Old-Time Radio Reimagined
Mystery Is My Hobby
44 episodes · 1946–1948 · Syndicated, Mutual · Detective
Play Mystery Is My Hobby on Radio Days
Glenn Langan plays Barton Drake, a wealthy mystery writer who works with the police. Each show is presented as a numbered case from his book, Mystery Is My Hobby. It grew out of Murder Is My Hobby, heard on Mutual in 1945 and 1946, in which Drake was a police inspector; the revised show was sold in syndication.
Sources: Wikipedia: Murder Is My Hobby; RadioGOLDINdex
Episodes
Tap a title to play it on Radio Days.
1946
- The Mystery Of The Burning Light
Dixie Randolph is found stabbed in the throat aboard Kirk Lawson's yacht after a power failure left the ship dark. She had won a part on a radio show over a better singer, Ella Niles. - WhoKilledDavidAustin
Industrialist David Austin is murdered and Ernie Forbes falls under suspicion, while three other people blame one another. The date is approximate, and the network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby." - The Mink Coat
- Short Distance To Murder
Case History #66. Inspector Denton and Barton Drake attend a hotel political event where an orchestra plays Beethoven's Fifth. Gubernatorial candidate Alfred Emerson has killed himself after arguing with his wife. - Murder Bound
Case History #67. Siblings Calvin and Peggy, plus Bruce, a friend, are snowed in by a blizzard up in New Hampshire. Snow outside the cabin hides Bruce's body, an apparent suicide, but is it? Also snowbound near the cabin are the Inspector and Barton Drake. - Blackmail
Case History #68. Vera has been blackmailing Roy Denton, and he plans to kill her. Her boyfriend Steve shows up and Vera lives for a moment while Roy goes out the back, but then someone opens the door and shoots her dead. - Engaged To Death
Diane Hobart's engagement party is interrupted when her brother, just out of prison, shows up unexpectedly. Soon he is found murdered, and the culprit is a surprise. The date is approximate, and the network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby." - Walking Corpse
1947
- AllenFisherisMurdered
Mining engineer Alan Fisher is dead, apparently killed by his lawyer, who loves Fisher's wife. The wife has some schemes of her own. - Bullets Make Holes
Case History #114. A prison escapee called "Ronald The Razor" heads for a lodge in the country. Seven shots from Cabin #6 are judged to be pistol fire. Max Warner is hit in the jugular and his friend Steve Morgan admits it. Max's wife is glad he is gone. Its date is only approximate. - ChrisPomeroy
Chris Pomery appears to have put a bullet in his own head, but maybe not. Barton Drake runs into a murder even though he is lost in the woods. The network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby." - ClearingPeterWade
Peter Wade is held for murder, and his sister engages Barton Drake to clear him. A clue in a photo of a footprint is plain to see. Its date is only approximate. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - Death Buys Flowers
Case History #122. Charlie, who runs an elevator, wants a respectable burial. With his friend Duke he plots to extort $1000 from Ozzie Collyer, collected at exactly eleven at night. Its date is only approximate. - Death Has A Hotfoot
Barton Drake investigates the death of a woman who performs a high dive at a carnival and misses the tank entirely. Glenn Langan stars with Norman Field. - Death Paints With Purple
Artist John Henley returns from the desert and quarrels with Andy McAndrews, who is paying too much attention to his wife. Later that night Henley dies of poisoning. - EstelleWainwright
Mrs. Wainwright appears to have killed herself. The curlers in her hair and the cream on her face show it was murder. - Ex-ConCandidate
An escaped convict, once the governor's cellmate, kills Andrew Bradford, who is running for governor. Barton Drake is suspicious. The date is approximate, and the network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby." - FishingTripEndsinMurder
Inspector Danton and Barton Drake are fishing at a hidden spot near Pine Haven. Rich Gil Conrad looks like a suicide, but his wife Rita and Hugh Osmond are scheming together. Its date is only approximate. - FugitiveBrother
A nurse's brother is running from the police in upstate New York, around Lake George. Its date is only approximate. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - HudsonFamilyDeaths
