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The Mysterious Affair at Styles

(Hercule Poirot #1)

Agatha Christie

3.99 · Rating details · 331,663 ratings · 11,575 reviews

Agatha Christie's debut novel was also the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective.

A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to w ...more

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Paperback, 174 pages

Published January 25th 2020 by Warbler Classics (first published October 1920)

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Jun 22, 2010 Joel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, 52-in-2010, detective-y, dailylit, classics, add-half-a-star

"Dear me, Poirot," I said with a sigh, "I think you have explained everything! And how wonderful of you to wait until page 230 to finally shed light on all your absurd behavior throughout the book, and to justify and the red herrings and narrative padding! But of course, it could only be so in the classic style of a fiendish murder mystery! Why, in fact, though this is but the first case we have solved together, I have no doubt we could do the exact same thing as many as 86 more times, depending ...more

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Dec 08, 2010 mark monday rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: choose-ur-adventure, first-loves

Choose Your Own Adventure!

You are Captain Arthur Hastings, and you are slowly falling in love with a Belgian. The feelings are embarrassing at first; you find the Belgian himself to be quite an embarrassment. But there is just something about him. Could it be his suave, continental sense of humor... his keen sense of justice... his shapely, rubenesque figure? Or is it simply his hypnotic mustache, perhaps? The passion develops in fits and starts. You don’t want to love him, you really don’t. You ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-multi-book-series, 1-fiction

If you've read my reviews before, you know I love mystery fiction, and in particular, the classics. Agatha Christie died in 1976, and I was born the following year. Two things come to mind... (1) It's a good thing I wasn't alive when she died because I would have been so miserable to be around. (2) Since I was born just about a year later, I'm wondering if maybe a small part of her lives on... as I love her genius and her works of literature... and I can re-read her books over and over again wit ...more

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Apr 23, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery, novels, european, 20th-century, literature, british

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1), Agatha Christie

Original publication year 1920.

Characters: Hercule Poirot, Inspector Japp, Arthur Hastings, John Cavendish, Emily Inglethorp, Alfred Inglethorp, Cynthia Murdoch, Mary Cavendish, Evie Howard, Lawrence Cavendish.

Abstract: The famous case that launched the career of Hercule Poirot. When a wealthy heiress is murdered, Poirot steps out of retirement to find the killer. As the master detective makes his way through the list of suspect ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, agatha-christie, hercule-poirot

February has been a tough month for me this time around. I can't pinpoint it but there have been too many gray days even without the snow on the ground. Spring is mercifully around the corner and with it sun and happier reading times ahead. I tend to read mysteries as palette cleansers in between denser reads but at count I have read four mysteries this month and perhaps I can squeeze in another. In fact, February should be mystery month. On that note, what better way to spend the lingering wint February has been a tough month for me this time around. I can't pinpoint it but there have been too many gray days even without the snow on the ground. Spring is mercifully around the corner and with it sun and happier reading times ahead. I tend to read mysteries as palette cleansers in between denser reads but at count I have read four mysteries this month and perhaps I can squeeze in another. In fact, February should be mystery month. On that note, what better way to spend the lingering winter days with the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie herself. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is her first case that introduced Hercule Poirot to the world, and, as usual, Dame Christie did not disappoint.

Colonel Hastings has been called to Styles Arms at the request of his friend John Cavendish. It is the war years and Hastings is appreciative to take leave of the army. At Styles, Hastings encounters arguments between the various inhabitants of the manor. There is fighting between Mr and Mrs Alfred and Emily Inglethorpe, between Mr Inglethorpe and his cousin Evelyn Howard, between John and Mary Cavendish, and between John and his brother Lawrence. Either the Great War has made the extended Inglethorpe-Cavendish clan tense, or things are not as rosy on the inside of the manor as they appear on the outside.

