Friday 18th September 2026

Agatha Christie’s Greatest Narrator

Panel event hosted by Kemper Donovan
With Brad Friedman, Dr Jamie Bernthal-Hooker, Tina Hodgkinson and Victoria Dowd

Continuing our celebration of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, is this very special panel event hosted by Festival friend Kemper Donovan. Discussing which of Agatha's numerous and varied narrators is going to be awarded the title of The Greatest is Christie expert Dr Jamie Bernthal-Hooker, theatre director Brad Friedman, crime writer Victoria Dowd and author Tina Hodgkinson.

In what will be a fun and lively panel debate, our Christie experts will challenge each other with their own pitches for Agatha's Greatest Narrator.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from four Christie experts, with an impressively combined knowledge of the Christie-verse. This event will contribute to the USA-based podcast All About Agatha, co-founded by Kemper Donovan and the late Catherine Brobeck.

Tickets to these panel events always sell out quickly so book early to avoid disappointment

Kemper Donovan is the bestselling author of the ongoing Ghostwriter Mysteries series via Kensington Books (The Busy Body, Loose Lips, Sweet Spot). Previously, he published the standalone novel The Decent Proposal via HarperCollins. He is also the host of the podcast All About Agatha, dedicated to Agatha Christie, in which guise he has been featured in the L.A. Times, made appearances on PBS, BBC TV, and Radio New Zealand, and written for agathachristie.com, the Agatha Christie estate's official website. He attended Stanford University and Harvard Law School, and now lives in Southern California with his husband and two daughters. Learn more at www.kemperdonovan.com.

Brad Friedman is excited to return to Torquay after speaking at the 2024 Festival about one of his favourite novels, Cards on the Table. He can be found writing about Agatha Christie and other subjects relevant to the Golden Age of Detection at his blog, Ah Sweet Mystery, which has been going strong for the past eleven years. Brad is retired from a 31-year-long career as a theatre arts educator but continues to direct comedies, dramas and musicals in the San Francisco Bay Area where he lives. Among his favourite assignments are The Mousetrap, The Hollow, And Then There Were None, and Murder on the Nile, all written by a certain favourite playwright!

Dr Jamie Bernthal-Hooker is an author and scholar. He has written or edited several books on Agatha Christie, including Agatha Christie: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction and (with Mary Anna Evans) The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie, among others. A Visiting Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Suffolk, in 2025 he received the Crime Writers' Association Short Story Dagger.

Tina Hodgkinson is the author of Agatha Christie's London: A Historical Guide to the Queen of Crime's Capital, a public speaker specialising in Agatha Christie and London history, and a member of the Crime Writers' Association. A City of London and City of Westminster tour guide, who in 2014, created a series of Agatha Christie's London walking tours. She is employed at The London Archives, the UK's second largest public archive.

Website: tinahodgkinson.com

Instagram: tina_hodgkinson

Victoria Dowd is the award-winning author of the bestselling Smart Woman's Mystery series and has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger. Her novel, The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder, won The People's Book Prize for fiction and was In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel's Book of the Year. Her novel Murder Most Cold won the Grand Puzzly award. Victoria was awarded the Gothic Fiction prize for her short fiction and The Syke House International Film Silken Noose Award. She also writes the Adapting Agatha blog and has spoken at many festivals about Agatha Christie's work and was most recently interviewed live on Radio 4 about her.

Victoria is the Vice Chair of the Crime Writers' Association and before becoming a writer was a criminal defence barrister for many years.

Her historical crime novel, Death in the Aviary, was released this year and is the first book in a new series. Her standalone novel, The New Rules of Murder, will be published by Sphere in April next year.

Website: https://victoriadowd.com/

Gallery

Venue: Spanish Barn, Torre Abbey

Accessibility

There is a drop-off point and limited parking within the grounds for disabled visitors. Entry to the Spanish Barn is relatively level, but there are a few cobble stones to cross, before entering the completely flat interior. We have space for wheelchairs, although if you let us know in advance, we can ensure that there is ample dedicated space for the number of wheelchair users. We have again raised the height of the main stage this year, so that guest speakers can easily be seen and have a hearing loop in the front half of the Barn nearest the stage. We also have two TV screens midway down the barn screening what is happening on the stage. There is a disabled toilet available to the rear of the Spanish Barn.

If you have any particular access requirements or enquiries, do please get in touch and we will do whatever we feasibly can to accommodate you. Please email admin@iacf-uk.org

Getting there

Getting to the venue

The Spanish Barn is in the grounds of Torre Abbey. This is on Torquay seafront and walkable from most hotels in the area. It is also right next to Torquay Train Station.

Parking

There is no parking in the grounds of Torre Abbey except for disabled parking. The nearest car park is Torre Valley - Torbay Council. This is a five-minute walk from the Spanish Barn.

Toilets

Toilets are available to the rear of the Spanish Barn for the duration of the Literary Festival.

Inside the Spanish Barn

Whilst we only have one evening event in the Spanish Barn this year, it can get cold so please dress with this in mind.

Food and Drink

The cafe at Torre Abbey is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am till 4pm and is dog friendly.

A short 10-minute walk away from the Spanish Barn are a variety of cafes, bars and takeaways.

Dogs

Dogs, except for assistance dogs, are not allowed in the Spanish Barn.

If you have any further questions, please email admin@iacf-uk.org

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