Crime Writers On

Crime Writers On... (sometimes stylized as Crime Writers On or CWO) is a weekly podcast hosted by a four-person panel consisting of American true crime authors: married couple Rebecca Lavoie and Kevin Flynn, crime noir novelist Toby Ball, and journalist and licensed investigator Lara Bricker. The podcast started on December 12, 2014 as a commentary on and review of the hit true crime podcast "Serial", starting with the show's tenth episode about Adnan Syed and continuing into its later seasons about Bowe Bergdahl and the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas at the Justice Center Complex in Downtown Cleveland. "Crime Writers On" quickly grew to cover journalism and a variety of crime-related pop culture topics including other podcasts, films, television shows, and more. The panel often provides updates on the real life cases discussed in previous episodes as they develop.
In March 2018, "Crime Writers On" won the Discover Pod's Podcast Madness 2018, a March Madness style competition for podcasts.
The show's theme song is by Rocksteady Freddie and the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble.
Hosts.
Rebecca Lavoie is a Digital Director at New Hampshire Public Radio. Lavoie previously worked as a freelance journalist whose work appeared in "Newsweek", "Playboy", Vulture.com, and other regional and national publications. Lavoie also helps produce the "Serial" spin-off "Undisclosed: The State vs. Adnan Syed" hosted by lawyer Rabia Chaudry and has co-hosted that podcast's spin-off show, "Addendum". Lavoie is the co-author of five true crime books with her husband Kevin Flynn, including "Dark Heart", "Notes on a Killing", "Legally Dead", and "Our Little Secret". Lavoie is also the co-host of "These Are Their Stories", a podcast about "Law & Order", the co-host of "Slate"'s parenting podcast "Mom and Dad are Fighting", and the host of "HGTV & Me". Lavoie also occasionally hosts Netflix's You Can't Make This Up podcast where she interviews the creators of the streaming service's original true crime content. Lavoie was one of the first journalists to report that the hit podcast "S-Town" would be about an Alabama man rumored to have hidden $100,000. She has also appeared on numerous true crime shows as an expert on Investigation Discovery and other networks.
Kevin Flynn, Lavoie's husband and co-author, is an award-winning journalist and the author of additional books including "American Sweepstakes" and "Wicked Intentions". Flynn frequently appears on national television and has been seen on "Deadly Sins", "Unusual Suspects", "Deadly Women", "Killer Instincts", and "On the Case with Paula Zahn". He is the co-host of the TV appreciation podcast "These Are Their Stories," which covers the shows Law & Order, , and . Flynn is known for his dad jokes and quick-witted one-liners, including his famous criticism that listeners of the "Dirty John" podcast were more upset with Debra Newell than the show's namesake, saying "It's called Dirty John, not Stupid Debra!" Flynn is also known for his unique style of segueing to and delivering the advertisements featured on the show. Each year, Flynn participates in the Walk A Mile In Her Shoes event to raise funds to stop rape, sexual assault, and gender violence.
Toby Ball is a crime noir novelist who has written three books including "The Vaults", "Scorch City", and "Invisible Streets". Ball is also the Program Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. He runs the Partners in Crime Media account on Patreon, where he hosts a monthly crime book club with special guests, a weekly fiction writing podcast, and other content. He also hosts other podcasts including "Radio Free Dystopia" and Strange Arrivals, a 10-part series on the 1961 abduction story of Betty and Barney Hill that premiered on March 31, 2020. Ball previously had a recurring segment where he would read a list of items purchased by listeners using the show's Amazon link. He is the podcast's resident cult expert.
Lara Bricker is a private detective and freelance author whose work has appeared in the "Portsmouth Herald", "The Exeter News-Letter", "The Hampton Union", "Woman's World" magazine, "The Boston Globe", the Associated Press, and Vulture. She has also written two books including "How Do You Milk a Moose Anyway?" and "Lie after Lie: The True Story of a Master of Deception, Betrayal, and Murder". Bricker is responsible for choosing the Cat of the Week for each episode. After losing her beloved cat Stampy to an Easter lily, Bricker began to use her position as a podcaster to raise awareness about the dangers of plants that are poisonous to cats. Bricker hosts an exclusive Rage Walk Facebook group for Patreon members. She also hosts a Patreon-exclusive podcast called Leave it to Bricker and a podcast version of her newspaper column, Exeter Life.
Addition shows.