It is in this tense environment that within two nights of Hastings arrival that Mrs Emily Inglethorpe is found dying in her bed. A doctor is summoned and rules Mrs Inglethorpe's death to be murder by strychnine poisoning. Hastings is asked to lead the investigative team but with his narrow mind, he is clueless as to who would want to murder and elderly lady. By chance, a group of Belgians is staying at a cottage close to Styles Arms, and among them is Hastings old friend, the one and only Hercule Poirot. Already highly regarded as a premier detective in his home country, Poirot is summoned by Hastings to assist him in solving this dreadful case.

Christie first published The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1921 and the book has stood the test of time. Poirot mentions that Hastings should use his gray cells, and he seems a step ahead of both Hastings and Scotland Yard Inspector Japp. Inspector Japp almost immediately accuses John Cavendish of murdering his mother and places her on trial, yet Poirot by thoroughly examining each and every clue tells his counterparts to have patience because perhaps a key piece is missing and perhaps the wrong person has been implicated. Yes, John Cavendish can stand to gain in his mother's will from her death but does it make him a murderer. Only Poirot seems to attest to the truth and leads Hastings, the inhabitants of Styles Arms, and Christie's readers on a fact finding mission to unravel the case.

As Styles gained in popularity, Christie found that she had a formula that worked with cases starring her famous Belgian detective. As with many of Christie's future cases featuring Poirot, he has all the principal players gather as he explains to them the crime, motive, and guilty party in an easy to follow step by step manner. And as with many cases, Poirot introduces a new piece of evidence toward the end that plays a significant role in the case. Christie's cases are always fun to read even if it is tricky to guess whodunit based on the lack of this key clue. Yet I keep reading her cases and other mysteries to sharpen my mind and keep my little gray cells in order. It is a good thing that February does not last too much longer or I would probably be reading a case featuring the famous Belgian detective before the calendar turns to spring.

4 stars ...more

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Apr 19, 2018 Tina Haigler rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Tina by: Fahad Naeem

Shelves: classics

Ok. Let's get down to business. This is an old fashioned British mystery novel. So much information! Trying to keep it all straight in my head was extremely difficult. My brain was all over the place but that's what makes a good mystery, in my opinion.

This is the first book starring the world famous Hercule Poirot and his friend Hastings. Poirot is an eccentric detective from Belgium who fled to England during WWI. Hastings is a little on the dramatic side, always jumps to the wrong conclusions ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Jaline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: xx2018-completed

To celebrate completing my 1000th book of the decade, I chose Agatha Christie’s first Hercule Poirot mystery novel for this reading slot. I am especially proud of this milestone because earlier in the decade when I was working full-time there was one month (September 2014) where I only read one book and two months where I only read two books (May and June 2012)!

Agatha Christie wrote this novel in 1916, and it was first published in the United States by John Lane for $2.00 per copy in October 192 To celebrate completing my 1000th book of the decade, I chose Agatha Christie’s first Hercule Poirot mystery novel for this reading slot. I am especially proud of this milestone because earlier in the decade when I was working full-time there was one month (September 2014) where I only read one book and two months where I only read two books (May and June 2012)!

Agatha Christie wrote this novel in 1916, and it was first published in the United States by John Lane for $2.00 per copy in October 1920. It was first published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in January 1921 and could be purchased for seven shillings and sixpence. Another historically significant fact is that when Penguin Books first began publishing in 1935, this novel was one of the first 10 books they published.

Agatha Christie did not start out as a Master of the mystery genre, but she persisted and went on to solve some difficult literary problems with the genre via her books – literary problems that had even stumped the illustrious Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (Specifically, the problem with introducing too many clues that end up canceling each other out).

And, she knows her Shakespeare! The line from 1602’s Hamlet is, “Though this be madness yet there is method in it.” In this novel, one of the residents of the Styles estate asks in reference to Hercule Poirot, ”Is he quite mad, Mr. Hastings?” and Hastings replies, ”I honestly don’t know. Sometimes, I feel sure he is as mad as a hatter; and then, just as he is at his maddest, I find there is method in his madness.”

