Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Mr. Etherington, manager of the Old Bank at Leytonsdale, has his annual holiday interrupted by the news that his deputy has been found murdered at a wild, desolate spot known as Blind Gap Moor. The police seem utterly baffled and without a clue, so Etherington takes it upon himself to mount an investigation... The story starts at 00:01:16
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to bonus content):
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
00:00:00 Teaser and Narrator's Introduction
00:01:16 Blind Gap Moor
00:36:06 Credits, thanks and further listening
For a selection of other classic detective stories, including Sherlock Holmes, Max Carrados, Dr. Thorndyke, Loveday Brooke, Father Brown, Martin Hewitt and more, do take a look at my "Victorian and Edwardian Detective Stories" podcast:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi95qAoufCZJMv5kcx_Is-ntdo4W8Wi0r
About the author: Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863–1935) was an English author of historical and crime fiction, with many of his stories and novels set in his native Yorkshire. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, the son of a clergyman, and raised by his grandmother in Pontefract after his father died when he was just eight months old.
He began his working life as a journalist, initially in London, before returning to Yorkshire to work on local organs the Leeds Mercury and the Yorkshire Post. Early in his writing career he authored a number of historical novels, such as When Charles I Was King (1892), before turning to writing crime and detective fiction c.1914. In this latter genre he produced more than 100 novels and short stories over the course of 20 years; his best known titles included The Middle Temple Murder and The Talleyrand Maxim (both 1919), The Charing Cross Mystery (1923) and The Yorkshire Moorland Mystery (1930).
Fletcher married Irish novelist and playwright Rosamond Langbridge, and they had one son together, Valentine, born in 1914.
Blind Gap Moor was first published in The Red Magazine in August 1918. The story later appeared in book form as part of Fletcher's 1925 volume The Secret of the Barbican and Other Stories.
Title card image is a detail from Moonlight Wharfedale, one of a series of paintings of the area c.1870 by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–93)
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2026
Mr. Etherington, manager of the Old Bank at Leytonsdale, has his annual holiday interrupted by the news that his deputy has been found murdered at a wild, desolate spot known as Blind Gap Moor. The police seem utterly baffled and without a clue, so Etherington takes it upon himself to mount an investigation... The story starts at 00:01:16
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to bonus content):
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
00:00:00 Teaser and Narrator's Introduction
00:01:16 Blind Gap Moor
00:36:06 Credits, thanks and further listening
For a selection of other classic detective stories, including Sherlock Holmes, Max Carrados, Dr. Thorndyke, Loveday Brooke, Father Brown, Martin Hewitt and more, do take a look at my "Victorian and Edwardian Detective Stories" podcast:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi95qAoufCZJMv5kcx_Is-ntdo4W8Wi0r
About the author: Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863–1935) was an English author of historical and crime fiction, with many of his stories and novels set in his native Yorkshire. He was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, the son of a clergyman, and raised by his grandmother in Pontefract after his father died when he was just eight months old.
He began his working life as a journalist, initially in London, before returning to Yorkshire to work on local organs the Leeds Mercury and the Yorkshire Post. Early in his writing career he authored a number of historical novels, such as When Charles I Was King (1892), before turning to writing crime and detective fiction c.1914. In this latter genre he produced more than 100 novels and short stories over the course of 20 years; his best known titles included The Middle Temple Murder and The Talleyrand Maxim (both 1919), The Charing Cross Mystery (1923) and The Yorkshire Moorland Mystery (1930).
Fletcher married Irish novelist and playwright Rosamond Langbridge, and they had one son together, Valentine, born in 1914.
Blind Gap Moor was first published in The Red Magazine in August 1918. The story later appeared in book form as part of Fletcher's 1925 volume The Secret of the Barbican and Other Stories.
Title card image is a detail from Moonlight Wharfedale, one of a series of paintings of the area c.1870 by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–93)
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2026
