Selects: Agatha Christie: Queen of the Murder Mystery | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey everybody, it's me Josh and for this. week's select I've chosen our episode. from 2020 on Agatha Christie. It's a. neat little episode about who is. possibly the greatest selling writer of. all time by far and may inspire you to. get into Agatha Christiey's books and. they're definitely worse things you. could do with your time. So grab a cup. of tea, a nice little blanket and enjoy. this cozy little episode.

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart. Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck. Bryan over there. And this is Stuff You. Should. Know. I'm I uh I don't know if we're. going to be able to get used to Jerry. being around again. Is she fired? I. don't think so. She may have fired.

herself, though. So, I have better. things to do than hang out with you. Cool cats and kittens. Well, and it's. kind of like what's the point of just. sitting there and I can't imagine more. boring than listening to us on. headphones. Oh, wait a minute. That's. our show. Yes. There are people doing. that very thing right now, Chuck. And. you have just mocked their existence. Oh, I just meant for Jerry's sake, you. know. Yeah, I know. Jerry's not a fan. No, she's not. Or a listener.

So, um, I have a question for you. Chuck, you ever read a book? No. No. Don't be ridiculous, Chuck. Uhhuh. Have. you ever met Agatha Christie? Uh, yeah. I met her when I was three. Oh, really? Do you have much of a memory. of of that encounter? A little bit. She. was She was nice enough. She signed my. uh Murder on the Orient Express copy, first edition. Oh, wow. That's got to be.

worth some money. It's pretty neat. Yeah. Do you still have that? Uh, nah. I. did some spring cleaning here a couple. weeks ago. And I didn't even recycle or. put it in a little free library. I just. threw it in the trash. Did you uh didn't. you say once that your brother has like. a copy of number one Superman or. something nuts like that? No. I thought he has something some valuable. comic book. No. Huh? No. Must be. confusing you with my other co-host,

Chuck. No, we we we weren't big comic. book people. We don't have anything. valuable like that. I gotcha. Well, um, having met Agatha Christie when you were. a kid, I feel like you'll probably have. a lot to bring to this one. I I was um I. have never met her um still to this day. probably never will. And I have read a. couple of her things and seen a couple. movies based on her stuff, but I would. never consider myself like a um a a.

rabbit Agatha Christie fan, but I do. appreciate her work a lot. You um picked. this one. Why? We have this series of. books, children's books about. um awesome women in history from Oh, yeah. Freda to Coco Chanel to uh Amelia. Heheart to Agatha Christie. And so I was. reading this one the other night and. thought, hey, let's do one on Agatha.

Christie. Haven't read any of her work. Seen a couple of her movies. Love the. genre though. Yeah. Uh as as films. I've. never read mystery uh murder mysteries, although I'm going to now. I started. reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which I think was her first published. work um last night, and it's just great. She just sucks you right in like you she. does what's um she creates in a lot of. books, not all of them, but she creates. what's called a cozy mystery with an S.

because it's British. And I'd never. heard that term before until uh this. article, but when I came across it, I. was like, "Yes, I love that kind of. thing." And that's exactly what I love. about Murder She Wrote. Like the Murder. She Wroes where she goes to like. Broadway or Paris or something like. that. I can take her or leave. They're. fine. But it's the ones that are set in. tiny little cabb cove that's just. isolated from the rest of the world and. it's cozy and small and it's like a. village and all that. Those are the. murder shees that I love the most. And I.

think that's what I like about Agatha. Christie mysteries, too, is they're very. typically cozy mysteries. I've never. seen that show. Um, what what we've had. we've had this conversation before. No, that would be seared into my brain. forever. No, we have because you said. that the first time. Uh, uh, yeah, I've never seen it, but I'm. I'm a huge fan of um, murder mystery. movies, especially Cozy uh, mysteries. like Clue is one of my favorite films.

and this year's or last year's Knives. Out was one of my top like three or four. films of the year. I've not seen it yet. It's still like $7 on Amazon Prime, so I. haven't rent it yet. I'm waiting for the. price point to drop. I can loan you a couple of bucks if you. need. All right. Sure. $3.99. 3.99. All. right. How long? 3.99. It's It's still a. lot for um a rental. I mean, that's a. lot. Do you think $3.99 is manageable? $4.99 and up. That's a lot of That's a.

lot of moola for a rental if you ask me. Wow. Yeah. This is I'm taking a stand on. this. All right. Well, film. professionals out there, please do not. take offense to all your hard work. So, I have a question for you. I have. one more question. Um, have you seen the. Agatha Christie film adaptation of. Crooked House that came out in 2017? No. I think you'll like it. It was big. budget, but it also looks like British. made for television. Big budget. It's. great. Jillian Anderson, Dana Skully is.

in it. Okay. Because you know the Brits. are nuts for her. Are they? Did Oh man, she's like their favorite person in the. world and has been for years. Don't know. why. Nothing against Jillian Anderson, but like she just never hit it as big. over here as she did there. Um Terrence. Stamp is in it. Love him. Glenn Close. She's great. And I was like, this is. really good. And so I was reading little. synopsies of it and all that stuff. And. it seemed like um that's it's widely. regarded as one of her best most.

ingenious and inventive works. Crooked. House. Crooked House. I believe that's. on Amazon Prime for free. Well, yes. Do. you actually do the math of how much you. pay for Amazon Prime to see how much. you're paying for that movie? I I don't want to do that. Okay. I I. just don't want to do that. Probably. pennies. Why' you do that to me? All right. So, Charles, um, let's, uh, let's get into this because I know that.

