Teresa reviews Black Coffee (1932), the first film of the play Agatha Christie wrote, and the only one she wrote with Hercule Poirot in it. Watch our livestream discussing the movie on YouTube. Watch the movie on YouTube. Fidelity to play: 3 poison bottles The bones of the play remain, minus Japp. Add in a […]
(With the publication of “The Complete, Annotated Clouds of Witness,” we’re running some of the essays that can be found in the book.) Until 1948, it was good to be a peer. Nefarious dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons eligible to sit in the House of Lords had the privilege of being tried there. This […]
Fidelity to Sherlock: 1.5 gun Holmes works in his laboratory and sets a trap to catch the killer. He also makes a nifty deduction about a false confession. Quality of episode: 4 guns Even if the mystery is shortchanged, an amusing time was had by all. Sherlock Holmes producer Sheldon Reynolds took care early on […]
Teresa reviews The Duchess (2008), a movie whose events take place during Jane Austen’s lifetime. (c)2026 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to life: 3 stars The bare-bones facts about the duke, the duchess, and the live-in mistress are here, but, my goodness, did the film do serious rewrites to their histories. Quality of film: 3½ stars […]
When we laid out International Agatha Christie, I wanted it to be as complete as possible and to be a reference for scholars as well as general readers. Thus, we compiled as complete a bibliography listing books discussing Agatha and her works as we could. I know that it’s not complete. I didn’t even begin […]
Actually, “The Complete, Annotated Clouds of Witness” has been out for a couple of weeks, but finally, after a long hiatus, the second book in the Lord Peter’s Library (which I just came up with, so maybe we’ll refer it to that and maybe not) is out. “The Complete, Annotated Clouds of Witness” had a […]
Bill reviews “The Case of the Cunningham Heritage,” the first episode in the 1954 “Sherlock Holmes” TV series. This is part of the “Sherlock Holmes, They Watched” movie review project, in which Bill and Teresa Peschel will watch and discuss as many of the Sherlock Holmes adaptations before the end of time. (c)2025 by Bill […]
It only took 22 episodes, but we’re finally letting you know what we’re up to! This is “Agatha Christie, They Watched.” After the end of our podcast “Agatha Christie, She Watched,” we decided to carry on, but with two major differences: 1. We’ll do a video version, so you can see us discuss and argue […]
(c)2026 by Teresa Peschel Fidelity to text: 2½ poison bottles Changes large and small, which destroy Agatha’s intention and twist ending Quality of movie: 3 poison bottles It looks great! But the pace flagged and the plot didn’t hold together well. I’m indebted to Val McDermid, aka the Quine of Crime, for pointing out what […]
Teresa reviews the Hercule Poirot TV pilot from 1962 and wonders what would have happened if this serious take on the Belgian detective became a series. Fidelity to text: 4 thieves Despite showing Poirot moving to the U.S. and living out of his limo, the episode is remarkably close to the short story. Quality of […]