Suspense Sundays (88) The Customers Like Murder

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"The Customers Like Murder"

Air date: March 23, 1943
Starring Roland Young

>>Episodes here<<

A murder mystery writer, Mr. Hopstone, is getting into a heated debate with his secretary who is taking dictation.  She affirms a certain poison has no odor, but Mr. Hopstone is "noted for the correctness of his medical knowledge" according to him and superciliously asks her if they should go next door and check with Dr. Robert.  Mr. Hopstone does go next door and finds some criminals in need of a doctor to look after a man they just kidnapped.  Although Mr. Hopstone tries to convince them he's not the Doctor, the secretary walks in and jokingly calls him Dr. Hopstone before she notices the other men.  It looks like Mr. Hopstone's only way out of this dangerous situation is to use a scheme from one of his mystery stories.

This was a really fun episode, as I'm sure that synopsis already hints at.  The idea of a writer needing to get out of a bind by using his creativity is always appealing, as Mr. Hopstone's odd ideas finally pay off for him.  He doesn't take the situation as seriously as he should and his flippant attitude is kinda hilarious.  I also liked the antagonistic nature of Hopstone and his secretary's relationship - there is a definite undercurrent that they do like working together despite the harsh words.  It's too bad that the audio quality of this particular episode is worse than usual (I'm not even sure if the name is Hopstone or Hawkstone?? Or something.)  But I really enjoyed this one anyway!