The Mysterious Affair at Styles Book talk

[Lauren]

What did you think about the book? I'm not quite finished yet, but Hastings and Poriot are both getting on my nerves quite a bit, haha.

[Jack]

Yeah, Poirot can get kind of annoying. Overall I thought the book was pretty good (not one of my favorite Poirot books, but still a good read). My favorite parts about Agatha Christie's books in general are the constant plot twists; I was wondering what you thought about them. At first it kind of annoyed me, but now I love how she leads the reader down the wrong path and tries to trip you up; it makes it harder to guess who committed the crime. It really did get on my nerves though when Poirot wouldn't reveal anything to Hastings throughout most of the book. I guess if he were to reveal his thoughts throughout the book then it would make the book less interesting to read and more obvious who the killer is, but I think that he could have shared some more clues. What are your thoughts on the book so far?

[Lauren]

I just finished the book, and I agree with you on the point that it wasn't my favorite Poriot story. I've only read one other, The Death on the Nile, but I enjoyed that one significantly more. It wasn't bad, I did enjoy reading it, and it definitely kept me guessing. I did find it to be slow at some points though, and it felt a bit like it was just an info-dump at the end. I know you've read a few more Poriot books, and I don't know if this is the case in them all, but I noticed that in both Death on the Nile and The Mysterious Affair at Styles, there seemed to be a very obvious murderer with a clear motive, but they were cleared early on with a solid alibi, then it ends up being that person after all, with an ally. So in this story, the obvious being Inglethorp, and in Death on the Nile, it being Jacqueline. Are they all that way? Poriot was a bit irritating throughout, as he kept going away for several days, keeping clues from Hastings, and saying very egotistical statements. I did enjoy how Evelyn seemed to hate Inglethorp so much, then ended up being his accomplice. Overall, not my favorite of hers, and I don't know if it will be as I continue with her books, but it was a good read. I am going to watch the episode of this story on Netflix tonight, from the Agatha Christie's Poriot series. I did the same with Death on The Nile, and seeing the storyline brought to life heightens the enjoyment of the story for me.

[Jack]

I can definitely see what you mean with the info-dump at the end. With regards to other Poirot books, there are definitely a lot of plot twists like the ones in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. That being said, there's a lot of variety in how Agatha Christie handles the plot. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll just say that there are definitely some things that'll take you by surprise in some of her other books. I personally don't really mind this kind of plot; I've read books with much worse info-dumps at the end.

I also think that Poirot's behaviour gets slightly better in a few of the other Poirot books (I've only read 8/43 Poirot books, so I'm not sure if this is the case in all of them). From what I can remember from the books I've read, though, Poirot gets a little easier to put up with.

Also, how do you like the Poirot episodes so far? I think I watched the Murder on the Orient Express one a couple of years ago. I didn't love it, but it was definitely interesting to see the story from a different lens.

[Lauren]

I'm glad to hear that Poriot gets better in later novels. I really enjoyed the Death on the Nile episode, but I'm finding the one for The Mysterious Affair at Styles a bit hard to get through. It has a lot more about the war than the book did.
Will you be reading The Murder on the Links this month?

[Jack]

Yeah, I think I will (if I'm able to). I probably won't be able to get a copy of the book until next week since my library doesn't have it, but I think if you place a hold on the book they'll deliver it to the library you place the hold from, so I'll see if that works out.

[Laura]

Just finished this one...read the 2nd one first to keep up...I liked it...my only complaint is Hastings....what a whiner!...I visualize the David Suchet BBC version of the characters, and the Hastings in the 2 books I've read so far are completely unsympathetic...nothing like the TV persona... but, the story itself was quite good...twists and turns...maybe a bit too much secrecy, but I guess all the clues were there if you were keeping track....just waiting for Poirot Investigates to arrive in the mail...was one of the few I didn't have. I don't know if this is the place to comment of Murder on the Links....

[Laura]

Well, my copy of Poirot Investigates arrived today...I didn't realize its a collection of short stories...and now I find I had the stories in a book of all 50 Poirot short stories...I've enjoyed the first two novels so once I finish Miss Marple #1 I will start on these. I have enjoyed the first two mysteries.

[Temitayomiyoshiseun]

Hi is this group still open and operating?