Three of Sam Hudson's relatives die this month from brain hemorrhages, and he fears he is next. These syndicated reruns reuse the 1945 Mutual series, and the closing seems to dub in "Mystery Is My Hobby." Its date is only approximate. - JohnCrainMurder
The body of John Crain, a rich eccentric living in seclusion, has been discovered. The date is approximate, and the network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby." - KennethPrenglePoloPlayer
Police and Barton Drake get word that wealthy polo player Kenneth Pringle is marked for death, with archery gear as the murder weapon. The closing is removed. Its date is only approximate. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - Murder at Asa Clarks House
Moxie Ramone turns up dead at Senator Asa Clark's house, and a second corpse is found in the living room, shot. A dead man appears to commit a murder. The date is approximate, and the network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby." - Murder in the Ring
Barton Drake is at the fights when boxer K.O. Brown is killed while still in the ring. - MurderattheArnoldHouse
Tony Erwin gets out of the pen and visits "Toots," his old flame, who is now Paul Arnold's stylish wife. Some blackmail leads to Tony's death. Its date is only approximate. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - The Case Of The Sixty-Five Women
Case History #115. A French pilot is downed, as his lover looks on in horror. Later Inspector Danton and Barton Drake greet the Queen Elizabeth in New York, and Yvonne is poisoned on the dock in front of Drake. Its date is only approximate. - The Coin Collector Mystery
One of Grant Parker's weekend guests intends to steal his Maria Theresa Thaler, a coin from his collection. A boomerang attacks Barton Drake. The signoff "Murder Is My Hobby" marks this as a rerun from the first network run. Its date is only approximate. - The Radio Comedians Feud
Two feuding radio comedians, Hardy and Fairfax, are at the center of a murder when one of them is killed during the commercial. The story borrows from the Benny and Allen feud. - The Waiting Game
Peter Standish is dead, seemingly after tripping over a gas heater, and Inspector Danton and Barton Drake investigate. Its date is only approximate. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - Two Hours To Live
Case History #112. Many people hated lawyer Kenneth Slocum, his brother most of all. Slocum dies of cardiac failure, then the brother tells Barton Drake of his plan for a "perfect murder." Its date is only approximate. - Voice of Doom
Inspector Danton and Barton Drake call on Tracy Winthrop at Hurricane Manor. A niece plans to kill Winthrop, and a voice from the porch that nobody can place warns Drake of doom ahead. Its date is only approximate. - The Case of 65 Women
- Death Is A Twin
Claire Waterstone is found dead of poison inside a locked room, apparently a suicide. - Murder Can Sometimes Be Pleasant
Case History #117. Tennis star Johnny Murray is found slain in Florida, every bone broken. Its date is only approximate. It has also been labeled program #12. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - Death Paints
- Death Speaks with 10 Fingers
- Death Asks Questions
Donald Daws, a drama critic everyone hated, is found murdered by poison gas in a locked room. Barton Drake takes the case. - Death Is A Grain Of Sand
Case History #127. A Rajah intends to dig up a woman alive after burying her under sand for two hours. She dies, but not from suffocation; a bullet killed her. The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - Death Has Blue Eyes
Wealthy Leslie Frazier asks Barton Drake for help after she has killed her stepfather. - Boston for Christmas
- Death Is One and Three
1948
- Death Loses The Body
Case History #133. A gossiping nightclub worker ends up dead. A trunk contains a body, so who put it in, and where did it go? The 1945-1946 network edition used the title "Murder Is My Hobby." - Death Goes Before Pride
Barton Drake spots a murderer during a weekend of fishing. A skilled fly-caster plays a part in the case. - Death Writes An Epitaph
Case History #135. Poison kills a mystery author, whose unfinished manuscript describes his murder and identifies who did it. The network edition of 1945-1946 is titled "Murder Is My Hobby."