5 Recommended Podcasts for Book Lovers

Listening to podcasts is the only way my house gets cleaned, my dog gets walked and my children get fed. I listen to them on public transport and on the treadmill, and my family do a good impression of me mouthing “Can’t hear you” while pointing theatrically at my earbuds.

Podcasts eliminate the untidy noise in my head, replacing it with well-told stories that stretch and satisfy me. I’m fussy about them, because the first podcast I ever listened to, ten years ago, spoiled me forever: that was Serial, Season 1, an investigation of the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee by the excellent host and producer Sarah Koenig.

My favourite ones are careful investigations with a single storyline that employ all the tension and tactics of a good mystery novel. This year’s standout series by a considerable way has been Ghost Story, in which a normally cynical journalist finds out that as a boy he lived next door to a house where his wife’s great-grandmother was murdered.

I also enjoyed Sweet Bobby, a min…