For a debut novel, this one is excellent. It is well thought through, the writing is clear and the pace is brisk and entertaining. The characters are all interesting, too. At first I thought I might have to write them all down, but instead I just highlighted their first reference in case I needed to look back. I never had to – before the story is even a couple of chapters in, I knew exactly who all the characters were and what their relationships were to each other.

I really had to pay attention while reading this novel. There are, indeed, a plethora of clues. Although Hercule Poirot’s busy mind is sifting them out as they appear, sorting them into mental cubbyholes, and weighing and measuring them, it is true that many of them cancel each other out. Poirot and Hastings (the narrator) are working together, yet Poirot doesn’t disclose all of his deductions to his friend; he tries to prod him into discovering his own deductions. So we have Hastings coming to certain conclusions and Poirot coming to other conclusions. There’s an entire ship load of red herrings in this story!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and although I did guess the actual culprit at least once, I got there via a different route altogether – and it didn’t stop me from suspecting all the other people in the household of murder either. Agatha Christie, if you did in fact write this novel as a challenge to present a murder mystery that leaves one guessing until Hercule Poirot points his finger, you succeeded with me!

One last note: while Agatha Christie and her contemporaries helped to open doors for many of today’s mystery writers (especially women), there were also earlier female mystery writers who opened those doors for Ms Christie and her colleagues. I hope to take this journey with Agatha Christie from novice to master and learn more about how she accomplished that feat. ...more

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Nov 04, 2019 Luffy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cozy-mystery, page-turner, superb-characterization, 5-star, classic, roman-policier, popular

It never entered my mind that I'd one day reread this version of the very first Hercule Poirot in such an unexpected medium as electronically. Well I did and here we are.

Some of the words used in this translation were unknown to me. Most of the difficult words are guessable in their meaning via the sentences they adorn.

All things considered, I think this version of Poirot is unique. We encounter a detective that has yet to grow a full head of eccentricities. But he still gambols as a mountain go ...more

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Dec 29, 2019 Henry Avila rated it liked it · review of another edition

Agatha Christie's first novel and it shows, a somewhat convoluted story with too many red herrings and even an unneeded trial at the end, written by the bored writer during the First World War ( the Great War) no surprise when rejected by the publishers until 1920. Don't get me wrong this is a highly entertaining book for the mystery fan, though with a little more experience the eagle will fly. Now the murder case set in the majestic estate of Styles home of a wealthy woman Emily Inglethorp 70, Agatha Christie's first novel and it shows, a somewhat convoluted story with too many red herrings and even an unneeded trial at the end, written by the bored writer during the First World War ( the Great War) no surprise when rejected by the publishers until 1920. Don't get me wrong this is a highly entertaining book for the mystery fan, though with a little more experience the eagle will fly. Now the murder case set in the majestic estate of Styles home of a wealthy woman Emily Inglethorp 70, she recently married a man twenty years her junior, no reason to state people are dubious of his motives and ardor. The lady is no old fool just the wrong man she selects and soon regrets but the factual cliche states love is blind. Mr. Alfred Inglethorp is unloved by relatives of the unblushing bride, her two stepsons John and Lawrence Cavendish especially, John's pretty wife Mary is acting rather in a puzzling way and a new will which changes the future for them but not for the better doesn't help his popularity. Hercule Poirot a Belgian refugee from the German invasion, one of the 250,000 living in England ( they were asked to go back home after the war) and grateful to Mrs. Inglethorp for her financial assistance. A well known detective in Belgium , short in stature eccentric in manners, a funny looking gentleman with the strange appearing mustache who the public here cannot take seriously . A poisoning in the edifice brings the situation to a boil, death is so final everything else seems trivial, still Inspector Japp from the renowned Scotland Yard in a rural atmosphere seems like the proverbial fish out of water, luckily Poirot an old friend is nearby to clear the picture as others mock the foreigner's abilities. However Poirot in his debut radiates magnetism the reader never tires of him or the many novels which follow decade after decade, the legend has become solidified like steel. Mr. Arthur Hastings a friend of Hercules as well as the family of Emily Inglethorp living at Styles Court and is the clueless narrator, a man always one step behind the great sleuth frustrated by his furtive behavior. He only learns the truth when the master investigator reveals it. Arthur an amateur with misguided thoughts has discovered a genius, and all his skepticism disappears, so do the
quite impressed people at Styles Court. A promising beginning, which bears fruition... the final words. ...more

