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. 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.
Latest episodes
Oct 7, 2016 • 57min
And Then There Were 65: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Time for Dame Agatha's very first thriller featuring the delightful detective duo Tommy & Tuppence taking on the devious criminal mastermind "Mr. Brown." Was Tuppence modeled at least somewhat on young Agatha herself? Is "hanging a lantern" an appropriate technique to use in a novel? Do American teenagers really know French *that* well? All these answers... and more!
Sep 30, 2016 • 40min
And Then There Were 66: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - Part 2
In which we dive into the delicious world of David Suchet and Hugh Fraser as Poirot and Hastings. (Shout out to Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp, too.) We also introduce you to our ranking system, which involves an extended discussion about some of the more difficult aspects of enjoying Christie's fiction from a Twenty-First Century perspective....
Sep 22, 2016 • 56min
And Then There Were 66: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - Part 1
Episode 1! In which we tackle Agatha Christie's first published novel--and first Poirot novel--The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Deep-dive with us as we try to figure out how Christie crafted this cunning "puzzle mystery," and why one woman would regularly ingest coffee, cocoa, tonic, and sleeping powders all in one night.... Come for the kissing cousins, stay for the discussion of Holmes/Watson homage (a.k.a. fan-fic).
Sep 15, 2016 • 4min
Teaser
A preview of the upcoming podcast. Also: happy 126th birthday, Dame Agatha!
