Show Notes
How different is the work of a real-life private investigator to the work of Hercule Poirot? In this episode, host Rebecca Thandi Norman interviews her sister (!) Ashley Norman, who is a former private investigator. They discuss how Poirot's work is similar to her own, whether there are really "famous" detectives, and the plot of The A.B.C. Murders. This is our last episode of season 1. Season 2 will start in fall 2023, but keep an eye out for a few fun episodes in between seasons this summer. Thank you for listening to "Tea & Murder: An Agatha Christie Podcast!"
Need to read something between seasons? How about a few books written by our guests this season:
First Class Murder by Robin Stevens (inspired by Murder on the Orient Express): https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9781481422192
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9780063031463
The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah (a New Hercule Poirot Mystery) https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9780062297228
Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9781538709849
God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9780063020269
Have feedback for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email [email protected]. You can also follow us on Instagram at @teaandmurder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Tea & Murder: An Agatha Christie Podcast
Steven Garner, a legal translator also known for his Instagram account, @christie_in_translation, joins host Rebecca Thandi Norman to discuss the beloved Marple mystery 4:50 from Paddington. The two talk about why this is a great example of Jane Marple's personality, the character of Lucy Eyelesbarrow, and whether this would be an easy book to translate.
It's our third play on the podcast, and you know what? We should really do this more often. Host Rebecca Thandi Norman speaks with mystery writer Jamie West about Spider's Web, which is Christie's second-longest running play of all time. It quickly becomes clear why: it's funny, engaging, and exactly what you'd expect from a Christie: a twisty murder in the manor house on the English countryside. Jamie discusses how his work in the theatre led him to write his own mystery series, why Christie plays endure today, and what it is about this one that has always stuck out in his mind.
Writer, historian, and curator Subhadra Das has been exploring the connection between Golden Age detective fiction and eugenics. In this interview, she discusses the late Christie work, Elephants Can Remember. She and host Rebecca Thandi Norman address eugenics concepts across Christie's career, why Poirot would take this case, if "twin plots" ever really work, and which book Rebecca thought she was agreeing to before getting started (spoilers: it wasn't the right one!).
Ram Murali's debut novel, Death in the Air, is not only a fun and glamorous mystery set in an Indian hotel, it's also a love letter to Agatha Christie. Host Rebecca and Ram discuss homages to Christie's work, how characters are created, and the messy-but-sometimes-fun Death in the Clouds.
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