Mrs. McGinty's Dead (2008)

A perfect televised adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, beautifully filmed and very faithful to the novel. The one change they make, that there are two women who are profiled in the newspaper article instead of four, is a good change. I particularly loved Sarah Smart as Maude Williams, and, of course, Zoe Wanamaker as one of my favorite Christie characters, Ariadne Oliver.

Mrs. McGinty's Dead (1952)

Unusual in that this is a classic village mystery but it is not a Miss Marple, it's a Hercule Poirot. A classic whodunit with Poirot brought in by Superintendent Spence to re-investigate the murder of Mrs. McGinty before the accused is hanged. There are multiple suspicious village inhabitants, a second murder, and an unforeseen and clever conclusion.

What I liked most about this one was the presence of Ariadne Oliver, who shows up in roughly six Poirot novels. She is a successful writer of detective fiction and Agatha Christie uses her to both satirize herself, and air her own grievances. Mrs. Oliver has created a successful Swedish detective who is a vegetarian. The public loves him, she cannot stand him. This mirrors Christie's own feelings about her most successful creation, Poirot.