this one could be a little long if we're. not, um, um, deliberate and I would say. maybe considerate of our time. All. right. Well, it's an 8 minute intro, so. so far so good. Okay. Uh she is perhaps. uh again it's kind of hard to tell with. book uh tell with book sales because. they can be a little dodgy but she is. often quoted as the or seen as the. bestselling novelist of all time. Uh and. I did a little check to compare like I.

thought well Stephen King sold a book or. two. Sure. They they tag his book sales. at about 350 million. Um, her 66 novels. and 14 uh collected works of short. stories supposedly uh have sold to the. tune of two billion. I saw four billion. in one place. And I think after you hit. the billion mark, you can just start. tossing around whatever number you want. I think so. That's a lot. For example, we've we've had 70 billion downloads. now. I just decided. Oh, great. That's a.

lot of downloads. But think about it. Stephen King, how many books has that. cat written? How many has he sold all. around the world? And it amounts to 350. million. And he's one of the bestselling. authors of all time. A lot of people say. that Agatha Christiey's numbers hit two. billion. Like you said, that's. astounding. Yeah, that is that is a ton. of books. It's I don't think our stuff. You should know book will approach those. numbers. No, you never say never though, Chuck. It's a lofty goal. Never say.

never. I also saw that she's the most. widely translated author of all time, too. I buy that. 45 languages. I was. like, that seems a little low. So, then. somewhere else I saw 103. I said, let's. go with that. So, let's talk about this uh cozy. mystery or just mystery novels in. general. Uh they are very much um. formulaic, which uh Ed helped us put. this together. Ed points out that's why. people like them because the familiarity. and it's sort of a comfort food thing.

like a good beach book. You know what. you're going to get, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's and there's surprises and. everything woven in. I mean, the whole. thing is meant to be a surprise. It's a. mystery. And part of the mystery and the. allure of the mysteries that Agatha. Christie not only wrote, but actually. the whole genre she helped to develop is. that you are ostensibly able to figure. out who the culprit is in the murder. It's almost always a murder. Um, and so. there is like there is surprise.

involved. That's the point. But there's. also a tremendous amount of familiar. familiarity and that's that formula you. were talking about and that's what. really has sucked generations of people. into this whole genre and her 66 plus. books. Yeah. So you've got that murder. uh you usually don't see this murder. occur. She doesn't usually and in. general in murder mysteries you don't. see the murder. That's kind of not the. point of how grizzly or gruesome the act. is. It's sort of all about finding that.

body and uh I won't I had a bunch of. knives out things to say but I won't say. any of them now. Thank you. Uh but then. you've got your detective that arrives. on the scene and uh I will say this. knives out very much follows this. formula very smartly. So Okay. So you've. got this master detective who usually. arrives upon the scene. Um, but they may. already be there and they are generally. very eccentric and sort of um they all. they always have these quirky sort of.

characteristics. Uh, in Christy's case. we have uh the very formidable Hercule. Porau and then Miss Marple, Jane Marple, right? Um, in Hercules's case he's. Belgian and has this big mustache and. it's just sort of eccentric and Belgian. uh just, you know, he's not French. There's something about being Belgian. that makes it slightly different. Sure. And Miss Marple apparently uh is just. very ordinary and people underestimate. her and that's how she uh sort of wins.

the day. Yeah. Because Hercule Puo um. was a retired Belgian police detective. So he has some measure of authority. still to question people and interrogate. people as he wishes. with Miss Marple. She's just kind of a quiet old lady who. sews and knits a lot. Um, and she just. has a very keen eye for detail and an. interest in solving, you know, the. murders that seem to happen around her. Um, like Angela Lansbury basically. Yes.

But rather than interrogate people. directly, um, Miss Marple's thing is she. just kind of quietly is is there and. people tend to confide in her and she. kind of quietly helps them along and um. gives them she gives them the rope to. hang themselves with. That's how she. interrogates people or figures out who. who the murderer is. Right. So, you've. got your uh setting in the in the cozy. mystery setting. like you said, it's. usually like an estate or a home, maybe.

a hotel. Uh maybe it might be a small. English village. Uh or an express. obviously is on a train, another sort of. confined space. Um by the way, have you. seen. uh uh Train to Busousan? I I confuse that with Snowpiercer. I. think I've seen both, but I can't. remember which one's which. They're kind. of very similar, but uh Busousan is is. Zombies on a Train Korean film. No, then.

I think I've just seen Snowpiercer. You. should check out Train to Busousan. It. just if you think you've seen it all. with the zombie genre, then think again. Dude, that's saying something because. that's that genre is gotten a little uh. stale. Hey, let me ask you this. Have you seen. I know you've seen it. You had to have. Ozark. Oh, sure. I'm uh just started it. Yeah, I'm a couple of episodes into the. latest season. Okay. Yeah, you mean and. I just started at season one and I'm. like all I want to do is sit around and.

watch O's arc. It's amazing. Yeah, I. love it. That's like Hartwell, you know. Oh, no. I didn't know that. Yeah. Smart. I've tried to get Baitman and Laura. Lenny on Movie Crush and it's always. Thank you. No. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hey, you're getting responses. That's that's. a big step forward. It's nice to be told. no and just not ignored. Yeah. Right. All right. So, you've got your setting. Um, with Agatha. Christie, she did include her travels in.

