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All About Agatha is a podcast all about, well, Agatha. Agatha Christie, of course: the Queen of Crime, a real-life Dame of the British Empire, and author of sixty-six mystery novels that spanned the Twentieth Century, defining a genre. For five years, Catherine Brobeck and Kemper Donovan revisited these novels in publication order, ranking them according to pre-set criteria (plot, character, etc.). Tragically, Catherine Brobeck passed away at the end of 2021. Since then, Kemper has completed the podcast’s ranking project, and now contents himself with celebrating the greatness of Christie by attempting to solve the ultimate mystery where she is concerned. Why Christie–and Christie alone–endures as powerfully as she does.
The podcast All About Agatha Christie is created by All About Agatha (Christie). The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
Take comfort, for Maureen Johnson is back on the podcast to talk about her newest (standalone) YA mystery novel, and to talk about the nature of YA mystery itself!
You can find out more about Maureen and check out all her brilliant books at her website here.
You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my author website.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
We've got strange goings-on in this early, supernatural Christie short story. What happened to poor Felicie Bault? Could it be a multiple personality disorder? A body swap?! Or something even WEIRDER? You be the judge... but first, delight with me in heaps upon heaps of listener correspondence. Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!
For U.S. listeners: pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, at your bookseller of choice here.
Check out this Monsieur Poirot/Miss Marple spoof, The Teddy Bear Who Knew Too Much, courtesy of The Two Ronnies.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my author website.
You can still buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Did you know that Superman's appearance on I Love Lucy is considered by some to be the first crossover episode of television? In that case, I was blessed with the appearance of *TWO* supermen on this crossover episode of All About Agatha and The Swinging Christies, in which I sat down (in Agatha Christie's birthplace and on Agatha Christie's birthday, no less!) with co-hosts Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Together, we discussed--and debated--the ranking of Christie's novels from the 1960s, which they've spent the past year considering in glorious detail. I couldn't think of a better way to spend 90 minutes, and only wish it could have been longer. Enjoy!
The following titles are spoiled (to varying degrees) over the course of this episode: At Bertram’s Hotel, The Body in the Library, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, A Caribbean Mystery, Cat Among the Pigeons, The Clocks, Elephants Can Remember, Endless Night, Hallowe’en Party, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, Murder is Easy, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Nemesis, The Pale Horse, Passenger to Frankfurt, Postern of Fate, They Do It With Mirrors, Third Girl.
You can find more information about and links to Dr. Mark Aldridge's newest book, Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness at his website.
You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my author website.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
You can find Mark and Gray on X and Instagram under @Christie_Time, and at their website.
Marci Kay Monson has created something very interesting in this children's picture-book version of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I can't think of a better way to start off what I hope is a long-running discussion of YA mystery, here on the podcast.
You can check out Marci's book on her website here.
You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my author website.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
It's time for another live episode from the Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, with a to-die-for panel of Agathologists! And guess what? The sound quality of this one is SUPERB, thanks to the presence of an on-site technician. Thank you to the Festival for making this happen!
I hope you all enjoy; I know we did....
I'm appearing at Bloody Scotland tomorrow, Saturday 14 September, and hope to see some listeners there!
You can currently pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, in the United States.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my author website.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane, especially since it will help prepare you for my upcoming live episode at the Agatha Christie Festival, concerning which among the many (many!) screen adaptations of Christie's work is the best....
To find out more and purchase tickets for my appearance at the Bloody Scotland festival on Saturday, 14 September at 11:30am, please click here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
I'm thrilled to be participating in the Bloody Scotland festival this September! Click here for more information about my panel on Saturday, 14 September at 11:30am, at Trinity Church in Stirling.
And for those of you in Southern California, here are the details for my upcoming appearance at a brand-new Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica on Saturday, 31 August at 10:00am, at the Third Street Promenade.
It was such a pleasure to speak with Kate Gingold about her glossary of annotations of Christie novels and short stories from the 1920s.
You can find Kate, her book, and many other offerings at her website: Agatha Annotated. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can find out more about her non-Agatha offerings on this website.