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Jun 10, 2009 Anne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, classics, crime, agatha-christie, read-in-2009, read-in-2019, audio

Poirot is introduced in this book, so how can you not love it?!

description

Actually, pretty easily.
This simply isn't Agatha Chrisite's best work.
And that's mainly due to this being her first book. Yeah, so not only was she still figuring out who Poirot was, she was still figuring out this whole mystery writing gig. I mean, for her first stab at it, she did a phenomenal job. But if you go into this thing thinking you're going to get her best story, you'll more than likely be disappointed.
Sorry, Hercule.

description

For t ...more

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Jun 09, 2021 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, 2021, hoopla, audio, mystery, series

This is where Poirot began! Christie’s most famous detective started his investigations (at least on paper) with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I have already read a couple of his other adventures, so I am a bit out of order. I figured it was time to go back and tackle them the way Christie intended!

This was a strong start and I can see how it appealed enough to become a series. It is fun to follow the quirky behavior and deductive reasoning of our protagonist. While it is not always easy to t ...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels, crime-mystery, 20th-century, british, literature

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1), Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles original publication year 1920. The famous case that launched the career of Hercule Poirot.

When a wealthy heiress is murdered, Poirot steps out of retirement to find the killer. As the master detective makes his way through the list of suspects, he finds the solution in an elaborately planned scheme almost impossible to believe.

Characters: Hercule Poirot, Inspector Japp, Arthur Hastings, John Cav ...more

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Dec 11, 2017 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is Agatha Christie’s debut novel, published in 1920, and the first featuring her detective, Hercule Poirot. By any standards it is an assured and well written debut novel and, considering the period it was written, it is also remarkably undated. Apparently, Agatha Christie was challenged by her sister to write a detective story, for which I am eternally grateful, as this was her offering. Like one of the characters in this novel, Agatha worked in the dispensary of a local hospital and gaine ...more

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Mar 23, 2018 Barbara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bayb-2018

I'm a long time Agatha Christie fan, and I recently decided to re-read some of her novels.

*****

'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' is Agatha Christie's first published book, and it's less sophisticated than her later work. The story does, however, introduce three well-known Christie characters: Hercule Poirot, Captain Hastings, and Inspector Japp.

Hercule Poirot

Captain Hastings

Inspector Japp

As the book opens Hastings has been injured in WWI and is recuperating at Styles Court, a manor house in t ...more

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Mar 26, 2018 Piyangie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-library, classical-mystery-detective-fiction

This is my first introduction to Agatha Christie. Having never read her before, I was interested in starting her with the Poirot series which includes her famous detective, Hercule Poirot.

The story is a cleverly written murder mystery with interesting twists and turns, all the time not giving away the real culprit. I had my hunch of the criminal and motive, and though they prove correct at the end, time to time doubt entered my mind as to whether I figured it right. :)

The character set was mos ...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Gene rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hercule-poirot, crime-and-mystery

Review updated on April 11, 2019.

The first case of Hercule Poirot.

He is a Belgian just immigrated to England. Nothing about him makes him look like one of the greatest detectives ever. The woman who helped him settle in his new country was poisoned, Poirot is forced to use his "grey cells" for the first time (but definitely not for the last time). An expected from Agatha Christie crazily complicated mystery full of twists and surprises follow.

