All About Agatha Christie

By: All About Agatha (Christie)
  • Summary

  • 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.
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Episodes
  • Interview with Literary Map Designer (Yes, That's a Thing) Ben Olins
    Apr 5 2025

    It isn't every day I get to interview a map designer on All About Agatha. Nor is it every day I get to work on a map with a map designer, which is something I've been doing on the side in tribute to my late co-host, Catherine Brobeck, whom Ben and I talk about at some length in our conversation. We also talk some Christie, because of course we do; I know Catherine wouldn't have had it any other way.

    Visit my website for details on my upcoming U.S. tour in the South.

    Click here for tickets to my upcoming panel at the Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, in September. And click here for information about all the fabulous offerings at the Festival this year.

    Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, is currently available for purchase.

    Time for some map links! Here is Catherine Brobeck's map of Joan Didion's Los Angeles, Caroline Crampton's map of Agatha Christie's England, and Martin Edwards's Golden Age of Mystery map of England.

    And here is a link to the general Herb Lester catalogue of gloriously weird maps.

    You can also buy The Busy Body, the first book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, in paperback at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.

    To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.

    Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.

    Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Author, or at my author website.

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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • A *Very Special* Episode: Listener Mail!
    Mar 23 2025

    Letters! We get letters! We get stacks and stacks of letters! It's a mailbag-only episode of All About Agatha, and you know what that means: Sia's heartbreaking "Breathe Me" song underlying my chatter at various points in the episode! No, I couldn't have predicted this either, but the Sia is a testament to how deeply I cherish all these messages, and how important they are to the podcast. Thank you, one and all, for your contributions. And please: keep them coming!

    Here is a link to the YouTuber, Summation Gathering, who I mention in the episode, analyzing whether Miss Marple could solve Monsieur Poirot's cases. And here he is dream-casting various literary detectives.

    You can check out my upcoming tour dates here on my author website.

    You can now buy Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States!

    And you can now buy The Busy Body, the first book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, in paperback at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.

    To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.

    Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.

    Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Author, or at my author website.

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 38 mins
  • Meow: The Cats of Agatha Christie
    Mar 2 2025

    First, dogs. Now, cats. Who knows where this podcast will lead me next?

    Come see me on tour! 4th-9th of March in the Northeastern U.S.! Visit my website for more details.

    You can now buy Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.

    Check out Kate Jackson's excellent article about cats and mysteries.

    And here is the article I referenced on the blog Literary Potpourri, which I found to be helpful.

    You can also buy The Busy Body, the first book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, in paperback at your bookseller of choice (make it an indie if you possibly can) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand.

    To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here.

    Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.

    Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Author, or at my author website.

    Show more Show less
    56 mins
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What listeners say about All About Agatha Christie

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All About Agatha

I really enjoy this podcast. As a fan of Agatha Christie, It’s great to be able to hear different people discuss her books and to hear different opinions about her writing. I don’t always agree with Katherine or Kemper. However, they have interesting guests and it’s a lot of great fun!

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In Glass Darkly and Spur of the Moment

I was wondering about the parallels between In a Glass Darkly and Spur of the Moment from the Twilight Zone. It seems like the same the story only it is not a premonition but a memory. Thoughts?

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Top marks

Thoughtful, creative analysis of AC’s work. I’ve listened to each of these and will do so again and again.

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Love every episode

Now that the novels have all been ranked, I didn’t think Kemper would come up with more interesting content. What a fool I was! I have found the more recent episodes to be super interesting, especially the episodes about Agatha’s plays

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A favorite podcast

I didn't love this one at first. In the early episodes the hosts were a little grating, but I kept listening and over time I became a huge fan. They love Agatha Christie, but also have wide knowledge of the mystery/thriller genre in general that informs the conversation and makes it much richer and interesting. It also becomes clear that Kemper and Catharine have huge respect and affection for each other. That was harder to tell in the early episodes, but once I figured it out their back and forth became so much fun. Highly recommend.

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So Enjoyable and Interesting!

I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, and it has been an enjoyable experience to listen to the insights , comparisons, and tidbits of historic information which the podcasters and their guest speakers provide on the Christie books and short stories. All done in a very entertaining and charming way. Love it!

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Help! What happened?

I only discovered “All About Agatha” last fall of 2021.
I feel in love this podcast & listen to a past episode almost daily.
Suddenly the past episodes have disappeared!
Audible, please restore them all!!

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Excellent Podcast for Fans of Agatha (Christie)!

This is such an amazing podcast! I love the critical thinking and attention to detail with which Kemper and Catherine (with others) engage with all the works of Agatha Christie. As a teacher of high school English, I find the categories from which they attribute points to the various elements of the murder-mystery-thriller genre very helpful for structuring similar engagement opportunities for my students. As a fan of Christie, I find the discussions of these elements very fair, well-thought-out, and thought-provoking. There is excellence and elegance to this podcast. It is fun and witty. I highly recommend it to all who love the genre and the dame.

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Loved hearing from people who had actually met AC.

I enjoyed the recollection from a young Japanese engineer immensely. Found it heartwarming that he was invited to stay at her home and that he was given a your of the area by her husband. But my favorite part of the podcast was the interview with the alert and interesting 97 year old. Would love to hear more about THAT woman's life too. Her report of a relaxed and charming AC was wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Kemper

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All about the passion for Agatha

I literally just listened to this for a week, and then the Sad news was announced.
This prompted me to pick up some of the old Hercule Poirot short stories last week. Enjoyed them.

C(K)atherine, thank you for the 200+ hours of pleasure.

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