You can find out more about Kate's talk at the Agatha Christie Festival (and purchase a ticket) here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Whether it's teeny-tiny dogs like the Pekingese, more medium-sized dogs like the VAST array of terriers who appear in this episode, or large dogs like the scary greyhound who makes quite a memorable appearance, there is something for everyone in my discussion of the canine species in Agatha Christie's works. Special thanks to Kate Jackson and Michelle Kazmer, whose expertise I leaned on in preparing this episode.
Click here to visit and subscribe to Patreon for bonus episodes. And I encourage you to listen to my Patreon episode all about Next to a Dog, as referenced in this episode. If you don't want to become a paying member, simply sign up as a free member, and you can listen free of charge for up to two weeks following the release of this episode.
Please watch the PBS SoCal YouTube series Won't You Be My Gamer?, in which I play a videogame adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express with two experts! Great fun.
You can read Kate Jackson's excellent lecture on animals in classic mystery fiction here.
Here is a link to that old, dog-and-cat-centric episode of the Crown Court series that I mentioned, Evil Liver, written by Ngaio Marsh and starring Joan Hickson (among others).
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
It was a dream to be able to sit down with David Morris, and pore over all the priceless goodies he brought with him having to do with Agatha Christie books, art, and ephemera.
The following titles are spoiled during the course of our conversation: The Mystery of the Blue Train, Death on the Nile.
To watch me watch two gamers play Murder on the Orient Express the videogame while we discuss all things Agatha Christie, click here. This is the first episode of the PBS SoCal series Won't You Be My Gamer? It was a lot of fun.
For more of David's scholarly work from a collector's point of view, you can visit his website here, find him on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. You can also check out his upcoming talk at the Agatha Christie Festival here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
It's time to discuss those pesky Americans who appear in the Christie canon, and answer such burning questions as: Are all Americans millionaires? (Alas, no.) Do all Americans speak solely by way of idiom? (Happily, no.) I was also able to answer a ton of mailbag questions, which involved one hundred percent more Spice Girls than I expected it to.
The following titles are spoiled to varying degrees in this episode: The Actress; After the Funeral; The Big Four; A Caribbean Mystery; Cat Among the Pigeons; Death on the Nile; Destination Unknown; Endless Night; Evil Under the Sun; Lord Edgware Dies; The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side; Motive v. Opportunity; The Mousetrap (though only in a minor way), Mrs. McGinty’s Dead; A Murder is Announced, Murder on the Orient Express; The Soul of the Croupier; Sparkling Cyanide; They Do It With Mirrors.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
It's raining long-haired, antique-loving, architecturally-inclined men! And a few women, too! June is Pride month for the LGBTQIA+ community here in the United States, which I took as an opportunity to explore the topic of "gay" characters in Christie... along with revisiting an interview Catherine Brobeck and I did with long-time friend of the podcast, Jamie Bernthal. Enjoy, my dears!
The following titles are spoiled to varying degrees in this episode: The Mousetrap, The Rats, “Death by Drowning,” “Greenshaw’s Folly,” After the Funeral, Cards on the Table, Endless Night, Five Little Pigs, Hallowe’en Party, Lord Edgware Dies, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, The Moving Finger, Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, A Murder is Announced, Murder is Easy, Nemesis.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
It isn't every day a new discovery is made regarding a physical record of Agatha Christie's writing, especially one from her earliest days as a writer.... Thank you to journalist Karen Robinson for sitting down with me to talk about What We Did in the Great War by Agatha Christie... and by others in the VAD in Torquay during the First World War! It was a fantastic discussion.
For information about the exhibition in London where you can see this handmade magazine for yourself, click here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.
Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
It's another episode focused on the adaptations of Agatha Christie: specifically, those talented actors who have brought life to Monsieur Poirot and Miss Marple in films and television for nearly 100 years now. Who will win the title of Greatest Poirot and Greatest Marple of Them All? And how will the rankings leading up to my #1 picks shake out? I surprised myself with a few of my choices here, and I look forward to receiving outraged responses from at least a few of you. Special thanks to Scott Ratner for his spirited commentary on one of these actors, and the valuable insights his perspective provided.
Please note that I spoil the plot of Curtain, and also the 2018 adaptation of The ABC Murders in this episode.
Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page by clicking here.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
I mentioned a few different adaptations over the course of this episode. Click below to access them.
Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple (Japanese-language animated series)
Murder by the Book (starring Ian Holm and Peggy Ashcroft)
Viki.com (where you can watch Ms. Ma, Nemesis)
Saturday, April 27th is Independent Bookstore Day here in the United States, and what better way to celebrate than with this live interview from my book tour last week at Schuler Books in Grand Rapids, Michigan?! Special thanks to Elizabeth Bosscher for conducting this interview. I had such a great time sitting down with her.
If you'd like to visit or learn more about Schuler Books, which has four locations in Michigan, click here.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page by clicking here.
Click here to purchase tickets for my upcoming panel at the Agatha Christie Festival.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, at your bookseller of choice (though please do opt for an indie if you possibly can!) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Andrew Winans is the director of a new off-Broadway production of Christie's theatrical adaptation of her superb novel, The Hollow. I loved getting to speak with someone who has been in the trenches with his cast of actors and crew of professionals over the past few months, bringing this Agatha Christie play to life....
To purchase tickets for this run of The Hollow (13-21 April) at The Players Theatre in downtown New York, click here.
Come visit me on my ongoing book tour for my mystery novel, The Busy Body! Click here for details.
The Busy Body is available to purchase in the United States, the United Kingdom (where it is available via Kindle for £0.99 for all of April!), and Australia and New Zealand.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
Click here to purchase tickets for my upcoming panel at the Agatha Christie Festival in September.
Next week's episode will be a discussion with Andrew Winans, the director of an upcoming Off-Broadway production of The Hollow, a play written by Agatha Christie, based on her novel.
If you are interested in attending this production, which runs from 13-21 April in New York, go ahead and click here.
And my East Coast/Midwest tour of the United States for The Busy Body is about to begin! Click here for more details. I hope to see some of you very soon--in person!
If you're a longtime listener of this podcast, you'll know never to trust an actor in a Christie story. So what happens when not one but two actors feature among the rather small cast of suspects? A lot, as it turns out, in this early short story that showcases Christie's unique ability to spin seemingly endless variations on a single puzzle....
In addition to the titular story, the following Christies are spoiled in the course of this episode:
"Miss Marple Tells a Story”
"The Affair at the Bungalow”
"Murder in the Mews”
Cat Among the Pigeons
Three Act Tragedy
Death in the Clouds
And Then There Were None
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Lord Edgware Dies
Evil Under the Sun
To purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival, click here.
To visit the Festival website and check out all the other fantastic panels on offer, click here.
For details on my upcoming book tour in the Northeast and Midwest of the U.S., click here.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
You can purchase my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Quick: what is the best Joan Hickson adaptation of a Miss Marple novel? Or how about your least favorite Suchet episode? If you like pondering such questions, then this is the episode for you! Just beware of spoilers; I list all the novels Teresa and I spoil in the course of this wide-ranging conversation at the top of the episode.
To buy tickets to the All About Agatha Live! Panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay in September, click here.
To check out all the splendid events at this year's Agatha Christie Festival, click here.
Go wild perusing all that Teresa and Bill at Peschel Press have to offer here.
Come visit me in mid-April while I’m on tour in the Northeast and Midwest of the United States! Click here for details.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and New Zealand.
You can visit and subscribe to the podcast’s Patreon page here.
Sarah Hinlicky Wilson is back! And with this episode, she’s officially earned her title as All About Agatha’s resident expert on Christian theology. I leaned heavily on her expertise for this episode, which involves a lot of parsing of Biblical and even apocryphal references, as we discussed this curious, fascinatingly revealing short story from the Star Over Bethlehem and Other Stories collection.
To read Sarah’s newly published article “Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Christian,” click here.
To visit Sarah’s website, click here.
To visit my website to check out upcoming dates and locations for my book tour, click here.
You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast’s Patreon page here.
Actor Lee Samuel Tanng has appeared in TEN (!!) regional productions of plays based on Agatha Christie novels over the last eleven years. He sat down with me to discuss the joys of regional theater, the particular challenges (and advantages) of pulling off a murder mystery in real time, and of course, to rank his ten experiences from least to most favorite. This conversation was a blast.
You can see a collage of all Sam's roles on the podcast's Twitter/X account here, and on Instagram here.