Agatha Christie wrote this novel as a bet that she can write a mystery novel with all the clues given to readers, which still will be really hard to figure out before the book (Poirot in this case) explains it all. As a result of this simple bet the greatest woman mystery writer was born. She also holds a record as the all-time bestselling writer. As well as world greatest detectives: #2 (Hercule Poirot; Sherlock Holmes holds #1 for me) and #3 (Miss Marple; shares this place with Nero Wolfe - in my opinion). Not as strong as her later books, the novel still belongs to top classic mystery works.

I already mentioned Sherlock Holmes. As far as characters go Hercule Poirot is equally colorful, interesting, and crazy: like all geniuses.

When it comes to sidekicks Dr. Watson wins however. While he is not the smartest guy around, Captain Hastings beats him as a guy having his IQ in single digits. It does not prevent him from being an excellent chronicler of Poirot's investigations.

Speaking about investigations, when it comes to creating a complicated mystery with all the clues given to readers and still being insanely hard to figure out, if anybody can do it better than Agatha Christie I have not found such person yet. I have been looking for a long time - right after I realized I had read everything the lady wrote. Nobody comes anywhere close to her.

Something else I realized during my second read. I thought after you read Christie's book once and learned whodunit it is not fun to reread it. I could not be farther from the truth. During my reread I remembered who the culprit was, but not the details. These details kept me practically on the edge of the seat the second time around. Somehow Christie could make all the clues, twists, etc. coming non-stop and in the most exciting manner. Once again I do not know anybody who does it better.

At this point I will stop. It should be obvious that the rating is good. Only some slight lack of refining present in later books prevent me from going all the way to 5 stars.

P.S. Most of the time when you see a depiction of your beloved character in a movie, or a mini-series you complain that they completely missed the mark. David Suchet nailed Poirot. The first time I saw him playing the role I was sure he was a fragment of my imagination coming to life. He was that good: see the first picture. ...more

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Sep 25, 2016 Dannii Elle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysterious-miasmas, crime-creations, adult-books-read

First Read: September 2016, Rating: 4 Stars
Second Read: November 2018, Rating: 4 Stars

This is the first installment in the Hecule Poirot series and was just as brilliant as every other detective book I have read by the undoubted Queen of crime fiction!

The novel is set in an English manor house, Styles, owned by the the Cavendish family. Hastings, our protagonist, is staying with the family in their regal abode when the unexpected and inexplicable murder of Emily Cavendish (or the more recently r First Read: September 2016, Rating: 4 Stars
Second Read: November 2018, Rating: 4 Stars

This is the first installment in the Hecule Poirot series and was just as brilliant as every other detective book I have read by the undoubted Queen of crime fiction!

The novel is set in an English manor house, Styles, owned by the the Cavendish family. Hastings, our protagonist, is staying with the family in their regal abode when the unexpected and inexplicable murder of Emily Cavendish (or the more recently referred to, Emily Inglethorpe) occurs. The murder scene, a locked bedroom, baffles detectives and family alike, and it is up to the famous Belgian detective to solve this unsolvable puzzle.

I already knew a death would occur before I even turned the first page, as this is a Christie novel, but that didn't dampen the thrilling atmosphere. The emphasis placed on Mrs Cavendish/Inglethorp's "as yet untasted coffee" early in the novel also led me to a premature conclusion concerning the victim and the means of her demise. Even this didn't hamper my enjoyment, but added to it: I adore playing the amateur sleuth and seeing if my predictions come true. And that is where Christie's brilliance lies. She involves the reader in the crime and places them in Poirot's role, in the hope of uncovering the clues that will lead to the answer of 'whoddunit?'.

I love Christie for giving us an almost voyeuristic insight into the historical upper-class. I also love that the characters continually dismiss Poirot. I have also experienced this in the Miss Marple series. Both are deemed 'past it' when they don't jump to the same, obvious conclusion as the other characters, yet the reader knows who will ultimately be proven correct.

