All About Agatha (christie)

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! For bonus content, you can always subscribe to the podcast's Patreon account.

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.

Carla Valentine is a forensic pathologist and a *massive* Agatha Christie fan. These two facts are very much not unrelated, as you will soon discover in our lively and far-ranging discussion. 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.

Apostrophes, feminine writers, and water butts. Oh my. 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.

Get comfortable, because this is a loooong episode (at this rate, Sleeping Murder will have to be released in six parts, like a miniseries). But can you blame me--and Jamie--for wanting to spend as much time as we did critiquing this stupendous (though flawed) late Marple novel? Put on your warmest pink scarf and your red-and-black-checked pullover, and beware of any "rocking stones" in the vicinity as you immerse yourself in the world of... Nemesis.

It may not be a heart-shaped box of chocolates wrapped in crinkly plastic, but I hope you'll enjoy my Valentine's confection for you in the form of a free-to-download, love-themed Patreon episode. (You can click the link below; it'll be the first episode to appear in the queue.) Enjoy! http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha

Another episode, another Sophie Hannah confection! Come for the Death on the Nile gush-fest and the discussion of character versus plot in contemporary crime fiction, stay for Sophie’s shocking takedown of American English (I jest…). For bonus episodes, check out the All About Agatha Patreon site at: www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha.

We get lots of Poirot and Hastings in this fairly light-hearted short story, and lots of Poirot and Hastings and Lemon and Japp in the stupendously light-hearted episode based on this short story. In other words: a good time all around.

It wasn't easy recording my first episode without Catherine, but fortunately I had a friend to help me: Sophie Hannah, who duked out the rankings with me as my guest co-host. And what a time we had discussing this extremely flawed, though extremely fascinating late-career Christie thriller....

It was extremely difficult to edit this episode, which is the final one I recorded with my co-host, Catherine Brobeck, before she passed away. I hope you take a listen, and use it as an opportunity to celebrate her. Please know this is the spirit in which I'm offering it to you now. Happy holidays to all who celebrate them; I'm looking forward to a New Year in which we can continue to remember Catherine while continuing to celebrate Agatha Christie and the greater world of mysteries. And thank you--so much--for all your warmth and support during what has been a challenging time. It means the world.

Please listen for a message about the unexpected passing of one of our own.

We had an absolutely lovely time chatting with author John Copenhaver about his new book, The Savage Kind (https://bookshop.org/books/the-savage-kind-a-mystery/9781643138091). And about Agatha Christie, of course. This episode is sponsored by http://www.smilebrilliant.com (coupon code AGATHA) and Best Fiends.

We do this every year, and it gets more unwieldy and yet more enjoyable as time goes by. Join us as we fine-tune our rankings of the sixty (!!) Christie novels we've covered thus far. We may even engage in a little horse-trading....