As Agatha Christie’s esteemed detective Hercule Poirot often says, ‘murder is a habit’. But the murderer we’re talking about today takes this to a whole other level...

In this episode, we’re talking about Agatha Christie’s 1936 novel The ABC Murders. In this novel, Poirot comes face to face with a mysterious serial-killer adversary who goes by the name of ABC. ABC commits murders in alphabetical order, beginning with Alice Ascher in Andover, then Betty Barnard in Bexhill-on-Sea, then Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston… But are these killings the work of a senseless sadist, or are they carefully planned murders, designed to conceal a sinister motive?

Join us for a deep dive into this classic mystery novel – more a thriller than a classic whodunnit. We talk about serial killers, motives and murder methods. We also discuss the structure of crime novels, as well as some of the adaptations of The ABC Murders, including the ITV production with David Suchet and the more recent John Malkovich production for the BBC.

As ever, a warning: this episode contains spoilers for The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie.

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