some of her uh later novels when they. became like super popular, but it was. still not like a globe trotting like. James Bond kind of thing. No, that's that's the point. So, like in. a a espionage thriller or something, the. locals are all over the place and you. know, the characters constantly moving. Um, in these cozy thrillers, like even. if they're in an exotic local, um, they're still set in a small part of. that exotic local. That's right. You got. your suspects, they are, uh, questioned.

by the detective. Uh, they usually all. have a motive. They usually all have the. means because everyone, you know, in a. great novel like this, everyone's got to. be a suspect from the beginning. And. then you can kind of quickly whittle or. slowly whittle that list down. Right? And here's the thing what I was saying. with the um with the the kind of mystery. that Agatha Christie wrote and and. really established you are part of the. mystery like you're you either the um.

investigator or the detective has an. assistant that they explain things to. very much like um Sherlock Holmes and. Watson. Sure. Or if the detective is working solo, say. like Miss Marple, Miss Marples might. write a list of suspects and their. motives and little clues down as part of. the narration. And you're you're led in. every step of the way. So, you're part. of this working towards solving the.

mystery. And as it's very frequently. put, it kind of pits you in a. competition with the author to see if. you can figure out who who done it. before the end of the book. Yeah. I. mean, that goes back to Encyclopedia. Brown. The whole point is to try and. figure that stuff out, right? Man, I. love those. Those were so great. Encyclopedia Brown. I remember he busted. one dumb kid who did something bad. I. can't remember. Um, was it Bugs Meanie? Oh, man. Good memory. It may have been. Bugs Meanie. Was he kind of a big dumb.

oaf who'd like beat up on chipmunks? I. think so. Okay. He busted bugs once. because bugs had tears coming out of the. the outside corners of his eyes like a. freakazoid rather than the inside. corners. That's good. But see, the great thing. about those books is that a 12-year-old. doesn't really necessarily always pick. up on those clues. Oh, I did. I wasn't. that great of I'd be curious to see if. they would stump me now. No, no. I mean, specifically with the.

outside of the eye thing, but yeah. No, I'm sure there were plenty that I. missed. But you cried a lot when you. were a boy, right? I knew while staring in the. mirror the tears came from. Uh, and so then at the end to wrap up. the little genre sort of uh summary, you've got this great ending usually. where everyone's gathered together and. the detective kind of walks everyone. through the big reveal of exactly how. the killer did it, right? Uh, and in her. case, she did not um like when the.

killer is revealed, they didn't turn. around and and shoot them in the face. Like it's usually pretty nonviolent. They would be wrestled to the ground or. arrested or maybe they might uh run away. and you hear later that they had killed. themselves or something like that. Sure. There was rarely a grand finale where. they would be pressed to death in front. of a crowd. Nah, who needs it? So that I. mean that's it like bing bang boom. That. was when you started on page one of an. Agatha Christie novel, you knew exactly.

how everything was going to play out. And then one of the other things is. because this thing was so formulaic, there was also room for this for the. author to kind of play with you, the. reader. and in using things like bluffs and red. herrings, I think, are basically the. same thing. But the idea is that so the. author in this case Agatha Christie. would say something like um you know. early on in the book a a a suspect would. come running out of the house looking. shaken and pale and um you the reader.

would be like well that's just way too. obvious. She's not going to name she's. not going to point out who the murderer. is at the beginning of the book so I can. disregard that person or this very. obvious clue or something like that. That was just kind of part of the. interplay between author and reader. But. then it could go even deeper to where. she would say something like, "Well, I. know that you think that this is too. obvious, so I'm going to actually make. this the actual murderer." Which she did. in some cases, which was like a double. bluff. Apparently, it could just keep.

going on and on and on. But it was this. kind of um wrestling match or maybe slap. fight between Agatha Christie and you, her reader, which made the whole thing. all the more delightful. That's right. And she uh Ed takes great. pains uh to point out that she did not. invent this genre. Uh there were people. like Arthur Conan Doyle obviously and. Poe before her that sort of established. some of these rules, but she was very. popular. She's very good at what she. did. Yeah. Uh she wrote about what she. knew and we'll we'll talk about her life.

u coming up in a little bit. But these. manor houses and these estates and these. English villages and even the exotic. loces uh and these train trips and. things were things that she actually. experienced. And you know, a lot of. people are great at making stuff up and. a lot of people are great about writing. what they know. And it it seems like she. was really great at writing what she. knew. Yeah. And um for some reason. either it was the time or maybe because. of her I'm not sure it was kind of a.

chicken or the egg thing but she. happened to write about stuff that a lot. of people wanted to read about these. small you know English villages and you. know quaint mannerisms of the uh upper. middle and upper class English society. um set in this period of time that and. for some reason it just captured. everybody's attention and apparently. when she started expanding I think after. World War II uh to some slightly more.

exotic loces like Egypt or Mesopotamia. you know um uh for like Death on the. Nile was a very famous one during this. time or the Orian Express um that really. catapulted her into superstardom. international superstardom you. Yeah, I. don't have a super firm read on the. history of literature, but I get the. idea that this is sort of aligned with. the beginnings of pop lit. Uh, and like. I call it the beach book. Um, I don't.

