As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
It was July 2020, and the US was just coming out of lockdown but, as you may recall, we were all still spending a lot of extra time in our homes. Teresa Peschel began writing reviews of various Christie films she’d gotten from the library on the website that she and her husband Bill had launched, starting with a set of ITV Miss Marple adaptations taken from books written long before Miss Marple’s character existed. The two agreed the shows were terrible, but they kept going. Before she knew it, Teresa had committed to watching every single Christie film adaptation and reviewing it.
The result is this book, and it’s an entertaining read. If, like me, you’re a Christie fan, you’ll enjoy reading Teresa’s views. She pulls no punches, and her rating system includes how closely, or not, the film hews to the source material. I am one of those annoying people who always want to tell you how the book was better, or at least different, so this is important to me. She’s fair, though, and tells you when a film works and when it doesn’t, and even when it doesn’t (I’m looking at you, Kenneth Branaugh’s murder of Murder on the Orient Express) she points out what the film actually did well.
Teresa did her homework. This book includes reviews of films from a 1929 silent film, through every English-language film they could find plus several foreign adaptations including ones from China, India, France, and even anime films from Japan, and TV shows, all the way up to 2022’s Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? It even includes a section called “Agatha the Star” which are films and shows starring Agatha herself. Yes, the time she meets a giant space wasp on Dr Who is included! Chapters are divided by stars (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, etc) as well as an entire chapter on adaptations of And Then There were None (originally published as 10 Little Indians) and stand-alone books.
This is a really fun book. Teresa’s balanced view and depth of experience make for great reading. Highly recommended.
Book Links:
Amazon – https://pictbooks.tours/m2akv5XN
Kindle Unlimited – https://pictbooks.tours/OQ2lsUeE
BN – https://pictbooks.tours/i86GhqfP
BookShop.org – https://pictbooks.tours/0JUyF2jR
Goodreads – https://pictbooks.tours/WNS0lpiy
BookBub – https://pictbooks.tours/0SLJr25f
Publisher – https://pictbooks.tours/8fmQkqe4
Author Bio:
Teresa Peschel never planned to become a writer, nor did she plan to become an expert on film versions of Agatha Christie stories. Then, as a supportive wife, Teresa read and edited Bill’s annotations to Agatha’s first six novels. A desire to promote the books led to writing movie reviews for the Peschel Press website, which led to Bill suggesting they could publish a collection quickly. Two and a half years later, Agatha Christie, She Watched was born. This book got Teresa — and Bill as her supportive husband — an invitation to speak at the 2024 Agatha Christie festival in England. Like Agatha Christie, Teresa reinvented herself and because of Agatha Christie, she’s become a better writer.
Catch Up With Teresa Peschel:
PeschelPress.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @peschel
Instagram – @peschel_press
YouTube – @peschelpress9911
X – @PeschelPress
Facebook – @PeschelPress
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