As always, Christie takes the reader in a series of previously unsuspected direction before all is revealed and solved just before the close of the novel. This, as with all her other works, left me completely baffled throughout as to who the perpetrator of the crime was. I am no Poirot, but I enjoy attempting to assume his role in these thrilling insights into historical England. ...more

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Apr 10, 2008 Kirsty rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

How did I go for so long without reading an Agatha Christie?! I wish I'd picked one up sooner! I figured my first read should be the first book published (I have an irrational need to read books in order) and I have to say that this is a fantastic debut novel. Most authors' work gets better with time - if Christie gets better than this then I have some treats in store!

Long story cut short:- Mrs Inglethorp, the old lady owner of Styles Court, suffers a violent fit early one morning and dies. It a ...more

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Jan 03, 2022 JD rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

After having my interest peaked in Hercule Poirot (a character not well known to me) after reading about Belgium during World War 1 and then watching Murder On The Orient Express which plot I enjoyed a lot, I decided to give this a try and I was not disappointed!! Christie's writing style from the point of view of Hastings into the mystery of the murder is simply magnificent and from the beginning she makes everyone a suspect and keeps you guessing and wondering who committed the crime right unt ...more

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Jun 16, 2007 Bill Kerwin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-mystery

The first Poirot. Everybody has a motive, everyone acts suspiciously--and the customary floor plans are provided.

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Mar 25, 2016 Dave Schaafsma rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-thriller

Agatha Christie is the best selling author of all time, we’re told. Sure, Shakespeare. Sure, The Holy Bible. But literally billions of books sold, without question. Mainly Hercule Poirot and Miss (Jane) Marple mysteries, but short story collections and many plays, too. This is the way this gets started: Her sister challenges her to write a mystery. During WWI she is working in a hospital, gets interested in toxicology, and thinks: okay, poisons, you could kill someone with those. But let's just ...more

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Sep 24, 2018 Mary Deacon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Agatha Christies first published novel and the introduction of Poirot to the world. While it suffers from the fact that Poirot is not the calm and methodical detective he would later become it soars in the plotting and intricacy of the mystery. What would seem to be a straightforward murder mystery becomes a tangled web of clues - a Christie trait that she establishes from the very beginning. Moreover, just as she would later make her trademark, all the clues a ...more

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May 10, 2018 PattyMacDotComma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: aa, fiction-adult, aa-col, kindle, mystery-crime-thriller

4★
‘What have I always told you? Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go.’

‘Well, we shall see,’ I said, nettled.”

Hercule Poirot, world-renowned Belgian detective extraordinaire, first arrived on the literary scene in 1920, in this, Agatha Christie’s very first book. He seems to have arrived fully formed, with all of his eccentricities and powerful “little grey” cells ready to go.

“He was hardly more than five feet, four inches, but carried him ...more

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Feb 22, 2020 daph pink ♡ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: agatha-christie, mystery-thriller-horror

Agatha Christie Book Reading Challenge

BOOK 2 :- JAN 2019

4 STARS

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Nov 20, 2020 Ellie Spencer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the first book of the Poirot series that I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The mysterious affair at Styles follows a household in the wake of the murder of the matriarch. Poirot and Mr Hastings as they work to unravel the mysterious events that have been happening.

I had previously tried to read a Miss Marple novel but didn’t enjoy it much. However, I preferred this storyline and felt it was much more fast paced. It has made me want to delve deeper into the Poirot books. I can fin ...more

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Oct 01, 2019 Phrynne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you ever feel you do not know what to read next then just grab a book by Agatha Christie. There are so many you must be able to find one you have not read yet, and they are guaranteed to be quick, light and very entertaining.

