Pick of the podcasts: The Tartan Noir Show, The Happiness Lab, Phoebe Reads A Mystery

It was in 1977 that William McIlvanney published Laidlaw.

The Glasgow-set crime novel followed the eponymous detective and his unconventional methods as he attempted to find the murderer of a local teenager.

Notable for its realistic portrayal of Glasgow, it became one of McIlvanney’s most popular novels and spurred two follow-ups, but it was several years before it became known as the first tartan noir novel.

Tartan noir, broadly speaking, features a flawed hero attempting to solve a crime, usually murder, and today there are dozens of best-selling authors such as Denise Mina, Stuart MacBride, Caro Ramsay, Craig Robertson and Christopher Brookmyre – published under the umbrella term.

While podcasts have long been the domain of true crime, Scottish podcast network The Big Light hopes its new production, The Tartan Noir Show, can be similarly successful as it celebrates the gritty world of Scottish crime fiction.

Hosted by crime writer and broadcaster Theresa Talbot, it promises to take listeners beyond the police crime tape for a behind the scenes look.

Each episode, Theresa will be joined by a guest author, and the debut boasts one of the most popular – Val McDermid.

Theresa and Val discussed the essence of the genre, looking specifically at Laidlaw and McIlvanney, Val’s favourite crime author.

Upcoming guests include Ian Rankin with Nicola Sturgeon, Peter May, Liam McIlvanney, Irvine Welsh and Denise Mina.

Theresa Talbot said: “We have such a rich seam of talent, from Shetland to Dumfries & Galloway, so it’s fascinating to go behind the scenes with people who write crime in Scotland.

“Tartan Noir is really quite particular – you can almost taste it, and the setting is almost like a character in itself.”

The Tartan Noir Show (The Big Light)

The Happiness Lab (Apple Podcasts)

You might think more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations would make you happy. You’re dead wrong. In The Happiness Lab, Dr Laurie Santos takes you through the latest scientific research and shares inspiring stories that will forever alter the way you think about happiness. She’s changed the lives of thousands through her university class, Psychology And The Good Life. She’ll change yours, too.

Phoebe Reads A Mystery (Apple Podcasts, Spotify)

You might be familiar with Phoebe from the acclaimed Criminal podcast but, if not, she sounds like a femme fatale who leapt from the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel and into the 21st Century.She has taken up a new podcast venture in the past few weeks and it’s called Phoebe Reads A Mystery – and that’s what she’s doing.The Mysterious Affair, by Agatha Christie is Phoebe’s chosen story – check it out if only for her silky voice.