know if there had been a ton of stuff. like this that was just sort of pure. comfort food and entertainment up to. this point. Yeah, I'm not sure either. Nothing that I'm familiar with, I can. say. But they were very entertaining. books. They were humorous, a very dark. sense of humor. Yeah. Um, great. dialogue. Uh, all these, um, verbal. joust between the detectives and the. suspects is really key to that genre. Um, something Knives Out did really, really well. It was one of my favorite. scripts of the year. Maybe my favorite.

script. Wow. But, uh, just really, really good, sharp writing. And it's no, um, sort of no accident that she became. so hugely popular. No. Oh, and that's. something like if you're not really. familiar with Agatha Christie and you. just kind of look her up in passing, um, one of the things you'll be confronted. with is that a lot of people, a lot of. critics say she was a hack. And, um, when what they're talking about is that. formula that she followed to almost like. a a a soullessly rational degree, like.

that was the formula. That's what she. followed. Um, but that really misses. like the fact that she had a really. great eye for detail and the dialogue. like you were saying like she was a good. writer and she could just crank work. out. I think during the decade of the. 20s she wrote a a book a a year and. might have even become more prolific. later on in the 30s and 40s too. Yeah. and she. um she was a business person, you know,

like there's nothing wrong with saying, "Wow, people love this stuff and they. sell a lot." And uh although it took a. while for that to happen, as we'll see, but there's there's nothing wrong with. any of that. I think people that call. her a hack can go fly a kite. Yeah. Go. fly it with extreme prejudice. Should we. take a break? I think so, man. We'll. come back and talk about her life. Great. [Music].

Okay, Chuck. So um Agatha Christie was. born in 1890 in England in Devonshire in. Torquay which I always want to say. Tangare Devincure. Sure. And it's in the.

southwest of England. So Torqu is kind. of like our um or Devincure is like our. Arizona basically. That's my impression. I think it is very. much like Arizona. Right. the legendary. Devon Sher cactus. Right. So, so which. stalks the moors. That's right. Um and. she was one of three kids and I think. her older brother and sister were both. at least a decade older than her. So, she had like a very um solitary.

childhood which appears to have made her. fairly happy. She didn't go to school. She was raised by governnesses and. educated by governnesses. Spent a lot of. time reading um and just hung out around. her family's estate. Yeah. Yeah, I mean. they had some dough. They were uh they. were not wealthy wealthy, but they were. definitely upper middle class. They got. an inheritance from her paternal. grandfather such that her dad didn't. need to work. Uh apparently she is on. record as saying that like her dad. wasn't around much. Didn't really impact.

me once uh much. So he can go fly a kite. as well, right? It's a lot of kite. flying. And um she was she loved being. out in the garden. She wasn't um I get. the impression she wasn't like reclusive. or anything, but she very much enjoyed. time with herself alone, but also had. friends and stuff when she eventually. did go to school once her father passed. and they couldn't afford that. governness, right? But she was a very. very shy person. Um the novelist Joan. Nekasella.

um says that even as an adult she was so. shy that sometimes she wouldn't go into. shops because she would have to interact. with the shopkeeper. Um so it is a. novelist. You know how many novelists. are the life of the party and super. outgoing? You have never met Philip Roth. apparently. I just I don't know. You. kind of picture like the Stephen Kings. just locked in an attic somewhere and. not like well let me ride a little bit. then I'm going to go uh you know go to a.

party, right? Go play some pickup. basketball and maybe volunteer at the. local food bank after. I don't know. It's sort of a solitary pastime. So that. sure there are examples of uh of. extroverted authors, but I think she. kind of fits the mold that you generally. think of, especially for a lady mystery. writer. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I. think not only fits the mold, the more I. learn about her, she made the mold. True. Like basically everything we take. her for granted as far as writing and. mystery writing goes, like she basically. made it up. It's it's pretty impressive.

stuff. Yeah. So, she um like we said, she did some pretty uh to us dum dums in. America seem like exotic uh traveling. trips, but if you lived in England at. the time, it's no big deal to go to. Egypt. Mhm. And check out the pyramids. that was if you had a little dough, that. was a pretty common vacation that you. might take. Mhm. So, she did stuff like. that and she was exposed to um exotic. loces and used those in her work. Uh in. her very first novel, even Snow Upon the.

Desert, she wrote when she was like 22. or 23 years old, I think. And. uh you know, she had a hard time getting. published at first because she was a. young woman. Yeah, she was rejected out of hand. Um, and apparently also she started writing. um because her sister told her that she. probably wouldn't be able to write a. mystery novel. Yeah. Which I love. So. she did. She wrote the um what was it? Snow on what? Snow upon the desert. Snow. upon the desert. And she was very young.

then. Um, and in between the time she. wrote Snow Upon the Desert and The. Mysterious Affair at Styles, which would. be her first published book, I believe, she um wedged a lot of life in there uh. in the form of getting married to a guy. named Archable Archie Christie. And one. of the things about Agatha Christie is. that she was she never she wasn't a born. writer even though she did write as a. younger person like you were saying like. she wasn't like a she just didn't want.

to be a writer as a kid and she ended up. writing really seriously after she and. Archie Christie got married because. Archie Christie wasn't uh particularly. wealthy and couldn't necessarily care. for her himself. So, she started writing. to to make money, which some people. suspect is the reason she got into. mystery writing in the first place. because it was a very very popular genre. even then. Well, it makes sense. So, she. had the skills to pay the bills, it. turns out. That's right. Uh they were.

