Talking Agatha
In which we start another podcasting thing, as well as talk about drummers, and dinosaurs.
What happens when I decide to start reading through Gill’s collection of Agatha Christie’s works?
We launch a new podcast series, of course.
Welcome to the monthly Chronological Christie Podcast.
We’ll be tackling the books in UK publication order as detailed on the official Agatha Christie website, and sharing our thoughts on each from the viewpoint of someone familiar with them…
And someone reading them for the first time.
We’ll also be taking a quick look at any adaptations we can check out.
The first episode of the Chronological Christie Podcast drops on Spotify this Sunday (January 12th) in which we discuss the Queen of Crime’s debut novel - The Mysterious Affair At Styles.
If you can spare us 40 minutes of your time, we’d appreciate it if you could give it a listen and let us know what you think.
If you want to follow along we have set up a new Chronological Christie section in our online bookstore where you can pick up copies of the books under discussion.
We’d also appreciate a follow on the new Chronological Christie instagram account
Alan
Other Stuff
Welcome new folks
Each week when I sit down to put one of these newsletters together I’m always grateful to my subscribers. If you aren’t a member of that wonderful group of folks yet, then click the button below and join our growing community of readers and commentators to get these missives delivered directly to your email inbox every Friday.
Brabazon Bits
“Bristol Brabazon: The Ocean Liner of the Skies and its Ongoing Legacy” will be published on 30 MAY, 2025 in the UK and 30 JULY, 2025 in the US.
It’s also available for pre-order on both Amazon UK and Amazon US sites.
Word Slinging
I was happy to spend some time over the last week going over the galley proofs for my two Wild Bill Hickok short stories to be included in an upcoming Western anthology. These are the first two Western-style stories I’ve written, and I’m looking forward to seeing them in print later this year.
Podcast Procrastinations
It’s been a busy couple of weeks on the podcast front since the last edition of this newsletter.
As well as recording and setting up the new Agatha Christie podcast, there was some Beatles-related chat and even a conversation about a movie featuring cowboys vs dinosaurs.
Episode 8 of The Forgotten Beatles went live on the first of the month. In this episode we tell the stories of The Quarrymen’s original drummer, Colin Hanton, and perhaps The Beatles most reluctant stand in drummer, Johnny Hutchinson (as seen in the photo below)
You can check it out HERE.
I recently had the honor of being invited to join the crew of the Action Film Face-Off podcast where we compared the merits of Allan Quatermain in King Solomon’s Mines against the Valley of Gwangi (featuring the aforementioned cowboys and dinosaurs).
Who prevailed? Harryhausen Claymation or Gorgeous Africa? Find out as they battle for six rounds in the videodome right HERE.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2025 - “Ian Fleming and SOE’s Operation Postmaster” by Brian Lett
It’s well documented that Ian Fleming was aware of Operation Postmaster and maybe even was involved in its early planning, but the author stretches that connection to the limits of credibility here implying that nearly every aspect of Fleming’s iconic secret agent creation was directly inspired by people and actions related to this one wartime operation.
The multiple Bond references throughout the text are tenuous at best and often based on conjecture and speculation rather than facts.
But if you put the 007 allusions aside what you have is probably the most detailed and compelling account of the commando that stole three enemy ships from a neutral harbor under the noses of their crews without firing a shot (unlike in the fanciful recent movie based on the same events.)
While the coverage of the raid itself is compelling, where the book really shines is in the build-up highlighting the role of the agents on site in intelligence gathering, diversion planning, manipulation, and misdirection; and in the handling of the diplomatic fallout afterward (in which Fleming was once again involved).
If you ignore the Bond angle, this is easily the best account of one of the most audacious World War 2 special forces operations I’ve read.
Our online bookstore at Bookshop.org has been updated with a new section for the books read in 2025, so you can pick up copies of any that interest you, while also helping out local independent bookstores.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - It was a busy couple of weeks on the Forest Comics front with a sudden surge in action figure sales to go along with the ever-popular FunkoPops. You can check out our current active listings HERE.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues as we continue to look at reprints from Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK published in October 1969.
Where on the Web is Alan?
You can now find links to all the places you can find me online, websites, newsletters, social media, and more in a single LINKS page on my personal website.
As always, thanks for joining me this week. If you know someone else who might enjoy the contents of this week’s newsletter, or just my weekly ramblings in general - please feel free to share by clicking the button below.
See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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