Show Notes
British author of the bestselling mysteries The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Devil and the Dark Water, Stuart Turton knows a thing about crafting a twisted tale. But did you know he's a major Agatha Christie fan? We discuss his favorite Christie book, And Then There Were None, which he calls "one of only two perfect books ever written." Stuart talks about why he comes back to Christie books again and again, and how his own work is influenced by her.
Content warning: There is a brief mention of suicide as part of the plot of this book. If you are feeling suicidal, please reach out to a loved one, someone you trust, or a helpline. A full list of international suicide helplines can be found here: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/
Spoiler notice: there are general spoilers for And Then There Were None in this episode.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9781492670124
The Devil and the Dark Water: https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9781728234298
And Then There Were None: https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9780062073488
Our next book is Death on the Nile: https://bookshop.org/a/87919/9780063143241
Thank you to producer Kate Krosschell and sound engineer Winther Robinson. Follow along at @teaandmurder. You can always reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for being here! 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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