married in 1914. Uh he was kind of. promptly sent to fight in the Great War. in France. And she worked at a. pharmacist uh at a war hospital during. that period. And this is where she. learned a lot about potions and poisons. and pharmaceuticals and things that she. would there's a lot of poisoning that. goes on in her books. Yeah. Um and she. later in her career, I think she. actually would consult with doctors and. stuff like that cuz she wanted. everything to be really medically. accurate. But early on she learned a lot.

about this stuff from her work in the. pharmacy, which is kind of cool and. ghoullish. You know, she's like, "Huh, how exactly would a person die from this. bottle that I'm holding? So yeah, and. apparently um most of the deaths in her. books are poisonings and and like you. were saying like you very rarely see the. person die. They just come upon the body. and most of the time it's a poison body. Sometimes there there was violence. visited upon them, but for the most part. is a body that was found poisoned to.

death. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a good. vehicle for a mystery novel because, you. know, there's no murder weapon per se. there. I guess there's the poison. bottle, but it can often be very vague. uh a poisoning death. Like, could it. have been a heart attack? Like, you have. to kind of sus out at first whether or. not it was even a murder. It's not like. an obvious thing where there's a a. bullet hole in their chest or something. like that. Right. Right. Yeah. So.

poisoning is what she went with. typically. It's another example also, Chuck, I think, of like her writing what. she knew too. Yeah. Or at least writing. what interested her. Um, and she wrote. in, I believe, 1920. No, during the during World War I, so. while she was working at the dispensary. and Archie was off flying in France, I. believe, um she wrote the mysterious. affair at Styles and it was that's the. one I started reading and it I don't.

understand how it was rejected at first, but it was um it's a really interesting. book just right out of the gate um in. that it it pulls you right into this. little country English estate and all of. the people on it and you realize iz just. after a couple of pages that you're. already invested in them, which is. pretty amazing. And this is like not her. first book, but it was her first uh. serious work that wasn't published. immediately. It wasn't published until. 1920. Um, and I think even after it was.

published, it wasn't an immediate. catapult to success for her, but it was. a it was a remarkable first book to be. published. Yeah. And this is the one. that introduced the world to her uh. chief detective for a lot of those. novels uh Mr. Puero like we mentioned. and later on they asked her why he was. Belgian and she said why not basically. right uh it I don't think a whole lot of. thought went into it. Um, it turned out. to be a really good choice because he.

had this kind of interesting accent and. everywhere he went, I don't, you know, they were never set in Belgium. So, everywhere he went, he was this uh sort. of uh sort of strange foreigner that. would come into town uh with this accent. that no one quite understood. And he. just had this sort of larger than-l life. presence, I think, because of that. So, it turned out to be a really smart. choice. Yeah. He was also a well-known. dandy who was very vain about his. appearance. Um, and he apparently said.

in one of the later books that he plays. up his foreignness and his dandiness to. um, uh, disarm suspects when he's. interrogating them to make them take him. less seriously than they otherwise. might. Oh man, I want to talk about. knives out so much. You cannot. I. appreciate you not doing that. So, she. had a daughter, we should mention in. 1919, uh named Rosalind, and that's the. only child she ever had. And it was in.

1920, a year later, uh that they finally. did publish the mysterious affair at. Styles, uh after she agreed to change. the ending. They said, "We don't like. Puero uh revealing all this evidence in. court." So, she changed the ending. They. said, "Great." Uh that's when she went. on to publish that novel every year for. about 10 years, right? uh very very big. books but they weren't um they were. popular but she wasn't like a superstar. internationally at this point yet? No, not yet. Um again she really catapulted.

later on because she moved to some of. these more exotic loces. But one of the. things that cemented her legend as a. mystery writer, in addition to all of. the work she did, in addition to her. prolificness and her extreme talent at. this formula that she had worked out, was um what still today is considered an. unsolved mystery. In fact, it was. featured on a 1994 episode of Unsolved. Mysteries, um which I just randomly.

happened to see recently. And um she. disappeared. There's a whole. subplot to Agatha Christiey's life that. was really surprising, especially. compared to how boring and normal and. just kind of plotting with these instead. of te's her normal life was. The fact. that she has this grand mystery plunked. down in the middle of it is is pretty. impressive. Yeah, it's it's um so here's.

here's the backstory. uh she and Archie. were not meant to be together as it. turns out. He revealed that he was. having an affair uh with a lady named. Nancy Neil who was a friend of the. family and obviously that was the end of. their marriage. So at the end of 1926. um they decided they were going to take. a trip together, a weekender. Um Archie. went to be with his friends instead and. then she vanished into seemingly thin. air. Uh they found her car near a rock.

quarry with her fur coat and her. driver's license there and no Agatha. Christie. No. And her car wasn't just. near the rock quarry. According to some. reports, like one of the wheels is. hanging over the edge of this cliff and. still spinning, right? Um so but she was gone. She they. they couldn't find her. And so within a. couple of days, this massive search, depending on who you ask and depending. on when you ask them, 10 like 10,000.

plus people were searching for, probably. more likely a couple thousand, which is. still really remarkable for this tiny. little area in the southwest of England. um at the time in 1926. Um so the that. really kind of demonstrates she was. already a a well-known writer. She. wasn't legendary yet, but this this. disappearance is the mechani mechanism. by which she becomes legendary, I think. And this goes on for a good week, I.

