All About Agatha (Christie)
273 episodes - English - Latest episode: 20 days ago - ★★★★★ - 991 ratingsAll 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.
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Episodes
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim by Agatha Christie
March 22, 2017 07:42 - 24 minutes - 44.9 MBThis week's pleasing Poirot puzzle is noteworthy for a few reasons: 1) it features Agatha Christie's recitation of the different ways a person might disappear, written five years *before* her own disappearance; 2) the Suchet adaptation features a bit of delightful wordplay involving a parrot; and 3) that same parrot leads to perhaps the greatest Hastings putdown ever recorded. Poor, poor Hastings....
And Then There Were 58: The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
March 17, 2017 08:40 - 47 minutes - 86.2 MBJoin us as we frantically dig our way out of the grand old estate of Chimneys (last visited in The Secret of), like cartoon convicts shoveling our way to freedom.... This is the last of the early Christie thrillers, and if you haven't had your fill of secret societies, happily-ever-afters, or clock masks, you're in luck. There are actually some bright spots here; this may be Christie's most Wodehouse-ian novel yet.
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Kidnapped Prime Minister by Agatha Christie
March 08, 2017 07:56 - 33 minutes - 61.6 MBThis one gets pretty political! (Because if there's one thing we're missing these days, it's politics....) However, it's at least OLD politics (also known as history), taken from four discrete periods: 1918(ish), 1923, 1936, and 1990. Join us as we two Americans attempt to speak somewhat intelligently about what's been happening across the pond all these years.... Also, this may in fact be our most Irish episode; even Liam Neeson makes a guest appearance!
The Witness for the Prosecution: An Agatha Christie Classic
March 01, 2017 07:38 - 47 minutes - 54.5 MBBack in 1925 Agatha Christie published a short story called "Traitor Hands," which would go on to spawn a successful play and several film adaptations, including the celebrated "Witness for the Prosecution" directed by Billy Wilder, as well as the rather luscious BBC miniseries that aired this past Christmas. Join us as we examine the original story alongside the original play while also taking a closer look at these two adaptations. Wanna kiss me, ducky?!
And Then There Were 59: The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
February 15, 2017 20:08 - 51 minutes - 58.6 MBTell people you're reading a Christie novel set on a train--a Poirot, no less--and they'll almost definitely think you're reading Murder on The Orient Express. And you might be! But you might also be reading The Mystery of the Blue Train, which predates its much more famous sibling by a few years.... Climb aboard with us and traverse not just the French countryside but a hybrid whodunit/thriller centered on murder, adultery, priceless jewels, and a 33-year-old woman who is apparently in the "...
Gone Girl: The Notorious Real-Life Disappearance of Agatha Christie
February 06, 2017 06:49 - 50 minutes - 57.8 MBWe’re going true-crime for this one… or is that true-hoax? Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction, and Agatha Christie’s real-life disappearance for eleven days in 1926 is the perfect encapsulation of this phenomenon. Join us as we unravel the mystery as best we can, including its impact on our beloved author’s work and overall career. There’s also a movie from the ‘70s starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman that is… interesting. Let’s discuss.
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan by Agatha Christie
January 27, 2017 21:06 - 32 minutes - 37.6 MBPut on your thinking cap and solve this bare-bones locked-room logic puzzle with us. Then discard your thinking cap and revel in the theater-filled antics of the much more robust Suchet adaptation. Is "Pearls Before Swine" the best title, EVER, for a play? Undoubtedly. Is Poirot constitutionally capable of taking a proper holiday? Not a chance.
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb by Agatha Christie
January 20, 2017 21:34 - 39 minutes - 44.9 MBDo you believe in spirits? Well then M. Poirot believes in YOU. Especially if you happen to find yourself in the vicinity of a murderer willing to kill FOUR people (so... a serial killer) for the slim possibility of a hastily scribbled note passing muster in a probate court as a legitimate will. Join us on one of Dame Agatha's early, pre-Mallowan, archaeological digs.... Hope the sand and heat don't bother you as much as they do Poirot!
And Then There Were 60: The Big Four by Agatha Christie
January 09, 2017 19:03 - 55 minutes - 63.6 MBHow do you fit a square peg in a round hole? Awkwardly! In this case the square peg is our beloved M. Poirot, and the round hole is one of Dame Agatha's breezy thrillers from her early years. And yet all is not lost: there is much to love in this episodic novel--and in its adaptation, aired during the final, sepia-tinted season of the Suchet series.... It's 2017 and our resolution is to read as much Christie as possible; let's do this.
A Special HOLIDAY Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
December 24, 2016 00:23 - 40 minutes - 46.3 MBWhat better way to celebrate the holiday season than with a very special Christmas-themed episode? Join Poirot as he partakes of a traditional English Christmas involving pudding, mistletoe, a fresh blanket of snow, a jewel thief, a drugging, and a possibly dead child atop said blanket of snow. You know, the usual.... But really, this one is quite lovely. Enjoy, and happy holidays!
