Explore every episode of the podcast All About Agatha Christie
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Rerun: All About the Adaptations of And Then There Were None (with guest Mark Aldridge) | 23 Aug 2024 | 00:58:31 | |
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. | |||
| Special Announcement: I'm Coming to Scotland! | 17 Aug 2024 | 00:03:17 | |
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. | |||
| Interview with Andrew Winans, Director of The Hollow by Agatha Christie | 12 Apr 2024 | 01:06:59 | |
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. | |||
| A Miss Marple Nightcap: Tape-Measure Murder by Agatha Christie | 16 Jan 2021 | 00:40:04 | |
A Miss Marple short story is always cause for celebration, and this one is no exception. Come with us--to St. Mary Mead, of course--where Miss Marple finds herself at the center of a local murder, the solving of which will uncover a long-held secret from the past. In other words: all is exactly as it should be in the Christieverse.... This episode is sponsored by YARN and Best Fiends. | |||
| And Then There Were 16: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie | 01 Jan 2021 | 01:32:13 | |
While there is so much we hope will be different about 2021 as compared to 2020, our passion and appetite for Christie do not feature on that long, long list. Happy New Year, dear listeners: we hope you enjoy our leisurely ramble from Meadowbrook to Ramat and back again for this late-career "turducken" of a Christie that we quite enjoyed. Also, how did Kemper manage to shoehorn not one but two clips from Jurassic Park into this episode?! Listen, and be amazed…. | |||
| A Special Episode: Listeners Address the "Stuck in its Time" Aspect of Reading Agatha Christie | 24 Dec 2020 | 01:35:33 | |
Consider this our "Christie for Christmas," an original episode all about what it's like to read Christie in the here and now--in particular, those aspects of the texts that may strike us as seeming "stuck in their time" or otherwise difficult/awkward to negotiate. This is something we've talked about a lot over the years, and we're so grateful to be able to add more voices to the conversation with this episode--YOUR voices, in fact. Thank you again to the listeners who contributed their thoughts; it's our hope that you all get something out of the endeavor. Happy holidays! | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Flock of Geryon & The Apples of Hesperides by Agatha Christie | 18 Dec 2020 | 01:05:21 | |
This episode completes our review of The Labours of Hercules collection. We also took the opportunity to comment on the somewhat disappointing--but not entirely disastrous--Suchet adaptation. | |||
| A Very Special Episode: Interview with Mark Aldridge, Author of a Brand-New Poirot Reference Book | 26 Nov 2020 | 01:19:16 | |
It's been a while since we've had Mark on our show, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to fawn over his new book, Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World. This also gave us as good an excuse as any to chatter on about Poirot for an hour or so.... If you feel so inclined (and we wager you will), go to https://bookshop.org to (pre-)order a copy for yourself, if you don't have one already. | |||
| A Very Special Episode: Interview with Tana French | 21 Nov 2020 | 01:20:48 | |
We are both HUGE Tana French fans, so we suspect many of you are too. This interview was a joy to record; we hope you enjoy it half as much as we did. And if you haven't yet bought Tana's latest book, The Searcher, or any of the titles mentioned in our conversation, we encourage you to check out https://bookshop.org/, which is a safe and streamlined way to buy books online from independent bookstores in both the U.S. and UK. Happy reading! | |||
| And Then There Were 17: Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie | 14 Nov 2020 | 01:31:35 | |
We had A LOT to say about this undeniably striking offering in the latter half of the Christie catalogue--not all of it good, but all of it quite heartfelt. Oh, and we also had A LOT to say about the adaptations, too. | |||
| *Special Announcement* re Free-to-Listen Patreon Episode: Murder, She Wrote & Midsomer Murders!! | 06 Nov 2020 | 00:02:41 | |
Visit our Patreon site at: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha. We hope you enjoy the episode! (If you've been jonesing after LOTS of Angela Lansbury clips, you should be very pleased.) | |||
| A Very Special Episode: Interview with Anthony Horowitz | 30 Oct 2020 | 01:12:40 | |
