The Mysterious Affair At Styles (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
My First Affair with Hercule Poirot(A Book Review of Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affairs at Styles)Written as an outcome of a bet in which “the reader would not be able to spot the criminal”, Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair of Styles, published in 1921, is the first published work by the author that not only introduces what will become her trademark for ingenious plotting as well as the egg-shaped head, quirky and well-groomed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, one of the beloved sleuths in the annals of crime fiction.Set during the First World War, the novel opens when the narrator, Lieutenant Arthur Hastings, gets an invitation from his friend John Cavendish to spend his time recuperating from his war wounds at the latter’s manor located at Style’s Court. However, Arthur’s peaceful retreat is cut short when the estate’s aging heiress, Emily Inglethorp, recently married to a man twenty years younger than her, was found lethally poisoned. It is on a chance encounter at the town when Arthur seeks the aid of his friend Hercule Poirot who is now living as a refugee along with few of his countrymen at the English countryside. Suddenly called out of his retirement, the former police inspector lends his investigating prowess to solve a case with no small supply of suspects where the puzzling pieces of clues includes the disappearance of a coffee cup supposed to have contained the poison, a burned piece of a will, an inexplicable piece of cloth, an odd rug stain on top of the victim’s room being locked from the inside!Finishing the entire Sherlock Holmes canon — comprising of four novels and fifty six short stories — made me appreciate and develop a partiality to the classical works in detective fiction; I have never looked at the genre the same way again. Truth be told, I’m still experiencing what I call “Sherlockian withdrawal symptoms”, and maybe it’s because of it that I determined to explore the next best thing mystery books have to offer wherein no other name dominates than that of Dame Agatha Christie, Queen of Crime.The Mysterious Affair at Styles proves to have what I’m looking or long for in a detective novel. It incorporates some of the elements of storytelling that have been the cornerstone of the genre, notable of which is the ingenious detective with razor-sharp logic with a few peculiarities thrown in. Christie is aware of the fact that no one can definitely copy the Great Detective right off the bat; still, it couldn't be denied that Poirot and Sherlock do have one or two similar traits. Even so, the author manages to make his creation lay his own claim in the vast whodunit turf. At times Poirot can be quite annoying and frustrating with some of his antics, thru his hints or “little ideas”, that gives away little or none on how he would solve the case, but he is also quite charming and funny infecting the reader with his exuberance — sudden Belgian-French utterances included!Agatha Christie uses all the trappings of the crime fiction of her times — clearly with its locked room mystery and death-by-poison plot the novel is ordinary fare of the genre by today’s standards — taking a page from Sir Athur Conan Doyle’s especially in the manner of narration where the events and details of the case are chronicled by the detective’s associate a la Dr. John H. Watson which in this book is recounted by Lieutenant Arthur Hastings. From the way I see it, Christie may have took it too far principally in how much identical Watson and Hasting’s circumstances are at the beginning of the book. However, don’t let this put you off from picking this book as the genius of Christie lies in devising the narration — countering and complementing this seemingly act of imitation — as a motif of misdirection interspersing the tale with clues, red herrings, and circumstantial evidences to encourage the reader to draw his own deductions or consider other incidents and possibilities aside from what the narrator presents. To those who don’t want to flex their brains to figure out the twist before it gets revealed and just want to go along for the ride and entertained, the author indeed serves up a case that will truly make it hard for anyone to identify the reader until the final pages. The Dame really likes to make a fool out of her reader, and believe me when I say so as this experience made look back when I first read And Then There Were None.With the publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, critics stated Agatha Christie to have began ”The Golden Age of Detective Fiction”, and scant though my readings in this filed is, it’s a well-deserved recognition for the writers debut novel is not also a hard case to crak, it’s also a tough act to follow. Presently, this is just the second book I have read from the Queen of Crime, and already wide vistas are opening up right before me: if the first two I’ve encountered thus far is such an engrossing read, what more of the others to follow? With over eighty or so books published under her name, Agatha Christie may well prove the cure for my “Sherlockian withdrawals” I’ve been looking for — or maybe another detective to go crazy over._________________________Book Details:Book #51 for 2012Published by Dover(Trade Paperback)153 pagesStarted: September 26, 2012Finished: September 30, 2012My Rating: ★ ★ ★[See this review on my book blog Dark Chest of Wonders and for many others.]
