The Art of the Whodunit - again

I've returned from my latest trip, directing the Art of the Whodunit programme again for Road Scholar, and a group of lovely American crime fans (one of whom turned out to be a fellow Brit, who'd met and married a charming member of the group on a previous trip). Having run this programme for the first time in May, I felt more confident this time around, and that helped to make the journey even more enjoyable.

We began by flying out to New York City, where again I managed to find my way to the Mysterious Bookshop, somehow managing to restrict myself to buying just four books. There was also time for a river cruise on a hot Saturday afternoon before meeting the group, and the following day we all embarked on Queen Mary 2, a much more civilised and straightforward process than last time, when all the roads around the terminal were closed because of a bike race, meaning that we had to set out at the crack of dawn.

A seven day Atlantic crossing is quite an experience, and the days raced by. I'd made some changes to the programme this time, since I'd realised that it would be viable to stage my Victorian murder mystery, "Who Killed George Hargrave?" on board. Four members of the group volunteered to play the suspects, and did a great job.

After landing at Southampton we headed over to Oxford, staying at a hotel in the charming village of Iffley. Weirdly enough, I'd never got nearer to Iffley than the stadium, and the locks on the river, even though it's within walking distance of the city centre. I found it a lovely village. The various tours, of Balliol (where I admired the picture of Lord Peter Wimsey, below, which is to be found in the Buttery), Christ Church, the Sheldonian Theatre, the canal and river, and Blackwell's bookshop were great fun, and when it was time to say goodbye there was the chance to reflect on a quite wonderful fortnight in the company of delightful people. And now, I really do need to get my head down and embark on...some serious writing!! 

The Art of the Whodunit - part two

The second phase of The Art of the Whodunit tour was very different from the first, on board the Queen Mary 2, but equally appealing. After landing at Southampton, we travelled to Oxford (well, some way outside the city, to a replacement hotel after the first one let us down) and I kicked off proceedings with a talk about Balliol's crime writers as a follow-up to an onboard lecture on Oxford mysteries.

The next few days were a hugely enjoyable whirl, as we packed in a great many sights. An orienteering walk in the city centre was followed by a drive through north Oxford, during which I had my first go as a tour guide, with the microphone at the front of the coach. A quick visit to the Ashmolean was followed by lunch in the King's Arms, and then a brilliant tour around my old college. I even saw aspects of Balliol that I'd never seen in my years of a student. Then in the evening I gave a talk about collecting detective fiction: I'd taken along on the trip various items from my own collection of books and crime fiction memorabilia. I find that a lot of people prefer to see and handle real items than simply gaze at Powerpoint slides.

Thankfully if rather unexpectedly, the weather was fantastic. This was a real bonus, not least on the river cruise (something I'd never done in Oxford, oddly enough; punting was the thing in my student days) when again I did my tour guide bit with the mic. A tour of Christ Church's gardens, dining room, and cathedral was another highlight.

A trip to the Sheldonian Theatre came next. I've been there for various ceremonies, but never before had I climbed right to the top and looked out from the cupola over the city of dreaming spires. Then we had a guided tour of one of the great bookshops, Blackwell's. We were admitted to the "Gaffer's Office", once occupied by Basil Blackwell himself, where I sat in his chair and did a book signing. It was terrific fun. And finally there was a walk along the Oxford canal, again surprisingly unfamiliar to me, and dinner at Blanc's Brasserie to round off a memorable few days.

The camaraderie amongst the group was fantastic. The doubts I'd had before the trip started soon evaporated, as they responded so positively to the early lectures, and I really enjoyed myself. And guess what? I'm doing it all over again later in the summer...

The Art of the Whodunit - part one

A couple of years ago, quite out of the blue, I was contacted by someone I'd worked with about a decade ago. At that time, I gave talks to a group of American crime fans in Oxford and Harrogate, and enjoyed the experience. She wanted to know if I'd be interested in cruise lecturing - specifically on the Queen Mary 2, and in Oxford. Her company, Road Scholar (deliberate pun in the name!) specialises in educational tours for US customers, and has an outstanding reputation in that field.

The whole adventure was called "The Art of the Whodunit". I put my name down, and was delighted, if a bit over-awed, to hear a bit later that the first trip sold out quickly; there was even a waiting list, and more trips were thought very desirable. Yet although I've done a lot of public speaking, I'm not a natural front of stage person, and I wasn't sure how it would all go.

To cut a long story short, though, in the end the trip went wonderfully well, despite a series of bizarre incidents (such as our hotel in Oxford closing down a day or so before we arrived) which created quite a bond among the group. The guests were a marvellous bunch of folk, and the group leader, Chris Ball, handled all the logistical nightmares with aplomb.

We arrived in New York City with enough time to spare to enable a little sight-seeing, including a trip on the ferry to Staten Island, an experience I enjoyed (especially sailing past the Statue of Liberty in the sunshine), and a visit to Otto Penzler's Mysterious Bookshop. This is close by our hotel, which overlooked Ground Zero - the whole site has been developed into an impressive memorial to a terrible tragedy.

Embarkation on the ship was complicated by a bike race, which closed all the surrounding streets. So instead of a leisurely departure, everyone had to get up before 5 a.m. in order to get to the cruise terminal. Deeply frustrating, but again, members of the group showed great fortitude and good humour, and proved very good company.

Although I've done quite a lot of cruising, it's never been on a ship anything like as magnificent as the Queen Mary 2. There is an impressive planetarium on board, and a marvellous library, among much else. The Atlantic crossing was a memorable experience, and I found the group were attentive and enthusiastic listeners as I talked about a whole variety of whodunit-related topics each morning. Great fun. And then came Oxford...