All About Agatha (christie)

Tommy and Tuppence are back! But are they better than ever? While the reintroduction of T&T into our lives--along with head injuries, hidden jewels, and (gasp of joy) Albert--is cause for unbridled celebration, this book is by no means a paragon of perfection. Get ready, because we had A LOT to discuss. Oh, and fingers crossed you too are a big Golden Girls fan.... (Sunny Ridge will always be Shady Pines in our book.) This episode is brought to you by: https://www.smilebrilliant.com (coupon code AGATHA) and Best Fiends.

We were honored to host our own event this week at the International Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, revisiting Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. (Fair warning: certain plot elements of this book are spoiled in the course of our conversation!) Unfortunately we had to settle for Zooming in from Los Angeles, but as you can hear for yourself, that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time. Special thanks to Tony Medawar, the Festival organizer and moderator of our panel whose voice peppers this episode. We hope to do this again in one year's time... in person!

If you thought two hours was enough for us to talk about Endless Night, you were wrong! Sort of. This short story formed the basis (plot-wise) for that crown jewel of a novel, so in a way we are revisiting it in this episode. But we also get to geek out over a secret unpublished version, too. Hooray! This episode is brought to you by Smile Brilliant (http://www.smilebrilliant.com, coupon code "AGATHA") and Best Fiends.

We're disappointed that our appearance at the Festival has to be virtual (insert pithy Shakespearean insult of choice here, directed COVID's way), but we're thrilled to be appearing at all. For more information about the Festival (including all the other wonderful presenters on tap), please visit: http://www.iacf-uk.org. We look forward to seeing some of you, if only on a screen!

You might want to put on some rain gear before listening to this episode, because it is a bit of a gush fest. Hooray for this late-career Christie gem! Come delight with us in the wonderfully unsettling world of Mr. (Mike) Rogers's neighborhood....

As this is one of Christie's longer short stories--legitimately novella-length--we found a great deal to analyze and discuss. Just think of it as one of the "large miniatures" Suchet fusses over in the adaptation.... No question this is a curious addition to the Poirot canon all around!

Unlike so many late Poirots we've read recently, this one actually features a ton of Poirot (and Ariadne Oliver!), from beginning to end. And while seriously flawed, it gave us a lot to discuss in what turned out to be a rather meandering/digressive episode... even for us. Please visit our Patreon site for bonus content, or just to support us: http://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha. This episode is sponsored by Smile Brilliant (http://www.smilebrilliant.com, promo code AGATHA) and Best Fiends.

While our favorite Cornish mystery might involve guessing what's in the latest pasty we’re devouring, this one was pretty satisfying too! Let’s dig in. This episode is sponsored by Smile Brilliant (http://www.smilebrilliant.com, promo code AGATHA) and Best Fiends.

We may as well admit up front that this was not our favorite Christie. But it *is* a Miss Marple novel, and it *does* have a fantastic setting. So all is not lost. Come travel with us to see what dastardly—and potentially confusing?—deeds are afoot... at Bertram’s Hotel.

We had as much fun as we usually do unraveling this early Poirot short story--perhaps especially when it came to the adaptation, which is quite a foundational one for the beloved Suchet series.

Though the biggest mystery may be how to spell and pronounce "Caribbean," there is plenty of intrigue to go around in this Miss-Marple-on-holiday story, which at least one Christie scholar deems to be the last proper whodunit that she wrote.

What a great time we had gabbing with this debut author about her recently published (and much buzzed-about) novel... almost as great a time as we had reading it!

This short story is a precursor to The Mystery of the Blue Train, but don't let that put you off! We found much to enjoy--both in the source material and the Suchet adaptation.

Well... they can't all be winners, can they? This (barely-there) Poirot novel is not one of our favorites, we're sorry to say. But as usual, we relish the opportunity to explore and explain why. Because even a lesser Christie is a source of wonder and joy.

We've got Poirot. We've got Hastings. We've got a prince. A lady of mysterious origins. A frozen-in-time bridge tableau! If you need more, you're probably not listening to the right podcast....

We were fortunate enough to sit down with Sarah Pearse, the author of one of this season's hottest (or is that iciest?) thrillers, The Sanatorium. There are lots of connections to be made between her book and Christie, and naturally, we made them all. Enjoy! This episode is brought to you by Best Fiends.

Someone might need to stage an intervention, because the longer we talk about Christie, the more we apparently have to say! We hope you enjoy our super-sized discussion of this intriguing late Christie novel (perhaps the *first* late Christie novel?), during which we wax poetic about all sorts of topics--from the rigors of film acting to the ravages of time. Oh, and Dark Marple, of course.

We were thrilled to speak with Martin Edwards, one of the foremost scholars of detective fiction of the Golden Age. He is also a mystery novelist in his own right, and the current President of the Detection Club. What is the Detection Club, you ask? Take a listen and find out! This episode is sponsored by Best Fiends.

It isn't often that we focus as much on an adaptation of a Christie story as the story itself, but if ever there were an episode to do so, it's this one. Join us as we gush over the very first episode of the David Suchet series, including a lengthy discussion as to why this short story was such an excellent choice for the pilot episode of this excellent program.

We had such a fantastic time discussing this late-career Christie gem, as creepy and unsettling as the story may be.... Beware the Pale Horse! This episode is sponsored by YARN and Best Fiends.