All About Agatha Christie - podcast cover

All About Agatha Christie

All About Agatha (Christie)sites.libsyn.com
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.
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Episodes

And Then There Were 16: Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

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….

Jan 01, 20211 hr 32 min

A Special Episode: Listeners Address the "Stuck in its Time" Aspect of Reading Agatha Christie

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 thought...

Dec 24, 20201 hr 36 min

A Very Special Episode: Interview with Mark Aldridge, Author of a Brand-New Poirot Reference Book

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.

Nov 26, 20201 hr 19 min

A Very Special Episode: Interview with Tana French

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!

Nov 21, 20201 hr 21 min

A Very Special Episode: Interview with Anthony Horowitz

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.

Oct 30, 20201 hr 13 min

A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Horses of Diomedes & The Girdle of Hippolyta by Agatha Christie

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!)

Oct 24, 20201 hr 5 min

A Very Special Anniversary Episode: The State of the Rankings

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.

Oct 09, 202058 min

And Then There Were 18: 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

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....

Sep 26, 20201 hr 24 min

A Miss Marple Nightcap: Greenshaw's Folly by Agatha Christie

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).

Sep 12, 202054 min

And Then There Were 19: Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie

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.

Aug 22, 20201 hr 12 min

And Then There Were 21: Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie

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!

Jun 21, 20201 hr 11 min

A Very Special Episode: Interview with Ruth Ware

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....

May 15, 202058 min

And Then There Were 22: A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

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!

May 08, 20201 hr 18 min

*Special Announcement* in re Extra (Free-to-Download) Content!

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.)

Apr 25, 20207 min

A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Nemean Lion by Agatha Christie

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?

Apr 19, 202058 min

And Then There Were 23: After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

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.

Apr 03, 20201 hr 5 min

A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Incredible Theft by Agatha Christie

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?

Mar 20, 202046 min

And Then There Were 24: They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie

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.

Mar 07, 20201 hr 5 min

Communing with Mr. Quin: The Love Detectives by Agatha Christie

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.)

Feb 22, 202036 min

And Then There Were 25: Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie

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.”

Jan 18, 20201 hr 14 min
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