Check out the Long Beach Playhouse here, which is where Sam has appeared in all these wonderful productions over the years. Long live regional theater!
Please visit and suscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
Click here for more information on upcoming book tour events for my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body.
And you can now purchase The Busy Body in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Perhaps it was inevitable that an episode about the longest-running play in history would be the longest episode ever produced on this podcast.... And yet there's nary a spoiler in it; so tuck in, safe in the knowledge that the secret of The Mousetrap remains safely locked in my heart.
Nibble nibble. Squeak squeak.
Special thanks to my guests Phil O'Neill and Scott Ratner, and to Nick Cardillo and Christopher Diehl for their invaluable contributions.
Click here to access the BBC Documentary The Mousetrap and Me, which I reference in the show.
You can find Phil O'Neill's wonderful book, Poems from the Unconscious, here, and Scott Ratner's extremely funny original play, Kill a Better Mousetrap, here.
You can find my Crimereads article on why Agatha Christie has endured uniquely among mystery writers here.
You can now purchase my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body (as a paper copy, ebook, or audio book), in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
Click here for more information on upcoming book tour events for The Busy Body.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page.
Alex Michaelides has a new mystery out, and I had such a great time geeking out with him about Agatha Christie and other literary inspirations of his, including the great Ruth Rendell.
You can purchase Alex's new book, The Fury, in the United States here. And you can pre-order it in the UK (it's out February 1st) here.
You can purchase my new book, The Busy Body, in the United States here, the United Kingdom here, and Australia/New Zealand here.
For details on my upcoming book tour, visit my website here.
You can visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
This episode is sponsored by Even the Royals, which you can find wherever you listen to podcasts, including here.
I've talked a bunch--especially recently--about Agatha Christie and the theater. But what is it like to put on an Agatha Christie play? In particular, in one of those smaller regional/community venues that so frequently put on Christie's plays? Thanks to the three experts I gathered together for this episode, we can begin to answer that question. You can find out more about each of them directly below.
1) Do yourself a favor and check out Brad Friedman's mystery blog. It has provided me heaps and heaps of both entertainment and insight.
2) You can look up Christopher Diehl's community theater here. And here is a link to another theater where he works on numerous projects, including those by Christie.
3) Click here to check out Jamie West's debut mystery novel, Death on the Pier, inspired by his love of mystery and theater.
If you'd like to come see me on my upcoming book tour, the details are on my website here.
And you can still pre-order that book (for a few more weeks) in the United States here, the United Kingdom here, and Australia/New Zealand here.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page.
This episode is sponsored by Britbox. For listeners in the U.S. and Canada, click here and use the promo code "AGATHA" at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
And you thought the days of bumper-sized episodes of All About Agatha were behind you.... This one might be a bit of a cheat, since it's a Frankenstein's monster (a Bella Baxter?!) of a few different things: 1) a nice long "mail bag"/"housekeeping" segment; 2) a fresh episode analyzing "The Naughty Donkey" in Christie's Star Over Bethlehem and Other Stories collection; and 3) a rerun of the episode I aired in the summer this year with Sarah Hinlicky Wilson co-hosting, in which we discussed the titular story of the same collection.
So much Christie, so much Christianity, so much Christmas. Rejoice!
You can check out Sarah's short story podcast here.
You can see my upcoming book tour events (!!) here. Please come see me!
You can pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States here, in the United Kingdom here, and in Australia and New Zealand here.
You can visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
This episode is sponsored by BritBox. For listeners in the U.S. and Canada, click here and use the promo code "AGATHA" at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
Kate Jackson knows her stuff when it comes to classic crime, and then some. I had such a good time talking to her about non-Christie authors of the Golden Age, and then engaging in a choose-your-own-adventure-style exercise that took us through various plot points she meticulously pulled from scores of Christie novels, short stories, and plays. What fun!
To buy Kate's book How to Survive a Classic Crime Novel in the U.S., click here. In the UK, click here.
To check out Kate's blog, click here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
To pre-order a copy of my upcoming mystery novel The Busy Body in the U.S., click here. In the UK, click here. And in Australia and New Zealand, click here.
It's time to discuss friend of the podcast Sophie Hannah's murder mystery musical movie!! Mystery and musical fans, unite!!
