All About Agatha Christie
Christie
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. She will be forever missed. Since then, Kemper has completed the podcast's ranking project, and continues to celebrate 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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 9, 2017 • 56min
And Then There Were 60: The Big Four by Agatha Christie
How 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Dec 24, 2016 • 40min
A Special HOLIDAY Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
What 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! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Dec 19, 2016 • 44min
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Million Dollar Bond Robbery by Agatha Christie
Toot, 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Dec 13, 2016 • 55min
And Then There Were 61: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Ah, 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Dec 1, 2016 • 34min
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge by Agatha Christie
We 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? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Nov 24, 2016 • 58min
And Then There Were 62: The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
Are 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, Superintendent Battle's first case. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Nov 11, 2016 • 37min
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Adventure of the Cheap Flat by Agatha Christie
Call 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Nov 5, 2016 • 56min
And Then There Were 63: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
This 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Oct 28, 2016 • 35min
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor by Agatha Christie
Our 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! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Oct 21, 2016 • 49min
And Then There Were 64: The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
So... 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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