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Million Dollar Bond Robbery by Agatha Christie
December 19, 2016 10:32 - 44 minutes - 50.5 MBToot, toot: all aboard the transatlantic steamer "Olympia," where a robbery has occurred. Or has it? Join us as we pick apart this elegant yet unfairly presented short story, and then revel in the maritime hijinks of the Suchet adaptation.... Hope you're not prone to "mal de mer" like poor Captain Hastings. Oh, Hastings.
And Then There Were 61: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
December 13, 2016 03:46 - 54 minutes - 62.5 MBAh, finally, our first real classic. A great, inventive, rule-breaking classic. Before there was "Gone Girl," our inimitable Dame Agatha was playing the long narrative con. Plus, we get Poirot in all his masterful gamesmanship, sly as ever. A certain murderer may have wished that mustachioed Belgian had never retired and gone to grow vegetable marrows, but we (and justice seekers everywhere) are so much the better for his countryside foray.
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge by Agatha Christie
December 01, 2016 20:38 - 33 minutes - 38.7 MBWe all know getting the flu isn't fun, but if you're Hercule Poirot, this dreaded illness has the extra side-effect of unleashing an un-chaperoned Captain Arthur Hastings on the world as replacement detective.... Let's review the hijinks together, shall we?
And Then There Were 62: The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
November 24, 2016 02:33 - 57 minutes - 65.8 MBAre you a reader who loved "The Man in the Brown Suit" but found it sorely lacking in English country homes? Well, fear not, because this week's episode tackles a Christie novel overflowing with rose gardens, secret passageways, and... chimneys. Does the novel also bear a somewhat suspicious similarity to the plot of our last novel? It does! Join us as we explore this similarity, as well as the intricacies of fictional Balkan geopolitics, diamond thievery, and... chimneys... in this, Superint...
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Adventure of the Cheap Flat by Agatha Christie
November 11, 2016 23:54 - 36 minutes - 42.2 MBCall it what you will: a flat, an apartment, a love-nest, a pad.... A humble abode is hard to find--especially, apparently, if you live in early Twentieth Century London, where a cheap flat just may get you assassinated.... Come discuss this rather silly and shakily constructed short story, which redeems itself with yet another excellent Suchet adaptation.
And Then There Were 63: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
November 05, 2016 02:37 - 55 minutes - 63.7 MBThis is about as close as an Agatha Christie novel gets to an episode of "The Love Boat," and in some ways it gets kind of close! Climb aboard as we journey from England to South Africa with our plucky heroine Anne Beddingfeld, getting embroiled in murder, diamonds, espionage, and of course romance along the way.... Are there all sorts of troubling implications in this rollicking adventure of both the gender and race relations variety? Of course! Let's try untangling it together.
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor by Agatha Christie
October 28, 2016 16:43 - 35 minutes - 40.1 MBOur second short story episode! And while there's more than enough tragedy to go around in the original version--including a(n arguably) coerced confession and incredibly poor doctoring skills, the Suchet adaptation may be more aptly titled The Comedy at Marsdon Manor. So many hijinks!
And Then There Were 64: The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
October 21, 2016 21:01 - 48 minutes - 56 MBSo... there is surprisingly little golf in this Poirot novel, given its title, but there are many, many other things: an unfriendly rivalry between detectives; not one, but two romantic subplots; and lots of “continental” flair. Oh my. Come play with us… not in a creepy-haunted-hotel-twins kind of a way, but in a tumbling-vaudevillian-twins kind of way. I.e., goofy, and dopey, but more fun.
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Adventure of the Western Star by Agatha Christie
October 16, 2016 06:36 - 46 minutes - 64.4 MBOur first "interstitial" episode between novels. Brush up on your Nineteenth Century detective novels and clichéd Twentieth Century portrayals of Asian culture. Also, take a closer look with us at the televised adaptation: witness the softening of Poirot from page to screen, and some crucial differences in the Poirot/Hastings relationship. Poor Hastings.
And Then There Were 65: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
October 07, 2016 21:29 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBTime for Dame Agatha's very first thriller featuring the delightful detective duo Tommy & Tuppence taking on the devious criminal mastermind "Mr. Brown." Was Tuppence modeled at least somewhat on young Agatha herself? Is "hanging a lantern" an appropriate technique to use in a novel? Do American teenagers really know French *that* well? All these answers... and more!
And Then There Were 66: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - Part 2
September 30, 2016 11:00 - 40 minutes - 55.2 MBIn which we dive into the delicious world of David Suchet and Hugh Fraser as Poirot and Hastings. (Shout out to Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp, too.) We also introduce you to our ranking system, which involves an extended discussion about some of the more difficult aspects of enjoying Christie's fiction from a Twenty-First Century perspective....
And Then There Were 66: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - Part 1
September 22, 2016 17:27 - 55 minutes - 76.5 MBEpisode 1! In which we tackle Agatha Christie's first published novel--and first Poirot novel--The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Deep-dive with us as we try to figure out how Christie crafted this cunning "puzzle mystery," and why one woman would regularly ingest coffee, cocoa, tonic, and sleeping powders all in one night.... Come for the kissing cousins, stay for the discussion of Holmes/Watson homage (a.k.a. fan-fic).
Teaser
September 15, 2016 07:37 - 3 minutes - 4.93 MBA preview of the upcoming podcast. Also: happy 126th birthday, Dame Agatha!