All About Agatha Christie

I could not be more thrilled to welcome back A+++ listener, and now two-time guest co-host, Helen Frank, to discuss the flesh-and-blood secretaries of Agatha Christie's life. We already covered the ones that Christie created for herself out of ink, so this episode is a completist's delight. So many secretaries! For those of you in the SoCal area, consider purchasing tickets for Christie's adaptation of Towards Zero [https://www.purplepass.com/events/320110-towards-zero-aug-29th-2025], directed by former guest co-host Christopher Diehl! To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here [https://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha]. Visit the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/allaboutagatha/], and me personally at my author website [https://kemperdonovan.com/]. Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, is currently available for purchase [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744548/loose-lips/]. 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 [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744562/the-busy-body/], the United Kingdom [https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body/9781408720646/], and Australia and New Zealand [https://www.hachette.com.au/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body-the-instantly-gripping-whodunnit].

How has it taken me this long to talk about audiobooks?! Huge thanks to Gray Robert Brown, for his willingness to share his considerable expertise on this topic. Thank you also to Hugh Fraser, for the many, many hours he has spent speaking Agatha Christie's words into a microphone. We salute you, Captain Hastings. You can find Gray at his website here [https://grayrobertbrown.wixsite.com/grayrobertbrown], and if you aren't listening yet, please do check out his stupendous podcast The Swinging Christies [https://podfollow.com/the-swinging-christies-agatha-christie-in-the-1960s], co-hosted with Dr. Mark Aldridge. I made use of the website Everything Agatha [https://everythingagatha.com] while researching this episode, in particular its informative page about Christie audiobooks [https://everythingagatha.com/home/agatha-christie-audiobooks/]. To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here [https://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha]. Visit the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/allaboutagatha/], and me personally at my author website [https://kemperdonovan.com/]. Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, is currently available for purchase [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744548/loose-lips/]. 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 [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744562/the-busy-body/], the United Kingdom [https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body/9781408720646/], and Australia and New Zealand [https://www.hachette.com.au/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body-the-instantly-gripping-whodunnit].

Steen Just is a Danish gentleman who is passionate about Agatha Christie--so much so that he has spent his retirement contributing hugely to the Danish-language Wikipedia articles on Agatha Christie. I had a great time talking with him about his unique perspective on our favorite author. The following Christie titles are spoiled to some degree in this episode: By the Pricking of My Thumbs, Endless Night, Lord Edgware Dies, A Murder is Announced, and The Thumbmark of St. Peter. We also talk in semi-spoilery ways about The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup, and The Documents in the Case by Dorothy Sayers. To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here [https://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha]. Visit the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/allaboutagatha/], and me personally at my author website [https://kemperdonovan.com/]. Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, is currently available for purchase [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744548/loose-lips/]. 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 [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744562/the-busy-body/], the United Kingdom [https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body/9781408720646/], and Australia and New Zealand [https://www.hachette.com.au/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body-the-instantly-gripping-whodunnit].

There's a decent chance you've heard about the recent online course put out by BBC Maestro, in which a digitally manipulated representation of Agatha Christie teaches the craft of writing a mystery. Yes, really! I was fortunate enough to sit down with the person responsible for all the research that went into this quite heavily researched project: Dr. Mark Aldridge. As many longtime listeners will know, Mark has been a guest here many times, and his appearance on this episode was just as enjoyable and informative as what we've come to expect of him. Let's get into it. BBC Maestro’s Agatha Christie course On Writing can be found here [https://bbcm.co/4l5Z61R]. To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here [https://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha]. Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, is currently available for purchase [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744548/loose-lips/]. 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 [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744562/the-busy-body/], the United Kingdom [https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body/9781408720646/], and Australia and New Zealand [https://www.hachette.com.au/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body-the-instantly-gripping-whodunnit]. Visit the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/allaboutagatha/], and me personally at my author website [https://kemperdonovan.com/].

When A+++ podcast listener Helen Frank contacted me about doing a themed episode on the secretaries of Agatha Christie, little did I know there would be so much to talk about. And little did she know that I would hoodwink her into co-hosting the episode in question! But I'm so glad I did. I think you'll be as well. Loose Lips, the second book in my Ghostwriter Mysteries series, is currently available for purchase [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744548/loose-lips/]. 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 [https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496744562/the-busy-body/], the United Kingdom [https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body/9781408720646/], and Australia and New Zealand [https://www.hachette.com.au/kemper-donovan/the-busy-body-the-instantly-gripping-whodunnit]. To visit and subscribe to the podcast's Patreon page, click here [https://www.patreon.com/allaboutagatha]. Visit the podcast on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/allaboutagatha/]. Visit me personally at my author website [https://kemperdonovan.com/].