All About Agatha Christie

We begin the year in style with one of Dame Agatha's leaner puzzle mysteries--especially among those featuring our favorite grandstanding Belgian detective. It's been a while since we've had the pleasure of discussing our dear Papa Poirot in short story form, though this one is a bit super-sized, as it is in fact one of the few novellas within the canon. This year we all get to celebrate ONE HUNDR...

Most people know the apocryphal tale of Agatha's sister challenging her to write a murder mystery, but years earlier--1912 or thereabouts--her mother is supposed to have challenged her to write as a way of entertaining herself while recovering from influenza. Apparently this lead to an extended bout of neophyte creation that included this rather spiritual yarn, which just may remind you of another...

Real talk: this is not one of our favorite Christies. Alas. But it features some excellent scene setting in and among Baghdad and Basrah; whenever Christie takes us to the Middle East, we know we're in good hands as far as mise en scène goes. We just wish we could say the same about the plot (or lack thereof), and the characters populating this globe-trotting thriller.... Hosted by Simplecast, an...

We've been looking forward to this film for months... and are happy to report that on the whole it did not disappoint! Let's swoon together over cleverly employed Christie tropes, perfectly weathered white cable-knit sweaters, and everything in between. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We had so much fun speaking with Sophie Hannah a year ago, we had her on again! Tuck in for a free-ranging conversation that starts with Sophie's new mystery novel and ends--as all conversations should--noodling over the finer aspects of moral culpability in And Then There Were None. (DOES Emily Brent get a raw deal?) With lots of chatter about lots of Christie titles in between. (Are Evil Under t...

Somehow, we've reached our penultimate Parker Pyne story. As we won't be covering the last one till that far-off, misty era when our podcast ends, this will be our last Parker Pyne for quite some time.... Which may be welcome news or a disappointment, depending on your point of view. Much to our surprise, we find that we fall into the latter category. Until we meet again, Mr J. (or is it C.?) Park...

You know the drill by now: long episode = lovefest episode. In 1950 a murder was announced, and the world was never the same.... Join us as we gush over this gem of a Marple novel (and lovingly identify its flaws). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We have two creepy and unabashedly supernatural short stories for your spine-tingling pleasure this Hallowe'en season. And even though this is Christie off her regularly beaten path of logic and reason, the lessons to be gleaned from these two macabre tales are fully on brand for our beloved Dame Agatha. Beware: 1) a mother's love; and 2) a real estate bargain. [Insert banshee keen here.] Hosted b...

We went a little long with this one, which is as good an indicator as any of how much we adored this gem of a Christie (Kemper especially). And what better time of year for such a twisted, creepy tale?! Take a listen... IF YOU DARE. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Do it, Rockapella: Well he glides around the globe from Paris to Damascus. He's a double-dealing sleuth with a taste for trickery He'll take you for a ride on a slow boat down the Nile Tell me where in the world is… Parker Pyne, heart specialist? This week he's in Greece, in close proximity to an oracle, no less. You know what that means: a kidnapping, an impersonation, and an attempted jewel heis...

How is it possible that another year has passed? We lay the blame squarely on Dame Agatha, whose light prose and masterful puzzles have made the months slip silkily on by.... It's time for another nerd-fest as we assess the state of our rankings, having just passed the three-year mark (!!) on our literary trek through the Christie-verse. We hope you all have as much fun listening to this podcast a...

We are back with another Poirot novel! And we were on the whole quite pleased with this twisty-turny post-WWII puzzle mystery, perhaps most notable for its searing evocation of a specific time and place in history. So travel back with us to 1946 and the tiny village of Warmsley Vale where--spoiler!--all is not as it first appears to be.... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz....

'Tis time for the final story in the Mysterious Mr. Quin collection, and while technically things end with a thud rather than a bang, we were by no means disappointed by what we found in this crazypants tale of love gone SERIOUSLY awry. Oh, Mr. Quin. It's a good thing you're a supernatural being intent on haunting us till the end of days, because at this point we'd be lost without you.... Hosted b...

We've got an early short story involving supernatural premonitions, inherited insanity, and an early example of the very Christie-ish imperative to read closely. All we're missing is an actor, but hey, there's always next time. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes when Christie takes to the short story form, she gets a little loose, a little wacky. We saw that in our last Miss Marple short story, and we see it again here, in a story that features... well, we won't be specific about the number, but let's just say there are a fair amount of maids in this one. Are any of them perfect? Let's find out! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm....

Well, whenever we go beyond an hour of nattering away about a title, it's a good sign, and this episode is no exception. Come and bask with us in the many splendors of The Hollow, a much-beloved, mid-career masterwork of Christie's with rich characters and yet almost no puzzling to speak of, despite the presence of our dear Poirot. If this one is a Christie "crown jewel," it's one with all sorts o...

You know the drill by now: we've got Quin; we've got Satterthwaite; we've got spooky intrigue; we've got thwarted lovers. How's it all going to end? With an abrupt departure by our favorite proto-Tyler Durden, of course. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's been a while since we visited the enchanting city of Petra by way of Christie, and this one is definitely a much simpler, slighter puzzle mystery than what we encountered in Appointment with Death. But there is always a healthy amount of intrigue where the wily Parker Pyne is concerned.... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and u...

What's better than a tale of twin poisonings like we had in our last episode? Twin tales of twin poisonings, of course. This short story is substantially similar to Sparkling Cyanide, which we just covered, but it actually came first, and as a precursor to that novel it also has some fascinating differences. Journey with us not only to New York but--in the Suchet adaptation--to Argentina too as we...

We both relished this glittering tale of twin poisonings set within a posh circle at a swanky London restaurant, though it comes with a few problems/weaknesses all its own. Come geek out with us over the intricacies of cyanide, the later career of Nancy Marchand, and so much more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal...

You'd be forgiven for mistaking the bucolic English country estate where this story is set for the Borscht Belt of upstate New York, because this Miss Marple yarn (see what we did there?) is pretty darn funny. Poor Edward and Charmian had no idea what they were in for when Jane Helier (!!) recommended they consult with the very best of amateur sleuths in the attempt to recover a modern-day buried...

As Mabelle Annesley could perhaps sing for you herself on her ukulele, it's time to "Get Ur Freak On," and how, in this remarkably cuckoo Monsieurs Quin & Satterthwaite tale. Enjoy! We always do when it's these two.... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bar the gates, because Parker Pyne is still abroad, flitting here, there, and everywhere in the Middle East. This time we find him in Persia (i.e., Iran)--specifically, the lovely city of Shiraz. But not so lovely as to prevent it from harboring one who is some combination of murderer, lunatic, and/or impostor. Let's sort it out together before our peripatetic PI jets off someplace else for furthe...

While we did not love this one, we do appreciate what an outlier it is within the Christie canon, and the fact that it was the first "historical whodunit" to combine the genres of detective and historical fiction. Also, like most murder mystery fans we love a high body count, and at seven murders (and eight deaths), this one definitely does not disappoint in that area.... Hosted by Simpl...

It has been too long since we visited with Miss Marple in short story form, which Christie herself identified as our favorite spinster sleuth's natural milieu, after all.... And we get more of Miss Marple than we normally do in this outlier of a short story, written as a script to be read out by Christie herself (!!) on the radio. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for i...