All About Agatha Christie
All About Agatha (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
Apr 27, 2019 • 28min
Getting Happy with Parker Pyne: The Gate of Baghdad by Agatha Christie
Parker Pyne is still abroad, spreading his statistician-acquired cynical know-how the same way his forebears spread smallpox, this time on a "Pullman coach" across the desert from Damascus to Baghdad in which a sock may or may not have been used to murder someone. Where's Rob Kardashian when you need him? Fortunately, he's right here!
Apr 21, 2019 • 59min
And Then There Were 33: Towards Zero by Agatha Christie
Christie rarely deals in psychopaths, but when she does she tends to handle them with panache, and this novel is no exception. (Not a spoiler, as we are put on our guard almost immediately that a psycho lurks in these pages....) While it is by no means one of our absolute favorites, we quite enjoyed this one, which features a number of familiar Christie tropes spun/twisted in ingeniously dark ways.
Apr 13, 2019 • 59min
A Very Special Episode: Interview with Jamie Bernthal, Author of Queering Agatha Christie
We were so thrilled to have a special guest on the podcast for a fascinating interview about reading Agatha Christie in a way that may (or may not!) be a departure for some listeners. Jamie's book Queering Agatha Christie (which we've referred to many times on this podcast) applies a subset of literary theory called "queer theory" to Christie's works, and it is a truly thought-provoking way to analyze what is happening in these beloved texts. We hope you enjoy our discussion as much as we did.
Apr 6, 2019 • 56min
All About Opera: The Face of Helen & Swan Song by Agatha Christie
It's another special double episode, this one focusing on the world of opera and Christie's personal love of music. In our first story we attend Covent Garden with Mr. Satterthwaite and the mysterious Mr. Quin, while in the second it's a private theatrical extravaganza starring world-renowned prima donna Paula Nazorkoff. As anyone familiar with the plots of many an opera will know, it doesn't take long for things to get rather murder-y....
Mar 30, 2019 • 22min
Getting Happy with Parker Pyne: Have You Got Everything You Want? by Agatha Christie
All aboard the... Orient Express?! That's right: heart specialist Parker Pyne is going abroad, and while we've already covered one of his travels in Christie's *other* Death on the Nile, here he untangles a jewel heist (or is it?) aboard that infamous train right around the same time Monsieur Poirot was taking it in the opposite direction. (Maybe one day someone will find an alternate And Then There Were None in the basement at Greenway, in which Pyne finds himself on an island being hunted down by a murderer, only to solve the murderer's problems by means of an elaborate theatrical ruse....)
Mar 23, 2019 • 59min
And Then There Were 34: The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
It may surprise some listeners to learn how mixed we were on our third Miss Marple novel, given what fans we are (yes, even Catherine) of our dear spinster sleuth. But that just means we had lots and lots to discuss, so get out your gluestick and sharpen a skewer because we've got more than a few moving fingers to account for in the seemingly sweet (read: not at all sweet) village of Lymstock.
Mar 10, 2019 • 30min
The Name's Bond. James Bond. Just Not *That* James Bond: The Rajah's Emerald by Agatha Christie
No, really: the protagonist of this story is "James Bond," who appears more than a quarter century before Ian Fleming's *slightly* more famous character. And our poor James Bond is suffering through a vacation (er, holiday) so wretched, it has to be one of the worst Christie ever depicted--which as we've discussed in previous episodes is definitely saying something, given Poirot's various ill-advised vacances sur la plage.... Let's take the plunge in the icy English waters together, shall we?
Mar 1, 2019 • 28min
Manic Pixie Monster a.k.a. Never Go to the Second Location: The Golden Ball by Agatha Christie
We have been here before, and we will almost certainly be here again. It's time for another kookily "romantic" story in which two young things banter their little hearts out to what seems to be to them--if not us--a satisfying conclusion. It's Listerdale Mystery time, and good God but this one hinges on a piece of fruit, too.
Feb 24, 2019 • 59min
A Hercule Poirot Amuse-Bouche: The Double Clue & The Capture of Cerberus by Agatha Christie
We've heard tell that two hearts are better than one, so we figured we'd take that approach to our exploration of a character within the Christieverse replete with both passion and flair: the Countess Vera Rossakoff. Behold a double episode showcasing the two stories in which she appears, along with a general discussion of who this so-called Countess is and what she may or may not mean to our dear Monsieur Poirot.
Feb 15, 2019 • 1h 23min
And Then There Were 35: Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
Well, the last time we posted such a prolix episode it was to gush over what became our highest ranked novel, And Then There Were None. We will leave it to you, dear listener, to discover whether this beloved Poirot novel managed to unseat the champion and become our new #1. We'll give you this much: it was close! Enjoy. FLP4EVA (Catherine is currently requesting this vanity plate from the California DMV.)