They also give your brain a little workout as nothing is ever simple about the mystery and the clues. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Christie's debut novel but it appears fully formed in the shape of all her future books. There is a closed setting,in this case the co ...more

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Jan 05, 2018 Duane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rated-books, english-calssics, 2018-book-challenge, reviewed-books, guardian-1000, mystery-crime

This is the first published novel of Agatha Christie, and the first to feature her famous detective character, Hercule Poirot. So far this is my favorite Christie novel, but I have only read three which leaves me well short of knowing which are her best. The novel was narrated by Arthur Hastings, Mr. Poirot’s assistant, who seemed somewhat unreliable, and incapable of understanding the significance of any clue presented to him. I give it 3.5 stars and a good but not great.

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Nov 10, 2018 Bionic Jean rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-authors-c-d, kindle, mystery-crime

The diminutive portly Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, seems to have sprung from nowhere, complete with his perfect dandy attire, patent leather shoes, waxed moustache and all. We know his sharp wits, his quick smile and “quietly twinkling eyes”. We know that “if anything excited him, his eyes turned green like a cat’s”. We know of his “egg-shaped” head and his insistence on neatness and order in all things, to enable the “little grey cells” of his brain to work. Here we also see an exuberant s ...more

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Nov 07, 2017 Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, 4-star, family-drama, 2017, sandy-s-reading-retreat, favourite-author, murder-mystery, audio

EXCERPT: We strained and heaved together. The framework of the door was solid, and for a long time it resisted our efforts, but at last we felt it give beneath our weight, and finally, with a resounding crash, it was burst open.
We stumbled in together, Lawrence still holding his candle. Mrs. Inglethorp was lying on the bed, her whole form agitated by violent convulsions, in one of which she must have overturned the table beside her. As we entered, however, her limbs relaxed, and she fell back up EXCERPT: We strained and heaved together. The framework of the door was solid, and for a long time it resisted our efforts, but at last we felt it give beneath our weight, and finally, with a resounding crash, it was burst open.
We stumbled in together, Lawrence still holding his candle. Mrs. Inglethorp was lying on the bed, her whole form agitated by violent convulsions, in one of which she must have overturned the table beside her. As we entered, however, her limbs relaxed, and she fell back upon the pillows.
John strode across the room, and lit the gas. Turning to Annie, one of the housemaids, he sent her downstairs to the dining-room for brandy. Then he went across to his mother whilst I unbolted the door that gave on the corridor.
I turned to Lawrence, to suggest that I had better leave them now that there was no further need of my services, but the words were frozen on my lips. Never have I seen such a ghastly look on any man's face. He was white as chalk, the candle he held in his shaking hand was sputtering onto the carpet, and his eyes, petrified with terror, or some such kindred emotion, stared fixedly over my head at a point on the further wall. It was as though he had seen something that turned him to stone. I instinctively followed the direction of his eyes, but I could see nothing unusual. The still feebly flickering ashes in the grate, and the row of prim ornaments on the mantelpiece, were surely harmless enough.

THE BLURB: Poirot, a Belgian refugee of the Great War, is settling in England near the home of Emily Inglethorp, who helped him to his new life. His friend Hastings arrives as a guest at her home. When the woman is killed, Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery.

MY THOUGHTS: Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was the result of a dare from her sister Madge who challenged her to write a story. Thank you Madge! But for this sisterly dare, we may never have been able to read the delightful detective stories Miss Christie is so famous for.

And although The Mysterious Affair at Styles was her first novel, I think it remains of the best.

All through listening, I was changing my mind as to the identity of the murderer. And, in the end, I was still wrong!

I listened to the audio version of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, narrated by Hugh Fraser, via OverDrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... ...more

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Aug 13, 2018 Beata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is how it all began! One of my favourite HP and Captain H novels.

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Play Book Tag: [WPF] The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie 3 stars	1	9	Apr 28, 2022 04:22PM
Play Book Tag: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie 3 stars	1	7	Apr 15, 2022 11:57AM
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About Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

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Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t ...more

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