To rent/buy Sophie's movie in the U.S., click here.
To rent/buy Sophie's movie in the UK, click here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
You can pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States (here), the United Kingdom (here), and Australia and New Zealand (here).
This episode is sponsored by Britbox. For listeners in the U.S. and Canada, click here and use the promo code "AGATHA" at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
If you like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, then this episode is for you! If you like theater, then this episode is *really* for you! Mark was a delight; his passion for Ackroyd, theater, and all things Agatha Christie shines through our entire conversation. Enjoy!
Click here to download the Orson Welles radio adaptation of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd referenced in the episode.
Click here to visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page.
You can pre-order my upcoming mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.
This episode is sponsored by Britbox. For listeners in the U.S. and Canada, click here and use the promo code "AGATHA" at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
What an excellent opportunity this conversation was to use--and explain--such new-fangled terms as "Booktube," "Bookstagram," and "BookTok." If the online world of readerly appreciation befuddles you (as it often does me), then allow Mara Sinclair to explain all....
For more Mara in your life, check out her YouTube Channel, Bookslikewhoa.
You can also find Mara on Goodreads, Instagram, and Discord.
You can pre-order my upcoming mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page.
This episode is sponsored by Britbox. For listeners in the U.S. and Canada, click here and use the promo code "AGATHA" at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
'Tis the season for a spooky Christie story, and this one does not disappoint. On the contrary, I would argue it raises the bar by marrying elements of the supernatural and the rational, all in one text. Apparently you can have a trick and a treat; you don't have to choose!
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
You can pre-order my upcoming mystery novel, The Busy Body, in the U.S. here.
And you can pre-order The Busy Body in Australia and New Zealand here.
You can visit Mara Sinclair's BookTube channel (the subject of my next episode) here.
This episode is sponsored by Britbox. For listeners in the U.S. and Canada, click here and use the promo code "AGATHA" at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
If you are a longtime listener of this podcast, Jamie Bernthal-Hooker is no stranger to you. But until now, our conversations have focused on his scholarly endeavors vis-a-vis Christie. Last month, I was fortunate enough to snag him for a half-hour at the Agatha Christie Festival to discuss his creative project satirizing murder mysteries in general, and Miss Jane Marple in particular. Get ready to meet Jessica Brick!
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
Please pre-order my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, here.
Get ready for some hot mics: it's time for a live episode of All About Agatha at the 2023 Agatha Christie Festival! I hope you'll be able to share in some of the fun we had down in Torquay this year, because we certainly had a lot of it. Enjoy!
Please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
Please pre-order my upcoming mystery novel, The Busy Body, here.
Yes, yes: Agatha Christie famously abstained from cocktails and all other alcoholic drinks. So how was it possible to write an entire book--and speak for an entire hour--about Christie and cocktails?! Take a listen and find out!
Colleen's book, Agatha Whiskey: 50 Cocktails to Celebrate the Bestselling Novelist of All Time is available at all major booksellers. Click here to purchase Colleen's book in the UK, and here for purchase in the U.S.
To pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, click here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit them here for 10% off your first month of therapy.
I loved geeking out with Karen over the top ten "food-related" books within the Christie canon, and I think you will too!
Visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
You can purchase Karen's book here.
You can pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, here.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit them here for 10% off your first month of therapy.
On this episode I talk generally about the stage plays of Agatha Christie (that we know of thus far), but first I do a massive housekeeping segment with messages from all of you. (Letters! We've got letters! We've got stacks and stacks of letters!) It's such a joy to hear from as many of you as I do; please keep in touch.
Visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
You can purchase tickets to the rehearsed (and costumed!) reading of Agatha Christie's version (much like Taylor's version, I imagine) of Towards Zero at the International Agatha Christie Festival here.
You can pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, here.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit them here for 10% off your first month of therapy.
I had such a great time focusing on Agatha Christie's theatrical endeavors, with the person who knows more about them than anyone else in the world. Come delight with me and Julius Green in all the drama!
You can visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
You can buy the newer, paperback edition of Julius's book (with a slightly altered title) here.
You can pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, here.
Get ready for another panoramic episode, in which I take full stock of the Christie canon from the unusual perspective of the dedications she (usually) inserted at the front of her books. I even managed to unearth some unsolved (by me, anyway) mysteries....
Visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page here.
Pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, at the bookseller of your choice here.
My former co-host Catherine Brobeck loved this short story, and this episode about this short story. And so do I! It's also one of the short stories under discussion at this year's upcoming International Agatha Christie Festival in September, during which my co-panelists and I will crown Agatha Christie's Greatest Short Story. Take a listen to the first part of the episode for a sneak peek at the other stories we'll be debating. Happy Summer, everyone!
To buy tickets to the Festival, click here.
To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.
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I loved everything about this nerdiest of episodes... other than the fact that Catherine Brobeck wasn't here to delight in this exercise alongside me. I know she would have dug it. I hope you do, too.
Click here for the YouTube link to the recently uploaded (and free!) video of They Came to Baghdad, a 1950s television adaptation previously very hard to find.
Click here to access the charts referenced in this episode.
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Click here to pre-order my mystery novel, The Busy Body, due out in January 2024!
You might want to pour yourself some egg nog and download one of those roaring digital fireplaces for today's offering, which is a rare Christmas-themed, and overtly religious, Christie short story. Many thanks to Sarah Hinlicky Wilson for co-hosting this episode with me.
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Click here to visit Sarah's website.
Click here to read Sarah's article referenced in the episode: "Miss Marple's Low Anthropology."
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This episode is one of those happy occasions on which you all get to hear a voice--and a perspective--other than my own. Three voices, in fact. Many thanks to my co-hosts Jenni Bishop, Tina Hodgkinson, and Emma for a fabulous talk on such an important topic.
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What better way to celebrate Coronation Day than with a story Agatha Christie wrote to contribute to the restoration of Westminster Abbey? (No, really!) More such fun facts await you in this, our final Miss Marple story for the podcast.... Miss Marple is done! Long live Miss Marple!
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Please pre-order my mystery novel! There are an array of links to various booksellers here, including Bookshop, which allows you to buy from indie bookstores while ordering online.
In this hodgepodge of an episode, I revisit Christie stories already covered, and discuss a number of adaptations--and one text!--that Catherine and I failed to mention the first time around. (Please know that spoilers will abound for these stories.)
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If the teeth don't match, you must give your head a scratch. Au revoir, cher Poirot.
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Did you ever wonder what it would be like to meet Agatha Christie in person? Well, here's your answer. Special thanks to Yasuo Sudoh, Dr. Ernestine Elster, and Norman Home for contributing to this episode.
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You can read the L.A. Times article referenced in this episode (all about All About Agatha) here.
Is this the weirdest thing Christie ever wrote? Maybe! But let's embrace it, and journey together to the Isle of Man, where buried treasure awaits....
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In this episode, I try my hand at a "live game" experience based on a Poirot short story, which was provided to me for free by the game's creators.... And, spoiler, but I fail. Utterly.
This episode is sponsored by the Art of Crime podcast. Check out their website here.
Double, double toil and trouble.... It's time for a second--and much closer--look at the grand estate of Chimneys and its many, many (no really: many) secrets! (Don't worry, that Macbeth quote will make more sense once you listen.) I had more fun than I've had in a long time creating this episode. I also missed my dear partner Catherine Brobeck so very acutely.... I wish she could have done this with me.
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What a world we live in where Catherine and I are not the only two fanatics who have taken it upon ourselves to rank every single one of Agatha Christie's 66 mystery novels. In this episode, I delight in comparing and contrasting the All About Agatha grid with two other worthy offerings.... I hope you enjoy the nerdfest; it was a blast to record. Special thanks to our A+++ listener, and to Yasuo Sudoh.
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This episode is sponsored by The Art of Crime podcast.
What a joyous and festive way to close out 2022, by chatting with Maureen Johnson, the talented writer of YA mysteries very much inspired by Agatha Christie. Happy New Year, one and all!
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This episode is sponsored by Britbox. Remember that if you buy a gift subscription this holiday season, you have the chance to win all sorts of cool prizes (no purchase necessary). Click here for more details.
My guest co-host John Curran certainly kept me on my toes (and I never expected to be forced to defend poor Nemesis as much as I was!), but I can truthfully say that having him on was the perfect event for this festive, end-of-year period. Happy holidays to all who celebrate, and please enjoy this very, very special episode.
