185. Agatha Christie

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Discussed as Agatha Christie's first book, published in 1920 in America and 1921 in Britain, which introduced the character of Hercule Poirot. The hosts use it as a starting point for tracing Christie's career and as evidence of the post-WWI era that gave rise to detective fiction's golden age.

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Described as 'arguably the single greatest detective novel of all time' and discussed at length for its groundbreaking twist where the narrator is the murderer. The hosts analyze its linguistic brilliance — how Christie uses ellipsis and gaps between sentences to hide the truth in plain sight — and note it has been repeatedly voted the greatest detective novel ever. They also discuss how nobody in the novel is who they say they are, reflecting 1920s social anxiety.

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Tom mentions reading this in preparation for the podcast. The hosts discuss its plot involving a love triangle where the male partner appears to run off with a more glamorous woman, but the twist reveals the original couple conspired together to commit the murder. Tom connects this to Christie's own experience with her first husband Archie's infidelity, suggesting wish fulfillment and guilt. A murder attempt at the statues of Ramses II at Abu Simbel is also mentioned.

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Tom read the novel and watched the Andy Horowitz adaptation in preparation for the podcast. Discussed extensively for its plot twist paralleling Death on the Nile — another love triangle where the 'other woman' turns out to be the victim rather than the villain. The hosts analyze how Christie plays with readers' sexist assumptions, noting that the bookish, mousy woman who doesn't tan may be a self-portrait. The vicar's speech about evil is quoted at length as an example of Christie's moral themes.

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Mentioned as being set on an archaeological dig, with a supposed portrait of Leonard Woolley's wife, who was apparently not highly regarded by other archaeologists. Referenced in the context of Christie's archaeological interests through her marriage to Max Mallowan.

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Referenced for a key quote from the character Dr. Girard, a French psychologist, who says: 'There are such strange things buried down in the unconscious, a lust for power, a lust for cruelty, a savage desire to tear and rend. We shut the door on them and we deny them conscious life. But sometimes they are too strong.' The hosts use this to illustrate Christie's mid-century preoccupation with hidden evil within ordinary people.

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Discussed as a Miss Marple novel built around the 'four and twenty blackbirds' nursery rhyme, with the plot revolving around a maid named Gladys who is murdered after being groomed and emotionally abused. The hosts emphasize that Miss Marple's determination to seek justice for the lowly maid — a foundling who was manipulated — refutes the claim that Christie was a snob. Peter Davison played the killer in the BBC adaptation, which Dominic found shocking as a Doctor Who fan.

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Mentioned as one of the best Miss Marple books, written in the 1940s. The hosts note that people reading these books during WWII would have been simultaneously absorbing newspaper reports of wartime horrors, adding a layer of bleakness to the already dark village mysteries.

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Referenced as a 1957 Miss Marple book in which Miss Marple expresses support for capital punishment, saying she's 'very, very sorry they've abolished capital punishment' because the villain deserved to hang. Used to illustrate Christie's moral absolutism and her Christian belief in the reality of evil.

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Described as Christie's best-selling novel with a 'stark purity' of form — ten people trapped on an island who all die one by one, and the revelation that they are all killers. Tom argues this is the novel most about what it's like to write a detective novel, since one character has structured the entire scenario to create an irresistible mystery. The hosts note its awkward original title was changed twice. Discussed as an incredibly bleak but formally beautiful work.

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Published 1950, praised by Dominic as 'one of the best books about reading about middle-class discontent with the Attlee government after the Second World War.' He describes how it subtly captures a world of ration books, identity cards, high taxes, and new people moving into villages with uncertain wartime credentials — all woven into the murder plot with great skill.

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Mentioned as set in a hostel for young people who are listening to transistor radios playing music that's about 15 years out of date. Used as an example of Christie's 1960s novels that don't quite work as well as her earlier output, with the image of 'Marple and Dolly Birds' not being entirely convincing.

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Mentioned as having a recent adaptation written by Hugh Laurie. Also referenced in passing for having a maid character named Gladys, which the hosts note is a recurring name for maids in Christie's work.

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Mentioned as one of Christie's works set in ancient Egypt, referenced alongside a play she wrote about Akhenaten. The hosts note she 'dabbled twice in ancient Egypt,' with this novel being one of those two ventures.

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Referenced for its famous twist where all the suspects turn out to be the murderers — a rule-breaking move in detective fiction that, like the twist in Roger Ackroyd, can never be repeated. Also mentioned in the context of Christie's imperial periphery settings, with travelers on the Stambul train.

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Mentioned as an example of mid-century culture's preoccupation with the evil that lurks within ordinary people, paralleling Christie's recurring theme that murderers are not maniacs but otherwise well-adjusted individuals whose human flaws have taken them one step too far.

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Referenced via Gollum as another example of mid-century literature exploring the idea of evil lurking within, alongside Lord of the Flies and Christie's own work. Used to place Christie within a broader cultural moment concerned with the darkness inside ordinary people.

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Mentioned for the character of Inspector Bucket as an example of Dickens being a great progenitor of detective fiction. The hosts contrast Dickens's portrayal of evil — always expressed physically through dwarfism, hunchbacks, etc. — with Christie's innovation of making evil people appear completely normal and well-adjusted.

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Described as a ghost story that captures the sense of tweedy upper-middle-class people feeling their Britain has been lost in the new world of the welfare state. Dominic draws a parallel between this novel and Christie's post-war fiction, particularly A Murder is Announced, in depicting middle-class unease with social change.

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Referenced for Christie's own statement on capital punishment and evil: 'People who kill are evil, even if they might deserve pity. You cannot spare them any more than you could spare the man who staggers out from a plague-stricken village in the Middle Ages to mix with innocent and healthy children in a nearby village.' Used to illustrate her Christian moral framework.

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Dominic's own tie-in book for his BBC series about British culture in the 20th century and its export overseas. He mentions it as the context in which he first analyzed Agatha Christie seriously, listing hostile critical quotes from Edmund Wilson, Bernard Levin, and Ruth Rendell about Christie's work. Tom holds up a copy during recording.

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Tom mentions his own book in passing, noting that he cited Max Mallowan (Agatha Christie's second husband and archaeologist) in it, specifically for Mallowan's article on Cyrus the Great. Dominic teases him for using the opportunity to advertise his own work.

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Referenced as the longest-running play of all time, with the twist that the detective turns out to be the killer. Mentioned alongside Roger Ackroyd and Orient Express as examples of Christie's genius for breaking the rules of the detective genre in ways that can never be repeated.

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Tom describes this play about Akhenaten as 'terrible' — essentially a standard Christie murder novel transplanted to the 18th dynasty, with characters like Horemheb described as 'a pucker saab' and his wife Mut-Nodjmet who 'undulates her body menacingly.' Christie is said to be snooty about Queen Tiye's old-fashioned dress. A fascinating curiosity for Christie completists.

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Mentioned briefly in the context of Christie's 1960s novels, as an example of how her later books attempted to engage with the changing social landscape of that decade, though less successfully than her mid-century work.