hilarious (and sometimes touching) tribute to our complicated country.

Budapest, 1963. Special Investigator Bertalan Lázár and his wife, spymaster Franciska Lázár, face formidable challenges as they try to navigate a path through the dangerous underworld of Cold War-era Hungary. Catching the criminals is difficult enough, but there are other more threatening battles raging in higher places.