It's always a joy to have the Reverend Doctor Sarah Hinlicky Wilson on the show to explain to us what the heck Agatha Christie Mallowan is getting at in the extremely personal and extremely Christian short stories she wrote within her Star Over Bethlehem and Other Stories collection. Happy holidays to all who celebrate; we certainly know that Agatha Christie did!

Please note there are a few minor spoilers for Passenger to Frankfurt littered throughout our discussion, which I did not note at the top of the episode. But there is an argument to be made that this novel is un-spoilable, since it barely makes any sense.... (I get to be cheeky around the holidays.)

You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.

Come see me on tour for Loose Lips, starting in a few short weeks! Visit my website for more details.

To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page (a subscription is the perfect holiday gift!), click here.

Check out all that Sarah Hinlicky Wilson is up to (it's a lot!). Her website is here, and you can visit her podcast, Queen of the Sciences, here. You can also check out her substack here.

I also mentioned two previous articles Sarah has written, which I believe every Christie fanatic should read for the insights they provide: "Miss Marple's Low Anthropology" and "Agatha Christie, A Very Elusive Christian."

Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.

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

And you can of course still buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

It was a joy to welcome Dr. Michelle Kazmer back on the podcast to discuss an early and unusual Christie short story that contains echoes of so much of what we love about Christie overall. For those in the United States who may be feeling a bit fatigued from all the tryptophan consumed this holiday weekend, just be thankful it's nothing compared to the "sleepytime" embrace of one Isobel Loring....

You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.

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 Books, or at my author website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

Take comfort, for Maureen Johnson is back on the podcast to talk about her newest (standalone) YA mystery novel, and to talk about the nature of YA mystery itself!

You can find out more about Maureen and check out all her brilliant books at her website here.

You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.

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 Books, or at my author website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

We've got strange goings-on in this early, supernatural Christie short story. What happened to poor Felicie Bault? Could it be a multiple personality disorder? A body swap?! Or something even WEIRDER? You be the judge... but first, delight with me in heaps upon heaps of listener correspondence. Happy Hallowe'en, everyone!

For U.S. listeners: pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, at your bookseller of choice here.

Check out this Monsieur Poirot/Miss Marple spoof, The Teddy Bear Who Knew Too Much, courtesy of The Two Ronnies.

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 Books, or at my author website.

You can still buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

Did you know that Superman's appearance on I Love Lucy is considered by some to be the first crossover episode of television? In that case, I was blessed with the appearance of *TWO* supermen on this crossover episode of All About Agatha and The Swinging Christies, in which I sat down (in Agatha Christie's birthplace and on Agatha Christie's birthday, no less!) with co-hosts Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown. Together, we discussed--and debated--the ranking of Christie's novels from the 1960s, which they've spent the past year considering in glorious detail. I couldn't think of a better way to spend 90 minutes, and only wish it could have been longer. Enjoy!

The following titles are spoiled (to varying degrees) over the course of this episode: At Bertram’s Hotel, The Body in the Library, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, A Caribbean Mystery, Cat Among the Pigeons, The Clocks, Elephants Can Remember, Endless Night, Hallowe’en Party, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, Murder is Easy, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Nemesis, The Pale Horse, Passenger to Frankfurt, Postern of Fate, They Do It With Mirrors, Third Girl.

You can find more information about and links to Dr. Mark Aldridge's newest book, Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness at his website.

You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.

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 Books, or at my author website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

You can find Mark and Gray on X and Instagram under @Christie_Time, and at their website.

Marci Kay Monson has created something very interesting in this children's picture-book version of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I can't think of a better way to start off what I hope is a long-running discussion of YA mystery, here on the podcast.

You can check out Marci's book on her website here.

You can pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, here in the United States.

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 Books, or at my author website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

It's time for another live episode from the Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, with a to-die-for panel of Agathologists! And guess what? The sound quality of this one is SUPERB, thanks to the presence of an on-site technician. Thank you to the Festival for making this happen!

I hope you all enjoy; I know we did....

I'm appearing at Bloody Scotland tomorrow, Saturday 14 September, and hope to see some listeners there!

You can currently pre-order Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, in the United States.

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 Books, or at my author website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane, especially since it will help prepare you for my upcoming live episode at the Agatha Christie Festival, concerning which among the many (many!) screen adaptations of Christie's work is the best....

To find out more and purchase tickets for my appearance at the Bloody Scotland festival on Saturday, 14 September at 11:30am, please click here.

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 Books, or at my personal website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

I'm thrilled to be participating in the Bloody Scotland festival this September! Click here for more information about my panel on Saturday, 14 September at 11:30am, at Trinity Church in Stirling.

And for those of you in Southern California, here are the details for my upcoming appearance at a brand-new Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica on Saturday, 31 August at 10:00am, at the Third Street Promenade.

It was such a pleasure to speak with Kate Gingold about her glossary of annotations of Christie novels and short stories from the 1920s.

You can find Kate, her book, and many other offerings at her website: Agatha Annotated. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can find out more about her non-Agatha offerings on this website.

You can find out more about Kate's talk at the Agatha Christie Festival (and purchase a ticket) here.

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 Books, or at my personal website.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.

Whether it's teeny-tiny dogs like the Pekingese, more medium-sized dogs like the VAST array of terriers who appear in this episode, or large dogs like the scary greyhound who makes quite a memorable appearance, there is something for everyone in my discussion of the canine species in Agatha Christie's works. Special thanks to Kate Jackson and Michelle Kazmer, whose expertise I leaned on in preparing this episode.

Click here to visit and subscribe to Patreon for bonus episodes. And I encourage you to listen to my Patreon episode all about Next to a Dog, as referenced in this episode. If you don't want to become a paying member, simply sign up as a free member, and you can listen free of charge for up to two weeks following the release of this episode.

Please watch the PBS SoCal YouTube series Won't You Be My Gamer?, in which I play a videogame adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express with two experts! Great fun.

You can read Kate Jackson's excellent lecture on animals in classic mystery fiction here.

Here is a link to that old, dog-and-cat-centric episode of the Crown Court series that I mentioned, Evil Liver, written by Ngaio Marsh and starring Joan Hickson (among others).

Visit the podcast on Twitter and Instagram.

Visit me personally on Facebook at Kemper Donovan Books, or at my personal website.

Click here to purchase tickets for my panel at the upcoming Agatha Christie Festival.

You can buy my debut mystery novel, The Busy Body, 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.