believe. Right. When did she disappear? December what? I think December 3rd is. when they were going to take that trip. So, she was gone almost two weeks. And. I'm by gone, we mean just vanished. She. left behind that car. She left behind. the driver's license in the fur. Like. you said, she was gone. her husband had. come came to be known to have asked for. a divorce already. So people were like, "Well, did he bump her off?" And she's a. mystery writer known for generating. stuff like this. So even at the time, some people were like, "Is this a.

publicity stunt?" Because it's a pretty. good one if it is. Sure. It worked. Uh, and there was a band at uh, this place. called the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in. Yorkshire, which um, kind of just sounds. like a bit of a uh, Kellogg Brothers. type of joint. Have you seen a Cure for. Wellness? Uh, well, we we talked about. that in that podcast. Did we? I can't. remember. Have you seen it? I had never. saw it. Have you yet? I still have not. seen it. You're not missing that much.

But it is pretty interesting. It's It's. worth seeing at least once. I might. check it out. Okay. But at any rate, they had a band here because what. hydropathic hotel does not have a house. band? And they came forward and said, "Hey, this Agatha Christie lady, she's. been staying here for a week. Uh she's. been in the electric light bath cabinet. and getting uh yogurt enemas and having. a grand old time." So, they went to the. cops and the cops went to the lead. detective and said, "No, no, no. She's.

been murdered and we're trying to find. out the killer. I'm sure of it. Eventually, this detective said, "Well, let me tell her husband." And husband. Archie went out to check it out. On the. 14th of December, there she was. She was. in seclusion. And uh that was sort of. the end of this mystery. It wasn't so. much a mystery. Um, you know, she by all accounts, it. seems like she went there because she. had uh thought about or maybe tried to.

drive her car into that quarry and and. kill herself because she was upset about. her marriage ending. Yeah. Uh and then. it didn't happen and she just kind of. goes on a walk and ends up at this. place. May or may not have invented an. amnesia story or it may have actually. happened to some degree. she didn't talk. about a lot, so we don't really know. exactly what went down with the amnesia. She said that. So, two years later, she. gave an interview with the Daily Mail. and apparently explain the amnesia by.

saying she'd hit her head on the. steering wheel. But in the same. interview, she says that she'd let go of. the steering wheel. So, she basically. said like, "I attempted suicide and it. didn't work out. I hit my head on the. steering wheel and I wandered off and I. had amnesia." But the the they think. that it's it was just a family cover. story to save face this amnesia story. and that really she had attempted to. take her own life and um hadn't. succeeded and now regretted it uh and. was embarrassed by all of this because.

the idea that there were thousands of. people looking for her I think it. probably never crossed her mind when she. wandered away from her car. No. And that. remember she was a very shy person. So. this all this attention was very very. hard on her. So, the the family just. came up with this cover story that she. had amnesia, so don't even bother. asking. And um Archie and she stayed. together for another year or so. And. then their divorce finally became. finalized in 1928.

Yeah. So, she didn't even mention this. in her autobiography, which kind of says. all you need to know about how much she. liked to talk about this, right? And we. should say there was one other thing. that did this, too. It wasn't just um. Archie asking for a divorce. He asked. for a divorce a few months after her. mother died. And uh Agatha Christiey's. mother was beloved to her. She worshiped. her mother. She thought she was. wonderful. Her mother was the parent. that was there for her while she was a. kid and raised her. Um and was just a. very interesting person, it sounds like.

So she died. Archie asks for a divorce a. few months later. And then this whole. mysterious disappearance happened. That's right. And then one last thing, I. read that at the Swan Hydro Hotel, she. was actually playing cards and chatting. with other guests about this mysterious. disappearance that was in all of the. newspapers, and none of the other guests. recognized her. It was those band. members that you mentioned. Interesting. I thought so, too, ma'am. So, that's. everything I learned from Unsolved. Mysteries. Should we take a break?

Finally. All right. Let's uh let's take. our final break and we'll talk a little. bit more about her later life and. further. [Music].

success. All right. So, it's 1928 at. this point. Uh, she is freshly divorced. She kept that name because, uh, you. know, she that's the name that made her. famous, so it makes a lot of sense. And. she kept writing novels. Um, she. traveled on the Orient Express to. Baghdad. She got into uh, archaeology, just sort of a hobbyist, and made. friends with a couple who were. archaeologists. went to visit them in. 1930 and on that trip met a man named.

Max Malawan who was uh also an. adventurer and an archaeologist 13 years. younger and they fell in love and got. married which is a very very sweet. story. Yeah. Apparently he was giving. her a tour of some archaeological sites. and he got the car stuck and she. apparently he said later she made no. fuss about it. Didn't blame him or. anything like that. And uh he said, "That's about the time when I started to. begin to realize that you are. wonderful." And so they got married. Um.

and she said later on that the good. thing about being married to an. archaeologist is that the older you get, the more interested they become. Interesting. I thought it was kind of. cute. So this is when Miss Marple comes. along as as a a detective in 1930 with. The Murder at the Vicorage. That was her. first one. That was the first Miss. Marple book. Okay. And then she's. traveling around. She's doing these. archaeological digs and trips. She's. going to Syria and Iraq. Uh she fell in.