We're thrilled to have gotten to speak with author/screenwriter/producer Anthony Horowitz, who has brought us so much joy--and not only for the Poirot episodes he adapted in the course of the David Suchet series. Anthony is in the midst of two separate contemporary mystery series, both of which we discussed, with a particular (and spoiler-free!) focus on his most recent novel, Moonflower Murders. | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Horses of Diomedes & The Girdle of Hippolyta by Agatha Christie | 24 Oct 2020 | 01:05:18 | |
In a perfect world, we could apply Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" drugs campaign referenced in our first story to the questionable art restoration techniques discussed in the second. Alas--and this is probably not a newsflash--but the world we live in is not perfect. (Don't worry, this will make a lot more sense after you've listened to the episode. Enjoy!) | |||
| *Special Announcement* re Next Episode | 06 Apr 2024 | 00:02:24 | |
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! | |||
| A Very Special Anniversary Episode: The State of the Rankings | 09 Oct 2020 | 00:57:50 | |
Normally we use this space in our anniversary episode to bemoan the passage of time, but when it comes to 2020 we can all probably agree that we'd like to keep things moving right along, yes? At this point we have quite a roster of titles to discuss, and no shortage of opinions about them. As always, we welcome yours too. | |||
| And Then There Were 18: 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie | 26 Sep 2020 | 01:23:33 | |
We apparently couldn't stop talking about what Mrs. McGillicuddy saw! (Especially because this is in some ways still an open question by the end of the novel.) Sometimes the flawed Christies give us more food for thought than the superlative gems, and this was definitely one of those times.... | |||
| *Special Announcement* re International Agatha Christie Festival (Online Only!) | 13 Sep 2020 | 00:10:43 | |
We encourage you to take a moment to check out not only our three interviews, but all the offerings available starting Tuesday 15 September via the International Agatha Christie Festival's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbc5NjYWmTw6VYlc2R9G3qw. Enjoy! | |||
| A Miss Marple Nightcap: Greenshaw's Folly by Agatha Christie | 12 Sep 2020 | 00:53:57 | |
It was a pleasure to revisit our dear old Aunt Jane in short story form... especially in a mystery like this one, which features deceptive appearances, gruesome violence, and a particularly snooty Raymond West (which as we all know by now is *really* saying something). | |||
| *Special Announcement* Calling for Listener Submissions | 29 Aug 2020 | 00:04:10 | |
We are truly excited for the opportunity to hear directly from you, our dear listeners, about how you negotiate the "stuck in its time" aspect of reading Christie. Please e-mail us your recorded submissions at allaboutthedame@gmail.com. | |||
| And Then There Were 19: Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie | 22 Aug 2020 | 01:11:37 | |
Reading this Poirot novel was like revisiting an old friend. So come along with us to the riparian oasis of Nasse House (a.k.a. Greenway), where all our analysis of the Christie canon up to this point will serve us well in figuring out whodunit. | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Stymphalean Birds & The Cretan Bull by Agatha Christie | 31 Jul 2020 | 00:49:14 | |
Our dear Hercules is still labo(u)ring his way through the twelve tasks in this standout short story collection, hooray! Appearances can be--and usually are--deceiving in any Christie, but we'd do well to remember this adage in both tales on offer here.... | |||
| And Then There Were 20: Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie | 18 Jul 2020 | 01:14:52 | |
Real talk: this was not our favorite Christie. (That may in fact be a massive understatement.) But we will always cherish the opportunity to discuss any Christie text... even one as problematic as this one. | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Erymanthian Boar & The Augean Stables by Agatha Christie | 03 Jul 2020 | 00:51:23 | |
We have two more enjoyable entries to cover in The Labours of Hercules collection. Join us as we follow Papa Poirot up into the airy heights of the Swiss Alps, and then down into the very deepest and darkest depths, that special place in hell inhabited by [cue organ] the British tabloids!! | |||
| And Then There Were 21: Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie | 21 Jun 2020 | 01:11:22 | |
We can't say we particularly relished reading this mid-career Christie thriller, but we CAN say we relished *discussing* our reading of this mid-career Christie thriller.... Make sure your tray is secure and your seat's in an upright position, because we're leaving on a jet plane for Morocco and things are about to get real bumpy, real fast! | |||
| Klaxon Bell Bonanza: The Actress by Agatha Christie | 30 Mar 2024 | 00:51:59 | |
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.
