Grab Instantly The Mysterious Affair At StylesNew Century Edition With DirectLink Technology Authored By Agatha Christie Supplied As Digital Format

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 didnt 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 finally understand why people love Agatha Christie so much,

Her style is easy to read and so timeless, I felt like I was in the middle of a cluedo game! I loved the twists and turns that she threaded throughout, followed by the onslaught of information in the closing chapters to tie up all the loose ends.


I would definitely recommend this book to any other crime/thriller fans, Christies work is so classic, I shall be hunting down some more of her books for myself!
The first Poirot, Everybody has a motive, everyone acts suspiciouslyand the customary floor plans are provided, After having my interest peaked in Hercule Poirot a character not well known to me after reading about Belgium during World Warand 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 until the end where Poirot brings it to light.
Poirot is very interesting in his methods and seems mad at times through the eyes of Hastings and the last chapter in which Poirot tells how he came to his conclusions is well crafted.
Highly recommended and this is a series I will continue with,

I'm a long time Agatha Christie fan, and I recently decided to reread 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 wellknown 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 the country.




Styles Court belongs to the Cavendish family, and is currently occupied by a diverse assemblage of people, including: Emily Inglethorpe the widow of the late Mr.
Cavendish. Emily inherited a lifetime interest in

the house AND a large sum of money Emily's new much younger husband, Alfred Inglethorpe Emily's adult stepson, John Cavendish John's wife Mary John's bachelor brother Lawrence Evelyn Howard Emily's longtime friend and companion Cynthia Murdoch the orphaned daughter of family friends and Dorcas, the maid.


There's a tense atmosphere at Styles because of simmering resentments and secrets, For example:

John Cavendish who'll inherit the manor house when his stepmother dies thinks it should have been his all along in addition, John is suspected of dallying with the pretty wife of a neighboring farmer.




John's wife Mary, in turn, spends a lot of time with Dr, Bauerstein the local toxicologist who hails from Germany, To add to this 'quadrangle', Captain Hastings has a crush on beautiful Mary,



Evelyn Howard hates Alfred Inglethorpe, convinced he only married Emily for her money,



Alfred Inglethorpe's thick beard looks like a disguise, and he has long poorly explained absences,



Lawrence Cavendish resents Cynthia Murdoch, who's very aware of her status as an 'outsider' Cynthia supports herself with a job in a pharmacy.
. and she seems to be the only one of this bunch who's actually employed,



As it happens, a group of Belgian refugees, including Hercule Poirot, are living in a house near Styles Court an arrangement facilitated by Emily Inglethorpe.
Hastings is thrilled to see Poirot and lauds the former policeman's detective skills so it's clear they've met before,



In the midst of the testy atmosphere at Styles Court Emily Inglethorpe dies from strychnine poisoning in a locked room.


Hastings suspects foul play and prevails on Poirot to investigate, and the Belgian complies, . with Hastings as his partner, To round out the 'detective trio', Inspector Japp is assigned to the case,

During the investigation Poirot learns that Emily had a loud fight with an unknown male on the day before she died Emily's latest will is missing there have been shenanigans with Emily's locked document box someone bought strychnine at the town's pharmacy coffee and cocoa were consumed on the evening of the murder.
and a cup has been smashed there's something suspicious about Emily's medicine packets etc,



As often happens in these stories, Poirot makes shrewd deductions about everything, . but doesn't share them Hastings tries to demonstrate his investigative skills but misinterprets most of the clues and Japp hares off after the wrong suspects.


The book is chock full of misdirection and red herrings, but in the end Poirot gathers the suspects and reveals the truth.


The book is just soso, Though Christie's nascent writing skills are apparent, the plot is overly convoluted to the point of unbelievability Poirot talks too much yak yak yak and there's a whiff of antiSemitism and classism though this is common in Christie's books.
. a sign of her times,

If you're a long time Agatha Christie fan, this book would make a fun reread and if you're new to the famous author's works, this is a good place to start.


You can follow my reviews at sitelink blogspot . To celebrate completing myth book of the decade, I chose Agatha Christies 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 fulltime there was one month Septemberwhere I only read one book and two months where I only read two books May and June!

Agatha Christie wrote this novel in, and it was first published in the United States by John Lane for.
per copy in October. It was first published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in Januaryand could be purchased for seven shillings and sixpence.
Another historically significant fact is that when Penguin Books first began publishing in, this novel was one of the firstbooks 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 froms 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 dont 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 Poirots 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 doesnt 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, Theres 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 didnt 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 todays 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.
.