More and more, there seems to be something exciting going on all year round in Torquay, on the coast of Devon, birthplace to the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller Christie Mallowan.
This spring, a one-day mini-celebration of Christie and the Golden Age of Detection will take place on Saturday, April 11, and the line-up is stunning. Author Tom Mead will open things up with a talk on Christie’s locked room mysteries (“Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”) Fellow authors Abir Mukherjee, Val McDermid and Kelly Mullen will each give a talk, and the evening will end with Antony Johnston leading the guests in a live version of Can You Solve This Murder? And tucked right in the middle will be my buddies, Dr. Mark Aldridge and Gray Robert Brown, The Swinging Christies themselves, with a tantalizing experience entitled, “The Confessions of Agatha Christie!”
The only downside to the whole thing is that I won’t be there! But don’t waste your pity on me, folks, because today I’m thrilled to share is that I will be attending this fall’s 2026 Agatha Christie Festival, which is running from September 12th through the 20th. Last time out, I toured Greenway; this year, I’ve booked my passage on the sold-out excursion to Burgh Island. I hope the other passengers won’t mind the hat I’ve chosen to wear that day:
2026 marks the centennial of one of the key events in Christie’s career: the release of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. In fact – and in a stroke of luck – Ackroyd’s publication date was September 17, so that day will be set aside as “Roger Ackroyd” Day and will be led off by Dr. John Curran, probably the best man alive to lead the discussion on the puzzle aspects of that Christie classic. But then the festival always attracts an exciting array of fans, authors and scholars! My friend Martin Edwards will be there to talk about Christie and the Detection Club. Lucy Foley will be signing her new book, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, the first continuation novel to feature Miss Jane Marple. I can’t wait to read it! Robert Thorogood, creator of Death in Paradise and the Marlow Murder Club series will also be on hand, in a discussion with Ben Miller, the actor who played the very first “fish out of water” detective on that hit show.
On a personal level, I’m excited to announce that I will be taking part in a couple of events. This year, Kemper Donovan’s podcast All About Agatha will tackle a highly appropriate question for an Ackroyd-heavy festival: “Who is Agatha Christie’s Best Narrator?” I have some thoughts – but then so do the other esteemed members of the panel that Kemper has assembled, and they are indeed esteemed. So much so that I think I better do some homework before September rolls around. Here are my fellow panel members (and my assignments):
Dr. Jamie Bernthal-Hooker – Jamie is as smart as anybody out there when it comes to Christie. He is an author of TONS of scholarly stuff, but he also wrote a series of short stories, Jessica Brick Investigates, that parodies . . . well, you can imagine who it parodies!
Our host Kemper Donovan is the author of two books in the Ghostwriter series, The Busy Body and Loose Lips, both of which I’ve covered on the blog. The third installment, Sweet Spot, arrives at the end of June, and I’m sure to make it a part of my summer reading.
Tina Hodgkinson – Tina is an archivist and an author, and if you ever want a walking tour of Agatha Christie’s London, she is the best person to lead you around! In fact, this year marks the publication of Tina’s book Agatha Christie’s London: A Historical Guide to the Queen of Crime’s Capital. That book is winging its way to me from Blackwell’s as we speak.
Victoria Dowd – Victoria is such a gem of a person that it’s impossible to be jealous of her success as a crime writer. Still, I have yet to cover her Smart Woman series or any of her other books – an omission that will be corrected soon.
If it turns out that you’re going to be in Torquay this fall, please please PLEASE seek me out and say hello. (You can check out the full festival schedule right here.) If not, I promise to give you a faithful rundown of all my adventures when I return.
Ah Sweet Mystery! 