Additional content from Partners in Crime Media include "These Are Their Stories: The Law & Order Podcast". This show runs bi-weekly with new episodes out on Wednesdays. They also released an eight episode series, "HGTV & Me".
Exclusive shows available from Patreon include the "Toby Ball's Deep Dive Book Club", "Leave It To Bricker", "Married with Podcast", and "The CWO After Show".
On July 7, 2020, the Crime Writers On began an exclusive partnership with Facebook. The videocast is released on Facebook Watch the day after the audio podcast drops on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and everywhere podcasts are available.
Production.
"Crime Writers On" is produced by Partners in Crime Media from a closet in the basement of Lavoie and Flynn's home in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, formerly known as Square Egg Studios. Episodes vary in length and are generally uploaded every Friday, however the show occasionally switches to a bi-weekly schedule. Each episode is generally downloaded about 100,000 times, but the numbers vary depending on the topic covered. The show includes recurring segments like the popular Crime of the Week, Cat of the Week, and True Crime Update segments, which frequently feature submissions made by listeners on social media. The podcast has a large and lively social media following on Twitter and Facebook, including an active Facebook discussion group.
About one-fourth of the "Crime Writers On" episodes include a guest host or interview with an expert on the programming being covered. The show features a number of recurring guests including Colin Miller (who is affectionately referred to as the show's Legal Siri) and Rabia Chaudry, co-hosts of Undisclosed, and JAG Lt. Col. James Weirick (ret), host of Talk and Purpose Radio and the Military Justice podcast.
Live events.
On September 6, 2016, the "Crime Writers On" recorded a live episode of the podcast at the Hatbox Theatre in Concord, New Hampshire.
The Crime Writers attended the 2016 New England Crime Bake, an annual mystery conference for readers and writers. At the event, the Crime Writers recorded a live episode of their podcast on November 12, 2016 and engaged in a book signing and panel on "Building a Platform with Podcasting" on November 13, 2016.
On October 12, 2017, the Exeter Historical Society held a fundraising event titled "An Evening with the Crime Writers" at the Word Barn in Exeter, New Hampshire where the four hosts discussed their origin story and took questions from the audience. The Water Street Bookstore attended the event and sold the Crime Writers' books, with a portion of the proceeds from the book sales going to the Exeter Historical Society. During the event, the panel also recorded a portion of that week's podcast live.
Starting in March 2018, "Crime Writers On" began to broadcast live on the show's Facebook discussion group every Wednesday night before recording that week's show.
Lavoie and Flynn were members of the 2018 Toronto True Crime Film Festival Advisory Committee. Flynn was a panel member in a discussion about "The Rise of the Armchair Detective" on June 9, 2018 at the festival.
Toby Ball spoke about podcasting, true crime, and Serial at the Charlotte Public Library on October 4, 2018.
Rebecca LaVoie moderated a panel on the use of at-home DNA testing in cold cases on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, in Washington, D.C. The panel included Jason Moon, host of NHPR's Bear Brook podcast, Nila Bala, a senior fellow of R Street Institute, and John Fitzgerald, chief of police for the Chevy Chase Village Police Department.
Lavoie & Flynn appeared at Babson College for a panel discussion on "The Business of Podcasting" with Patrick Hinds, of Theater Podcast Productions and a frequent CWO guest, and Nicholas Quah, creator of the Hot Pod industry newsletter, on March 27, 2019 at 7 pm.
During spring of 2019, Lavoie moderated NHPR's first live podcast tour at five cities along the East Coast of the United States including Alexandria, Virginia on May 8, Baltimore, Maryland on May 9, Asbury Park, New Jersey on May 10, Brooklyn, New York on May 11, and Boston, Massachusetts on May 14.
All four of the Crime Writers attended the PodX convention on May 31 – June 2, 2019 in Nashville along with many of the famous guests that have appeared on the podcast over the years including Rabia Chaudry and Patrick Hinds.
Parodies.
On December 5, 2017, the "Crime Writers On" podcast was parodied by "Done Disappeared", a satirical crime podcast, in the "*BONUS EPISODE*".
The fictional "Crime Writers Off" included Vanessa, Steven, Lauren, and Bobby Tall as versions of Lavoie, Flynn, Bricker, and Ball, respectively. The parody spoofed Flynn's unique style of delivering advertisements, Bricker's infatuation with felines, Ball's style of criticism, and the Crime Writers' system of rating other podcasts.