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This episode is sponsored by Britbox. Remember that if you buy a gift subscription this holiday season, you have the chance to win all sorts of cool prizes (no purchase necessary). Click here for more details.
I didn't think I'd care this much about saying farewell to Parker Pyne, heart specialist.... Fortunately, there is a LOT to discuss in this jam-packed (really, pilchard-packed) episode: hot mackerel, plasticine, and corncrakes, for starters. Eternal thanks to Dr. Michelle Kazmer for lending her voice and expertise on this episode. If it isn't the sendoff Parker Pyne deserves, it's because Michelle was way too kind and smart for him. Just saying.
It's time to discuss the new collection of Miss Marple short stories that came out this fall in a detail some may find excruciating, but which my co-host Brad Friedman and I found to be juuuuuuust right. Come and get down-and-dirty in the weeds of these stories the way Aunt Jane herself would have done, gardener that she was. Because just like foxglove and belladonna, these weeds are beautiful, fascinating... and deadly.
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Visit Brad's fabulous blog here.
This episode is sponsored by the Art of Crime Podcast, which you can download wherever you download podcasts. Visit the podcast's website here.
This episode is also sponsored by Britbox. Use coupon code "AGATHA" in the U.S. and Canada for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
What a joy it was to spend some time again with Christie's most dynamic detective duo, Quin & Satterthwaite (sorry, Beresfords). This is the rare late-career Christie short story, and while the puzzle isn't one of her strongest, there's no denying the strange magic of the Satterthwerse....
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This episode is sponsored by Britbox. Use coupon code "AGATHA" at checkout in the U.S. and Canada for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
Boo! It's a surprise episode popping up like The Crypt Keeper in the opening credits to Tales from the Crypt (anyone with me here?), featuring one of Agatha Christie's weird tales of the supernatural! If you think this story can't *also* include some of the most grounded elements of a classic Christie puzzle mystery, then consider this the trick to balance out all those treats you've got coming your way at the end of the month.... Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!
Click here for a lovely L.A. Times piece all about the podcast, written by Deborah Netburn.
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This episode is sponsored by Britbox. Use coupon code "AGATHA" at checkout in the U.S. and Canada for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
HarperCollins UK publisher David Brawn has been keeping Agatha Christie in print for over 25 years now. More recently, he’s helmed the Christie continuation projects, starting first with Charles Osborne’s novelizations, then Sophie Hannah’s Poirot books, and just last month, Marple: Twelve New Mysteries, a new collection of Miss Marple short stories by twelve different writers. We had a lot to talk about, so I was thrilled to sit down with him in Torquay at the International Agatha Christie Festival a few weeks ago. I hope (and trust) you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
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This episode is brought to you by Britbox. Remember to use coupon code “AGATHA” for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription in the U.S. and Canada.
This episode was a joy to create: live and in person, in front of an audience and a group of co-panelists all bubbling with the same passion for Christie I'm used to sharing with all of you over the airwaves (podwaves?) alone.... I wish I could say that the recording does the event justice, but it's better than nothing. (Just.)
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This episode is sponsored by Britbox; use coupon code "AGATHA" at checkout in the U.S. and Canada for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
This episode is also sponsored by BetterHelp. Click this link for 10% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
Somehow, the day is upon us: the last Agatha Christie novel to review on this podcast.... There is no question this was the hardest episode I've ever done, but also the most rewarding. And not just for the George Eliot and Virginia Woolf references my co-host and I managed to squeeze into the nearly four-hour (!!) proceedings. Much love to you all. À bientôt!
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This episode is brought to you by Britbox. Use coupon code "AGATHA" at checkout in the U.S. and Canada for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
Lucy Worsley is an author, a historian, a TV presenter, and she is also one of us, because she is a listener of this podcast (!!) and she is *obsessed* with Agatha Christie. As our conversation will attest. Bonus points for the Jane Austen content we manage to shoehorn in here, plus, this is easily the best conversation I've had with anyone (barring my beloved Catherine) about Agatha Christie's infamous disappearance.
