The Book Show

Are you Team Poirot or Team Marple? When it comes to Agatha Christie's most popular detectives, there are plenty who will favour the moustachioed Belgian Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. But for Scottish crime writer Val McDermid the spinster, amateur sleuth Jane Marple is a far superior character. She makes the case for Miss Marple at our latest meeting of The Agatha Christie Murder Club.

Guest: Val McDermid, author of many gritty crime novels

David Astle, the ABC's resident puzzle master has devised devious cryptic puzzles inspired by Agatha Christie's books. Each episode he'll provide a new clue and the answer will be the title of one of Agatha Christie's books.

Episode #4 Clue: Terribly rude mother then picked up cat

David Astle will be back next time with the answer, and a new mystery for you to solve. 

Email [email protected] if you know the answer to the puzzle. 

Find out more about the five-part series here.

Ian Rankin decided his crusty Edinburgh detective John Rebus needed a break and his first standalone novel in 20 years, The Heights stars a much younger detective.

Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish is a cop from Tottenham who's determined, a bit reckless and juggling her job and mother with dementia. Set at the high end of London with the murder of a security guard, the book tackles themes of social class and economic inequality. As Ian Rankin tells Claire Nichols, many of the ideas for his books start when he's on holiday (which does not impress his wife and family).

Whether he returns to his new detective is yet to be seen but next year is the 40th anniversary of the first Rebus novel and the big mystery is whether we'll see another chapter in the Edinburgh detective's life.

If you want more Inspector Rebus, in 2022 Claire spoke to Ian about A Heart Full of Headstones.

And there's more for crime fiction lovers! Dive into The Book Show's new series The Agatha Christie Murder Club as we solve mysteries about Christie, her books and legacy. Each week you'll have a chance to solve a cryptic puzzle devised by puzzle master, David Astle.

Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 ranked.

Relive your favourite moments of the Top 100 Books countdown.

What's so cosy about murder? Cosy crime is taking over our screens and books but it all began with Agatha Christie. So what makes a crime novel "cosy" and why does this genre have such strong appeal? We also debate whether Agatha Christie actually wrote cosy books.

Guest: crime writer Shamini Flint, author of the Inspector Singh Investigates series.

David Astle, the ABC's resident puzzle master has devised devious cryptic puzzles inspired by Agatha Christie's books. Each episode he'll provide a new clue and the answer will be the title of one of Agatha Christie's books.

Episode #3 Clue: Cryptically close

David Astle will be back next time with the answer, and a new mystery for you to solve. 

Email [email protected] if you know the answer to the puzzle. 

Find out more about the five-part series here.

What's in a name? Florence Knapp reclaimed her own name for her novel The Names, but before that she had a crafting blog with the moniker "Flossie Teacakes".

As Florence Knapp describes to Claire Nichols, names are intrinsic to how we see ourselves and how others see us. The Names is about a woman's choice of name for her newborn son - should she call him Gordon, Julian or Bear? There are deep questions about what shapes us - nature versus nurture - and the 'what if' sliding door moments. Florence reveals her own sliding door moment when she moved to Australia as a child. 

The story also explores the power of the handmade, and if you feel like making something with your hands after reading The Names, look up Flossie Teacakes' Guide to Paper Piercing. 

This conversation discusses domestic violence, if you or anyone you know needs assistance call 1800Respect.

This event was recorded at the 2026 Sydney Writers Festival with Florence Knapp via satellite.

Love Agatha Christie mysteries? Dive into The Book Show's new series The Agatha Christie Murder Club as we solve mysteries about Christie, her books and legacy. Each week you'll have a chance to solve a cryptic puzzle devised by puzzle master, David Astle.

Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 ranked.

Relive your favourite moments of the Top 100 Books countdown.

We have reconvened to solve another perplexing case: how does Agatha Christie plot the murder? We break down one of Agatha's most popular books — Murder on the Orient Express — to discover her tricks of the trade and learn about her commitment to the rules of fair play, her creative use of language clues and the closed circle mystery format.

Guest: Comedian and author Benjamin Stevenson (Australia) is the author of the Christie adjacent novels, including Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect.

David Astle, the ABC's resident puzzle master has devised devious cryptic puzzles inspired by Agatha Christie's books. Each episode he'll provide a new clue and the answer will be the title of one of Agatha Christie's books.

Episode #2 Clue: Crows above estate?

David Astle will be back next time with the answer, and a new mystery for you to solve. 

Email [email protected] if you know the answer to the puzzle. 

Find out more about the five-part series here.  

We have reconvened to solve another perplexing case: how does Agatha Christie plot the murder? We break down one of Agatha's most popular books — Murder on the Orient Express — to discover her tricks of the trade and learn about her commitment to the rules of fair play, her creative use of language clues and the closed circle mystery format.

Guest: Comedian and author Benjamin Stevenson (Australia) is the author of the Christie adjacent novels including Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect.

David Astle, the ABC's resident puzzle master has devised devious cryptic puzzles inspired by Agatha Christie's books. Each episode he'll provide a new clue and the answer will be the title of one of Agatha Christie's books.

Episode #2 Clue: Crows above estate?

David Astle will be back next time with the answer, and a new mystery for you to solve. 

Email [email protected] if you know the answer to the puzzle. 

Find out more about the five-part series here.

At the first meeting of The Agatha Christie Murder Club we investigate the life of Agatha Christie to find out what led to a lifetime of writing detective fiction. How did her failed ambitions as an opera singer force her to pivot? What really happened when she was the subject of her own missing persons case?