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| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Lernaean Hydra & The Arcadian Deer by Agatha Christie | 05 Jun 2020 | 00:49:10 | |
You get two Poirot short stories in this episode for the price of one--but the bargain gets even better, because the first of these felt very much like a Miss Marple story, while the second felt even more like one of our beloved Quin/Satterthwaite tales.... | |||
| A Very Special Episode: Interview with Ruth Ware | 15 May 2020 | 00:57:53 | |
We were delighted to get Ruth Ware on the phone, author of five recent--and already quite beloved--psychological crime thrillers. (This is her preferred term for the books she writes; just one of many topics we discussed!) And we of course couldn't pass up the chance to talk Christie with a fellow aficionado.... | |||
| And Then There Were 22: A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie | 08 May 2020 | 01:17:58 | |
We're not sure what to say about the length of this episode except that we seem to have a greater bandwidth for gabbing on about Christie these days.... Fortunately you, dear listener, probably have more time and inclination to listen too. So let's settle in together to discuss this incredibly bitter-tinged mystery novel inhabited by such unpleasant characters, because we nonetheless quite appreciated it! | |||
| *Special Announcement* in re Extra (Free-to-Download) Content! | 25 Apr 2020 | 00:07:08 | |
We are making our latest Patreon episode, all about the Anthony Horowitz mystery Magpie Murders, free to download (and distract)! This glorious nerdfest of a novel is VERY much inspired by Christie, so chances are if you listen to this podcast, you will very much enjoy the novel itself, and (we hope!) our discussion. You can find it at http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha. Enjoy! And please stay safe. (And sane.) | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Nemean Lion by Agatha Christie | 19 Apr 2020 | 00:57:52 | |
We are so excited to be starting in earnest, at long last, The Labours of Hercules collection. Especially as it begins with such a charming Foreword and an even more charming--and intriguing--opening story. We also threw in some D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths for good measure; why not, right? | |||
| And Then There Were 23: After the Funeral by Agatha Christie | 03 Apr 2020 | 01:05:01 | |
We both adored this (somewhat) unsung Christie gem... though not without reservations. Fortunately, for purposes of discussion, those reservations turned out to be slightly different. It's a truth universally acknowledged that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, and that certainly holds true for the various familial arrangements portrayed so vividly in this sprawling novel. | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Incredible Theft by Agatha Christie | 20 Mar 2020 | 00:45:47 | |
There is a lot going on in the world at the moment, but there will always be Agatha Christie. Join us as we celebrate our final Christie novella, which just may be more remarkable than it appears at first glance (or read, as it were). We also took this opportunity to clip heavily from the hijinks-riddled Suchet series. So let's all bask in the lightness together, shall we? | |||
| And Then There Were 24: They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie | 07 Mar 2020 | 01:04:43 | |
While we never do get the mirror the title seems (out of context) to promise, there was so much to adore in this imperfect yet rollicking early '50s novel. Take a deep breath, get out your Freud and Jung, and maybe take an umbrella for the trip down memory lane you're about to embark on with one Miss Jane Marple. | |||
| Communing with Mr. Quin: The Love Detectives by Agatha Christie | 22 Feb 2020 | 00:36:29 | |
The love detectives are back--and in a story titled The Love Detectives, no less! Join us as we puzzle over why this perfectly delightful serialization was the only one not to be included in the Mysterious Mr. Quin collection… and potentially figure it out in real time! (Clearly the magic of Mr. Quin, that wily catalyst of problem-solving, was with us.) | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: Dead Man's Mirror by Agatha Christie | 01 Feb 2020 | 00:59:33 | |
It's time for another novella, this one full to bursting with characters, incident, and puzzle mystery elements. We also get a guest appearance from Mr. Satterthwaite (!!!!), so you know we were both dementedly pleased.... | |||
| Ranking Some (But Not All!) of the Various Screen Adaptations of Agatha Christie (with Teresa Peschel) | 16 Mar 2024 | 02:08:50 | |
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. | |||
| And Then There Were 25: Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie | 18 Jan 2020 | 01:14:19 | |
We couldn't stop talking about Mrs. McGinty being dead! Mainly good things, though not *all* good things. But what a delight it was to reach, at long last, this first of the "late Poirots" featuring Ariadne Oliver. Come for the drive-by fruiting, stay for the sick Poirot burns as to "feminine intuition." | |||
| A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie | 03 Jan 2020 | 00:41:59 | |
We begin the year in style with one of Dame Agatha's leaner puzzle mysteries--especially among those featuring our favorite grandstanding Belgian detective. It's been a while since we've had the pleasure of discussing our dear Papa Poirot in short story form, though this one is a bit super-sized, as it is in fact one of the few novellas within the canon. This year we all get to celebrate ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF CHRISTIE, so you know we have high hopes for 2020. Happy New Year to all! | |||