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This episode is brought to you by Britbox; use coupon code AGATHA in the U.S. and Canada at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
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When I found myself adding an instrumental track of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" to an excerpt of this short story I'd been reading aloud, I realized I had passed a milestone of fandom and absurdity I never knew existed till I was on the other side of it. I am happy to be able to share this milestone with you, dear listeners. Enjoy.
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This episode is brought to you by Britbox. Remember to use coupon code AGATHA at checkout for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription in the U.S. and Canada.
When Catherine and I started this crazy little venture, I never thought I'd say this, and certainly not with the excitement it inspires in me now, but at long last we've broken the three-hour barrier. That is how much my co-host Tony Medawar and I had to say about this final(/not-final) Miss Marple novel. Please enjoy, because we sure did.
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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.
It's time to pick apart a Poirot short story in excruciating detail, though thankfully the process is anything but excruciating--especially with a miniature puzzle mystery as clever as this one, and set in the vicinity of Poirot's own digs, to boot! Let us never underestimate the power of propinquity....
This episode is sponsored by Britbox (use coupon code AGATHA) and BetterHelp.
For bonus content, please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon account.
I'm going to Torquay, listeners! Or as I like to think of it: Agatha-land. Please join me at the International Agatha Christie Festival for a special, live episode of All About Agatha, where I will debate which title deserves to be crowned Agatha Christie's greatest novel with the likes of John Curran, Jamie Bernthal-Hooker, Mark Aldridge, and Carla Valentine (!!!!). You'll even get to weigh in as an audience member... but only if you're there in person! Wednesday, 14 September at 7:00pm. All other details and ticket purchases to be accessed on the Festival's website here. I hope to see you!
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Ruth Ware has a new psychological crime thriller out this summer, and it may be her most Christie-ish yet. Listen to us discuss kebab vans in much greater detail than you were probably expecting!
This episode is brought to you by Britbox. Use promo code "AGATHA" for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription in the U.S. or Canada.
For bonus content, please visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon site.
Well thank goodness I had Caroline Crampton, host of the fabulous Shedunnit podcast, to help me wade through the rather disorienting waters of this, the final novel Agatha Christie ever wrote. Get out your hankies--to wipe away not only your tears, but all the dust and spiders out in the garden shed, a.k.a. "KK." It's time to visit Tommy and Tuppence one last time....
This episode is brought to you by Britbox. Visit http://www.britbox.com and use coupon code "AGATHA" for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.
You can access bonus material on the podcast's Patreon page, over at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
This episode is brought to you by Britbox, http://www.britbox.com. (U.S. and Canadian listeners: use the promo code "AGATHA" for 50% off the first month of your monthly subscription.)
You can find more content on the podcast's Patreon page, over at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
I took the opportunity to have a somewhat different conversation about Christie than I usually do, with the literary theorist Alison Light, who wrote about Christie as far back as 1991. We talked a whole lot about the middle classes, the notion of “small c” conservatism, and what it means to be English. Not your usual Christie fare, but I left the conversation with a fresh appreciation of our favorite author, and I hope you do too.
Visit the podcast's Patreon site at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
It's been a while since we’ve done a Stefon, so here goes. This episode has everything: twins, wigs, continuity errors, Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver (surely the model upon which Will & Grace were built) teaming up one last time, and of course, Dr. Mark Aldridge, co-host extraordinaire. It’s time to find out if elephants really can remember! (Spoiler: they mainly can’t.)
You can find bonus content at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
What a pleasure to chat with one of the early Christie biographers--and critical analysts--about Agatha Christie as both a writer and a person. We even talk about sex! (Consider yourselves titillated... even though Agatha definitely would not have been.) You can find bonus material at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
This episode is sponsored by http://www.smilebrilliant.com. Remember to use coupon code AGATHA.
This episode is brought to you by http://www.smilebrilliant.com. Remember to use coupon code AGATHA.
You can visit the podcast's Patreon site at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
What a pleasure it was to speak with the debut (though by no means inexperienced) author of the genre-busting mystery The Maid. It's such a charming read, and we got to talk a lot--a lot!--about Christie.
Visit the podcast's Patreon site at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
Alex is the real deal when it comes to his passion for Christie, and for the craft of writing mysteries. This interview was simply a joy. I hope (and trust) you'll feel the same.
Visit the podcast's Patreon site at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.