A new podcast about the Ruxton murders from the creators of “Small Town Dicks” sheds light on the significance of the case and signals the company's new approach to production.
The 1935 Ruxton murder case was a landmark case in criminal investigation that has had a profound impact on the way crime is investigated today.
The podcast miniseries, Beyond Recognition: The Ruxton Murders, is a first for Audio 99, a division of Yeardley Smith's Paperclip Ltd, which produced Small Town Dicks, and has never produced a series like this before.
Narrator Yeardley and Tom Wood, author of the book that inspired the podcast, spoke to PodcastingToday about how the podcast came about and why it's a new direction for the company.
Tom, a former detective whose case was previously featured on Small Town Dicks, had just finished taping an episode on a new case.
“When I sent the recording kit back to the States, I put three or four copies of the book in there and said, 'You should read this, it's a great story.' Luckily for us, they didn't use it to prop up the table, they read it and saw the story come through from there.”
Yeardley said after reading Tom's book he decided to make a podcast about the case, and while he initially planned to make a standard episode of “Small Town Dicks,” he ended up making it much bigger than that because the case was so complex and groundbreaking.
“We came up with the idea to do a limited series, something that hadn't been done before,” she says. “We're really proud of it.”
“It's all so well done – not just because I'm narrating it, but the music is beautiful, the way we've travelled all over the world interviewing people connected to the case or knowledgeable about it, and of course Tom, our expert, is involved.”
Yeardley added that he is fascinated by the story because murder happens for three reasons – love, money and pride – and it doesn't matter that this murder happened nearly 90 years ago because we are all the same.
The challenge, she said, is how to get listeners interested in the past, since it's not about the present.
“It's a classic story,” she says. “Jealous husband murders his wife and the maid, who is a witness. If you have people who do horrible things to each other because they can't protect themselves, you want to know that there's another group that's going to hold them accountable and do everything they can to right the wrongs. The justice system actually works.”
“I think people who love true crime documentaries will never tire of the premise,” she added.
About true crime stories like these, Tom says, “These stories are actually stranger than fiction, and some of the characters in these stories couldn't be made up. I think people are drawn to that.”
He continues: “When you’re a writer, you’re always a little nervous that someone is going to take your story and develop it, because you hear voices in your head, and you know the characters so well because you’ve lived with them throughout the research and writing period.
“If done well, podcasting can take this story, and it's done it very well. To be honest, I wasn't worried, but I was worried about whether the voice was right – whether it would fit my preconceived notions. And it was. Podcasting can do things that TV can't.”
Tom has been a detective his whole career, been involved in a lot of big cases, been in a lot of TV shows and documentaries, and he says it's impossible to tell a story like this in 30 minutes because you don't get the context in 30 minutes.
“This podcast, and I'll say it very quietly, has actually improved and developed the book, which I'm very happy about. It points the way forward for what podcasts can do,” he jokes.
Since the podcast was released, he explains, he has been contacted by people who have heard it and now have additional information about the case that they inherited from their grandparents and would like to read the book.
“The penetration of podcasts, the way they reach people who don't read books, is interesting,” says Tom. “Podcasts enhance the book. They take over the story and add something to it.”
Yeardley says she was a little nervous about whether she could portray Tom's book properly and without sounding hackneyed or staged so people would think it was a flop.
“It's very challenging to take events that happened almost 100 years ago and make them relevant to today's world without making it seem like a terrible children's book to adults. I'm really thrilled and impressed with what the team has managed to do,” she says.
Tom agrees: “I became quite close with the writer Peter Gilstrap, despite never having met him before. He was living in the Arizona desert at the time, so I was sweltering in the heat while speaking to him from rainy Edinburgh.
“I said to him, 'Peter, please get the accent right'. I didn't want to do a Scottish imitation but he said, 'Tom, I'm a professional, just leave it to me, just leave it to me'. Anyway, that day, when it was all downloaded and I listened to it, it was probably midnight, I emailed him and said I was backing out of it!”
Yeardley added: “You're not wrong, Tom, because those little details are very important. If the accent isn't real, Americans might not know the difference, but enough people will and you can't fool the audience.”
The importance of this case cannot be overlooked: Tom explains: “The Luxton case marked the first time that forensic science became fully mainstream in criminal investigation.”
“Up until then, forensic science had been just a bonus, but this case made it part of the bonus. It set the standard for all criminal investigations that followed.”
Tom started his career as a detective in the '70s and worked in criminal investigations until the '90s, but he didn't realise until he began researching the book that everything he'd done, the systems and procedures, all began with Luxton.
“Before Luxton, it was ancient history, but after Luxton, it became modern investigative procedure,” he said. “It marked a major change in the way criminal investigations are conducted around the world.”
Regarding the podcast, Tom reiterated that he was “really pleased” that his writing had been translated into a podcast, adding: “Every writer worries about what will happen to their work, that it will be ruined. This translation has really elevated the value of the book.”
Ruxton The First Modern Murder by Tom Wood was shortlisted for a National Book Award and is published by Ringwood and available in most bookstores.
This book is also available as an audiobook on most platforms.
The podcast, “Beyond Recognition: The Ruxton Murders,” can be found on the Small Town Dicks website, the Small Town Dicks podcast feed, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Tom's latest book, The World's End Murders – The Inside Story, has just been published by Ringwood Press, and tells the story of the 37-year investigation into the 1977 murders of two teenage girls in Edinburgh.
