# M.W. Craven on The Killer's Mark Plus the Kindle That Saved a Life in Barcelona Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/quick-book-reviews-with-philippa-hall-183832/m-w-craven-on-the-killer-s-mark-plus-the-kindle-that-saved-a-life-in-barcelona Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/quick-book-reviews-with-philippa-hall-183832/m-w-craven-on-the-killer-s-mark-plus-the-kindle-that-saved-a-life-in-barcelona.md Podcast: [Quick Book Reviews with Philippa Hall](https://stenobird.com/podcast/quick-book-reviews-with-philippa-hall-183832) Published: 2026-06-29T00:05:00+00:00 Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/quick-book-reviews/episodes/mw-craven-on-the-killers-mark-plus-the-kindle-that-saved-a-l Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6087d3aca4a81031ba098a59/e/6a313ae31f4c78697a435528/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/quick-book-reviews-with-philippa-hall-183832/episodes/m-w-craven-on-the-killer-s-mark-plus-the-kindle-that-saved-a-life-in-barcelona Duration seconds: 3027 ## Resource Philippa opens with a genuinely unbelievable true story β€” how a friend trapped in a locked Barcelona hotel toilet used her Kindle to prise the door open and escape. Reading saves lives, people. Then it's three book reviews and a brilliant listener Q&A with crime fiction favourite M.W. Craven , talking about book eight in the Washington Poe series, The Killer's Mark , out 13th August . πŸ“š Book Reviews The Midnight Train – Matt Haig A beautiful, emotionally rich audiobook about love, regret, and the moments that matter. Uplifting rather than sad, and perfect for fans of Matt Haig's reflective style. Octagon – C.J. Merritt A fast-paced spy thriller following former MI6 agent Stella McCrae and ex-SAS operator Tommy Kane as they race to stop a devastating plot against the West. Cinematic and action-packed. Rivals – Jilly Cooper Philippa picked this up after the TV series left her on an emotional cliffhanger with five months until part two. 720 pages later, she has both more and fewer answers than she started with. Enjoyable β€” especially at the beginning β€” but perhaps a lesson in patience. πŸŽ™οΈ Author Interview: M.W. Craven on The Killer's Mark Poe and Tilly are back β€” this time as private investigators, drawn into a case that begins with a young American woman who has seen her supposedly dead mother in a porn film. Darker than some recent entries in the series, but with the trademark humour firmly intact. Mike and Philippa discuss: Why this book starts smaller and more personal than previous Poe adventures The deliberate shift in the Poe/Tilly dynamic across the series β€” and who relies on whom now A new teenage character and the questions only a 15-year-old will ask directly The Martin Clunes passage that made Philippa nearly choke on her coffee (no spoilers, but it's bril… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/quick-book-reviews-with-philippa-hall-183832/episodes/m-w-craven-on-the-killer-s-mark-plus-the-kindle-that-saved-a-life-in-barcelona/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/quick-book-reviews-with-philippa-hall-183832/m-w-craven-on-the-killer-s-mark-plus-the-kindle-that-saved-a-life-in-barcelona.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.