Also, Agatha Christie is officially the best-selling novelist of all time. She was the author of 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections and she wrote The Mousetrap, the world's longest running play. Did she revel in this fame or try to protect her privacy?

Laura Thomspon, author of Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life, helps solve the case.

David Astle, the ABC's resident puzzle master has devised devious cryptic puzzles inspired by Agatha Christie's books. Each episode he'll provide a new clue and the answer will be the title of one of Agatha Christie's books.

Episode #1 Clue: Unsure hint? Delve on the rocks

David Astle will be back next time with the answer, and a new mystery for you to solve. 

Email [email protected] if you know the answer to the puzzle. 

Find out more about the five-part series here.

Is there any genre RF Kuang can't master? Her work continually surprises readers and for her latest novel, Taipei Story, she explains why she's shifted gears to tell a quiet story infused with subtle humour.

Taipei Story follows a Chinese American student trying to connect with her heritage while uncovering some confronting family secrets. The novel's origins lie in RF Kuang's own experience of attending an intensive Mandarin course in Taiwan when her grandfather died. As she describes to Claire Nichols, as well as mourning his loss, his death was a profound blow to her search for a meaningful connection with her Chinese heritage and she struggled to find the right language to express her feelings. And she wondered, how much harder it would be for a younger person from the diaspora seeking a link to their heritage? 

Listen to Claire's interview with RF Kuang about Katabasis and Yellowface. 

Love Agatha Christie mysteries? Dive into The Book Show's new series The Agatha Christie Murder Club as we solve mysteries about Christie, her books and legacy. Each week you'll have a chance to solve a cryptic puzzle devised by puzzle master, David Astle.

Relive your favourite moments of the Top 100 Books countdown. Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 ranked and also, the list from 101-200. 

You voted, we counted and now we know: Tim Winton's Cloudstreet is our favourite-ever Australian book. In this Top 100 Australian Books afterparty we relive the highs, the lows and the controversies of the countdown.  

Claire Nichols and Hilary Harper take a deep dive into conversations from The Book Show with your favourite Top 100 Books authors. Tim Winton reflects on how Cloudstreet saved him, Markus Zusak shares the stories that made The Book Thief and we hear from other favourites: Melissa Lucashenko on Too Much Lip and Charlotte McConaghy on Wild Dark Shore. 

We also dig into the ABC archives for a 1987 interview with Sally Morgan on her seminal memoir, My Place.

Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 ranked.

Relive your favourite moments of the weekend countdown.

Tune into our sister show, The Bookshelf, for the ones that got away (and the 101-200 list).

Donate to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, our Top 100 Australian Books partner.

Top 100 Australian Books: Ranks 1–100 

1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak3. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton4. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent5. A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey6. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden7. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams8. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan9. The Secret River by Kate Grenville10. The Dry by Jane Harper

11. Possum Magic by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas12. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe13. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta14. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks15. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas16. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy17. Storm Boy by Colin Thiele18. My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin19. Magic Beach by Alison Lester20. Wifedom by Anna Funder

21. My Place by Sally Morgan22. The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book by Maryanne Blacker and Pamela Clark23. Stasiland by Anna Funder24. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay25. Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner26. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay27. The Harp in the South by Ruth Park28. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth29. The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do30. My Brother Jack by George Johnston

31. Monkey Grip by Helen Garner32. Animalia by Graeme Base33. Breath by Tim Winton34. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion35. Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton36. Limberlost by Robbie Arnott37. I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall38. Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner39. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty40. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

41. Dirt Music by Tim Winton42. The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot & Cuddlepie by May Gibbs43. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks44. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey45. All That I Am by Anna Funder46. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough47. Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park48. Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek49. The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer50. Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

51. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman52. Horse by Geraldine Brooks53. Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood54. Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally55. The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay56. The Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander57. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland58. The Yield by Tara June Winch59. The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku60. The Man From Snowy River by Banjo Paterson

61. Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko62. Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester63. Question 7 by Richard Flanagan64. Damned Whores and God's Police by Anne Summers65. Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran66. Carpentaria by Alexis Wright67. Voss by Patrick White68. Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James69. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute70. Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

71. The Tree of Man by Patrick White72. This House of Grief by Helen Garner73. Scrublands by Chris Hammer74. The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes75. The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams76. The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood77. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple78. Power Without Glory by Frank Hardy79. Johnno by David Malouf80. For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke

81. We of the Never-Never by Aeneas Gunn82. Eucalyptus by Murray Bail83. Wombat Stew by Marcia K Vaughan and Pamela Lofts84. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts85. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham86. The Lost Man by Jane Harper87. The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein88. Juice by Tim Winton89. Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko90. Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey

91. Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker92. The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper93. The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead94. The Spare Room by Helen Garner95. The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose96. RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi97. Devotion by Hannah Kent98. The Arrival by Shaun Tan99. The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton100. Round the Twist by Paul Jennings

Before Knives Out, escape rooms and true-crime podcasts, there was Agatha Christie. The 'Queen of Crime' perfected the murder-mystery format and, 50 years after her death, we still can't get enough of her trailblazing take on cosy crime.

Each episode we solve a case together. What made her mysteries so propulsive? What happened when she was the star of her own missing-persons case? And would The Thursday Murder Club, or Only Murders in the Building exist, without Agatha Christie?

Plus, each episode we'll put your little grey cells to work with a cryptic puzzle brought to you by David Astle, the ABC's resident Puzzle Master.