love with Syria and the Syrian people. And she's really cranking out some big. books at this point in the 1930s. Uh. that's why like even even on. archaeological digs, Chuck, can you. imagine how uncomfortable it would be to. sit and write for hours at an. archaeological site? I can't. It would. be tough, I would think. And yet, she. was still just as prolific as ever. Yeah. Books like Murder in Mesopotamia. and Death on the Nile and Murder on the. Orient Express were all written uh. during this period and this is what. really catapulted her into international.

superstardom as an author. Right. So, um. she and Max stayed together for I think. 46 years until her death actually. Um. yeah, I think yeah, she outlived him. So, this is pretty sweet. Um but despite. all of this kind of um adventure and and. archaeological digs and like visits to. the mi the Middle East, um most of her. life from that point on was in Devincure.

um in this tiny little area in the. English countryside um in these the. quaint little towns. Um and she gardened. and was very involved in local community. theater. That was her life. She was also. one of the. biggest most well-known most. best-selling writers of of in the world. while she was alive. And yet that's what. she did. She hung out with community.

theater group and gardened. That was. just her life. Yeah. She got the Dame. Commander of the Order of the British. Empire in 1971. Mhm. And um the rights. to her novels were uh held by a company. that she created for a long time. And. then before she died, she sold part of. that off and that's been sort of bought. and sold a bunch over the years, which. is kind of how that usually happens, right? Um but she did retain enough of. the um of the company to to have it be. worth a ton of money. Um which she.

passed down to her daughter, of course, as her only child. Mhm. She sort of took. care of her mother's works for many, many years and then passed that on to. her only child, a man named Matthew. Pritchard, who still holds these rights. and still sort of manages that today. That's. right. So, everything turned out well. for Matthew Pritchard, it sounds like. Heck yeah. I wish I wish my grandma was. actually a dunk because I love my. grandma, but sure. Would it have killed. her to be an internationally famous.

author? No, it wouldn't, Chuck. and I'm. glad we're finally talking about it. It's been an elephant in the room for a. very long time. Uh so she, you know, a. lot of these went on to be very famous. films. Uh TV series. I think Murder on. the Orient Express has been a couple of. big movies. Uh in fact, one a couple. years ago that I have not seen. It's. unwatchable. Oh, is it really bad? I'm. sorry if you listen to this, Kenneth. Bronno. I couldn't make it through the. first five minutes. Oh, wow. It was I.

didn't like it. Okay. Is that all you. watch? Yes. Okay. So that's my report is on the. first five minutes. Uh she very famously. has a play called The Mouse Trap which. is uh debuted at the West End in 1952. and it is the longest running play in. the history of the West End which is. remarkable. Yeah. And to make that even. sweeter, remember her sister who said. that she probably couldn't write a. mystery novel? Well, her sister was the.

first in the family to get a play. produced on the West End, but it. certainly wasn't the longest running. play on the West End of all time. So, she got her back doubly so and then she. was hit by a train and Agatha Christie. laughed and laughed and poisoned her. corpse. So, uh we need to talk a little bit here. at the end. Um we always like to give. everyone's uh give everyone the. accolades they deserve, but also point. out some of the things that weren't so. great. uh we don't want to whitewash. anything. And she used a lot of kind of.

uh racially insensitive language uh some. would call anti-semitic at times, anti-atholic. uh through parts of her career um such. that the anti-uh defamation league. complained to her agent at one point and. because of that American publishers were. given the ability to change that stuff. out sort of at will without without any. notice given to her. She just she didn't. know this was going on at all. Yeah. They just were like, I don't think the.

Americans are going to go for this. The. Brits can barely stand it. The Americans. definitely aren't going to take this. Well, yeah. And I read a lot about this. and there are different takes. Um one. take is that uh the old, you know, she. was a product of her time thing, which. people uh you know, rightfully point. out. Um, another is that often times. she's doing this uh to show characters. are sort of um underdeveloped as humans. and sort of backward. Mhm. So, there's. that uh as well, but you also can't.

dance around the fact that she did use. some pretty bad words and um you know, we just got to put that stuff out and. they were bad even at the time too. like. it wasn't yes you can say like yeah a. lot of people had different social. attitudes toward race and racism and um. and in that sense she wasn't that much. different but there were cases where she. was standing well outside of the norm. including in book titles and and.

characters and things like that. Um and. you one book in particular uh and Then. there were none was revised many many. times not just in the US but in Great. Britain as well. Um, and it's remarkable. in that sense, but in another sense, it. is also remarkable in that it it's. considered pretty widely to have given. birth to the slasher film genre. Did you. know that? I didn't until my bread edit. I Yeah, I looked this up a little more. And on its own, and Then There Were.

None, the book ends, sorry for the. spoiler, everybody, but it ends with, I. think, all of the suspects killing one. another. um and everyone dies. In the. stage adaptation of the play that she. helped write, um the the final girl, a. female character, is left alive and has. outdone the murderer uh who's come to. get her, which is, you know, for the. formula for any slasher film whatsoever. But there's a bunch of other elements in.

there, too. And they're like, you know, even on like horror fan wikis, they they. point to that as like the genuine birth. even more than psycho of the slasher. film genre. Oh, interesting. Yeah, it is. pretty interesting. You who would have. ever thought that um Agatha Christie. with her nonviolence and and poison and. occasional racism would have been the. one to to birth the slasher film. Occasional racism. Yeah. And a lot of. the the racist stuff, just to put a a. final pin on that, was um a lot of it. was character descriptions, which can be.