This was the book that started it all for Agatha Christie, according to the wiki article about her. It certainly was the book that started it all for Hercule Poirot and his friend Hastings. I have never read much of Christie's work, and chose this title for my Literary Birthday challenge for that very reason. I have seen episodes of both Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple on television in the past so it was very easy to picture our famous detective and his partner while I was reading. Seeing these shows also prepared me for the relationship between Hastings and Poirot as well as the typical 'gather all the suspects into one room and confront them with the truth' style of revealing the solution.The story itself was interesting for me to a point. I don't read too many mysteries and I honestly could not get caught up in any of the characters other than Poirot himself. I made the usual guesses about 'whodunnit'; changed my mind several times, and never did choose the correct culprit. But the explanations at the end were clear and made sense, so I was satisfied.A few things did capture my attention:1. Hastings at one point describes an attorney's appearance and says he had a lawyer's mouth....now what exactly would that be?2. We know Poirot is a tidy man, a fussy dresser very careful of his appearance, that's fine and dandy. But there were two scenes that seemed a little odd and I wonder if in future books Christie ever explains the detective's concern about spent matches. He picks up one that John tosses into the shrubbery, then later he puts some used matches in a china pot in his room. What does he plan to do with them? Why does he care about those used matches? Why do I care that he cared?And here are some nifty examples of Hercule Poirot's mind at work:Scolding Hastings: "You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely."Another scolding for Hastings (he certainly never seemed too bright compared to Poirot): "What have I always told you? Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory—let the theory go."And finally, Poirot simply thinking:"Instinct is a marvellous thing," mused Poirot. "It can neither be explained nor ignored."I do not really see myself rushing off to read more Christie after this, but it was fun to meet Poirot on the written page at last and not just on the small screen.
What do You think about The Mysterious Affair At Styles (2002)?
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 OCDish 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 appears that foul play is in the air and the family bring in Hercule Poirot to investigate...This book was everything a murder mystery should be. There were intriguing characters (which, incidentally, are nicely fleshed-out), a page-turning plot, plenty of clues and red-herrings and, best of all, it kept me guessing right until the very end. The narration also works well - by having Hastings as the narrator, we don't get to see inside Poirot's head, so we can continue to form our own conclusions right to the end. I also liked how quaint this was. As a reader of more modern thrillers such as James Patterson, Lee Child and David Baldacci, it was nice to realise that there isn't always a requirement for violence, blood and guts in order to have a good plot.I will definitely be picking up more of Christie's work.
—Kirsty
Samarpita wrote: "There's actually a recommended reading list from the official Agatha Christie which suggests a reading order, which you might find helpful, as it suggests reading one of the later published books b..."Great, thank you! I was going to read the few that I had in the publication order but I'll check the list too. :)
—Rebecca
Full review.I was quite curious about Hercule Poirot series because I really loved the films when I was a kid and I was wondering, if it was my silliness that couldn’t solve the mysteries or the genius of the writer. It was the genius. Although I could see a lot of details that were discovered, I did not see the end. It wasn’t a page turner, I think because of the even writing, which didn’t really have ups or downs and perhaps my patronizing attitude might be the reasons as well, but nevertheless, I liked the book. The only part I didn’t particularly enjoy was the trial, I felt that it is too long and too boring, recalling things we already know. I was also annoyed by the narrators blindness sometimes and a bit about his feelings as well. I was pleasantly surprised by the writing. It might as well been written nowadays. I was expecting something… you know… older. This was the first novel from Christie that I have read and I will probably take few more in me this year.
—Klinta (book owly)