| A Very Special Holiday Episode: The Call of Wings by Agatha Christie | 20 Dec 2019 | 00:30:18 | |
Most people know the apocryphal tale of Agatha's sister challenging her to write a murder mystery, but years earlier--1912 or thereabouts--her mother is supposed to have challenged her to write as a way of entertaining herself while recovering from influenza. Apparently this lead to an extended bout of neophyte creation that included this rather spiritual yarn, which just may remind you of another classic Christmastime story.... | |||
| And Then There Were 26: They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie | 14 Dec 2019 | 00:56:08 | |
Real talk: this is not one of our favorite Christies. Alas. But it features some excellent scene setting in and among Baghdad and Basrah; whenever Christie takes us to the Middle East, we know we're in good hands as far as mise en scène goes. We just wish we could say the same about the plot (or lack thereof), and the characters populating this globe-trotting thriller.... | |||
| A Very Special Episode: Knives Out, the Agatha Christie-Inspired Film | 06 Dec 2019 | 00:29:48 | |
We've been looking forward to this film for months... and are happy to report that on the whole it did not disappoint! Let's swoon together over cleverly employed Christie tropes, perfectly weathered white cable-knit sweaters, and everything in between. | |||
| A Very Special Episode: Interview (#2!!) with Sophie Hannah, Author of New Hercule Poirot Novels | 27 Nov 2019 | 01:08:47 | |
We had so much fun speaking with Sophie Hannah a year ago, we had her on again! Tuck in for a free-ranging conversation that starts with Sophie's new mystery novel and ends--as all conversations should--noodling over the finer aspects of moral culpability in And Then There Were None. (DOES Emily Brent get a raw deal?) With lots of chatter about lots of Christie titles in between. (Are Evil Under the Sun and Five Little Pigs diametric opposites as to style? Is The Body in the Library secretly the best Miss Marple? Which should we be more excited about reading in the future: The Pale Horse, or After the Funeral?) We could go on... and we do! See you in the episode. | |||
| Getting Happy with Parker Pyne: Problem at Pollensa Bay by Agatha Christie | 22 Nov 2019 | 00:41:58 | |
Somehow, we've reached our penultimate Parker Pyne story. As we won't be covering the last one till that far-off, misty era when our podcast ends, this will be our last Parker Pyne for quite some time.... Which may be welcome news or a disappointment, depending on your point of view. Much to our surprise, we find that we fall into the latter category. Until we meet again, Mr J. (or is it C.?) Parker Pyne.... | |||
| And Then There Were 27: A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie | 08 Nov 2019 | 01:18:23 | |
You know the drill by now: long episode = lovefest episode. In 1950 a murder was announced, and the world was never the same.... Join us as we gush over this gem of a Marple novel (and lovingly identify its flaws). | |||
| A Very Special HALLOWE'EN Episode: The Last Séance & The Lamp by Agatha Christie | 26 Oct 2019 | 00:54:32 | |
We have two creepy and unabashedly supernatural short stories for your spine-tingling pleasure this Hallowe'en season. And even though this is Christie off her regularly beaten path of logic and reason, the lessons to be gleaned from these two macabre tales are fully on brand for our beloved Dame Agatha. Beware: 1) a mother's love; and 2) a real estate bargain. [Insert banshee keen here.] | |||
| And Then There Were 28: Crooked House by Agatha Christie | 12 Oct 2019 | 01:09:07 | |
We went a little long with this one, which is as good an indicator as any of how much we *adored* this gem of a Christie (Kemper especially). And what better time of year for such a twisted, creepy tale?! Take a listen... IF YOU DARE. | |||
| The Island by Agatha Christie Mallowan (with Guest Co-Host Sarah Hinlicky Wilson) | 02 Mar 2024 | 01:45:53 | |
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. | |||
| Getting Happy with Parker Pyne: The Oracle at Delphi by Agatha Christie | 27 Sep 2019 | 00:20:42 | |
Do it, Rockapella: Well he glides around the globe from Paris to Damascus. He's a double-dealing sleuth with a taste for trickery He'll take you for a ride on a slow boat down the Nile Tell me where in the world is… Parker Pyne, heart specialist? This week he's in Greece, in close proximity to an oracle, no less. You know what that means: a kidnapping, an impersonation, and an attempted jewel heist, of course. Enjoy! | |||
| A Very Special (Anniversary) Episode: The State of Our Rankings | 20 Sep 2019 | 00:39:00 | |
How is it possible that another year has passed? We lay the blame squarely on Dame Agatha, whose light prose and masterful puzzles have made the months slip silkily on by.... It's time for another nerd-fest as we assess the state of our rankings, having just passed the three-year mark (!!) on our literary trek through the Christie-verse. We hope you all have as much fun listening to this podcast as we do creating it. Onward, to Year 4! | |||
| And Then There Were 29: Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie | 12 Sep 2019 | 00:58:57 | |
We are back with another Poirot novel! And we were on the whole quite pleased with this twisty-turny post-WWII puzzle mystery, perhaps most notable for its searing evocation of a specific time and place in history. So travel back with us to 1946 and the tiny village of Warmsley Vale where--spoiler!--all is not as it first appears to be.... | |||