some of the ugliest kinds of stuff like. that. Um yeah, cuz it wasn't just like. talking about philosophies. It was just. like literally physically describing a. character. Uh sometimes she would use. some pretty pretty derogatory language. Yeah. So again, it's a bit like uh. exploring Elizabeth Blackwell or any. historical character. There's always. weird little bugs under the rocks you. turn over, you know. I'm glad we're. doing our great work in a in a in the. time of wokeness, right? Exactly. No one.

can ever go back. I mean, we've made. missteps here and there, but they can't. go back and talk about when Josh and. Chuck were big racists at the beginning. Yeah. No, it's true. But just wait for. 20 years from now, they'll be like, I. can't believe they talked about those. guys were ages bastards. You know, probably. So, um, there's one other. thing I want to say, too. So when she uh. lived through World War II, Agatha. Christie was worried that she was going. to die in the bombing blitz of Great. Britain and she really wanted Hercule.

Puo and um Jane Marples to have a final. case. So she wrote a book for each of. them. Uh one is called Curtain, that's. Puarro's final book, and the other is. Sleeping Murder. Um that is Marple's. final case. And um in it, it just kind. of explains what happens to them. I. believe poor dies and Marple just uh. retires. But when she survived World War. II, she was like, "Well, I don't I'm not. ready for these guys to be retired yet.". So, she kept those books and had them.

postumously published and they were in. the 70s. And when her Hercule Puo's last. book came out and he died, um the New. York Times ran a front page obituary for. him, the only fictional character to uh. have that honor bestowed on them. That's. crazy, isn't it? Yeah. And also a very. cool good idea to write those books. early on just in case cuz you never. know. Yeah. Besides the bombing thing, I. mean, she could uh she could walk off a. ledge or get hit by a bus or die of.

natural causes early. Like you never. know. And then you've got this legacy. cemented, right? Pretty smart. Have you. ever seen one last thing? Have you ever. seen Murder by Death? I know I've asked. you before. Uh I have that DVD sitting. on my desk. Well, that's amazing that. you have that on your desk and you wait. Is it on your desk at work? It is. It's. the wrong place. I was going to say. watch it tonight, but don't watch it. tonight. Um, wait until everything. clears. You're going to love it. No,

it's a spoof actually of detective books. of like Charlie Chan and Agatha Christie. and um Sam Spade and all that that she. helped you know kind of create but it's. actually like a complaint from fans of. mystery um mysteries. It's just a. wonderful book. Truman or movie Truman. Capot's in it. David Nan um Peter Faulk, right? Peter Faulk. Yeah. Um a lot of. people James Cromwell as a younger man. Oh yeah. James Coco is Hercule Puero.

It's just great. You're going to love. it, man. So, I guess we should say that. she did die eventually uh five years or. three years after I met her in uh 1976. at the age of 85 at her home in Oxford. Shshire or Oxfordshire. And uh it was. natural causes, not poison. No, her last. words were good to meet you, Chuck. Uh you got anything else? I do. not have anything else. Well friends,

that is Agatha Christie. If you want to. know more about Agatha Christie, go. start reading Agatha Christie books. And. since I said Agatha Christie like three. or four times, it's time for listener. [Music]. mail. All right, I'm going to call this. a letter from a kid because we love. reading these letters from kids. Hey guys, I've been listening to your. podcast for about 8 months now and I'd. like to say I am a huge fan. Uh this is. EMTT. He's 10 years old. Oh yeah, I love. this email. Uh, my dad is even more of a. fan of you guys than me and he told me.

about your podcast. I am a huge fan of. the Atlanta Falcons and pretty much. everything Atlanta related, including. your podcast, which is weird because I. live in Iowa. I love it. It is a little weird though, EMTT. You're right. I love how. self-aware this guy is. I think, you. know, when you grow up in a place like. Iowa with no professional sports, you. uh, you know, you do that thing where. you just pick out a team in a city. Yeah. You You're like the Bay City. Rollers. You throw a dart at a map and. go with it. That's right. And now I'm.

really worried there's a professional. team in Iowa, but there is not. There is. not. There are none. Right. No need to. double check that. Uh I've been listening to your podcast a. ton during this Corona virus outbreak to. keep me from going crazy and it's. worked. My birthday is actually coming. up so I'll not be able to see my friends. or even have a party. It would be. totally awesome and make my year if you. said happy birthday to me, but I want to. bet you won't read this on the air. That's some fine reverse psychology. right there. Well played, EMTT. Uh, I.

love your grass podcast and last year me. and my best friend Oliver started a lawn. care business and I made enough money to. buy Beats headphones to listen to your. podcast on. That is full circle right. there. That's right. He uh says, "I made. sure to wrap this letter up and spank it. on the bottom before I sent it." So, happy happy big I guess 11th birthday, EMTT. Uh, best to your dad. Hello, Oliver and everyone there in Atlanta, Iowa. Yeah, happy birthday, EMTT. That.

reverse psychology worked, man. Uh, if you want to get in touch. with us like EMTT did and see if we'll. wish you a happy birthday, I'll bet we. won't, but who can tell in these crazy. times? Uh, you can get in touch with us. via email. Wrap it up. Spank it on the. bottom and send it off to Stuffpodcast. at. [Music]. iheartradio.com. Stuff You Should Know. is a production of iHeart Radio. For.

more podcasts, iHeart Radio, visit the. iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or. wherever you listen to your favorite. shows. [Music].