The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head (John Lane's UK company) on 21 January 1921.Styles was Christie's first published novel. It introduced Hercule Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings. 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.
The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will. The true first publication of the novel was …
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head (John Lane's UK company) on 21 January 1921.Styles was Christie's first published novel. It introduced Hercule Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings. 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.
The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will. The true first publication of the novel was as a weekly serial in The Times, including the maps of the house and other illustrations included in the book. This novel was one of the first ten books published by Penguin Books when it began in 1935.
This first mystery novel by Agatha Christie was well received by reviewers in the UK and the US at initial publication. An analysis in 1990 was positive about the plot, considered the novel one of the few by Christie that is well-anchored in time and place, a story that knows it describes the end of an era, and mentions that the plot is clever. Christie had not mastered cleverness throughout her first novel, as "too many clues tend to cancel each other out"; this was judged a difficulty "which Conan Doyle never satisfactorily overcame, but which Christie would."
This was my first Agatha Christie ever, and the only comparison I have to make is to the Sherlock Holmes stories.
I enjoyed it. I think I was getting used to Doyle's writing by the end of the Holmes stories, because I could pick up on a lot of the clues by then, but with this I didn't clue on to much at all. I wonder if that will change as I read more of Christie's work?
What I will say, though, is that Hastings is a bit whiny and petulant compared to Watson...
Review of 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
It's almost hard to credit this as the beginning of what, to me, was a very enjoyable television series. David Suchet playing Poirot onscreen was a staple of my childhood, the series is, after all, almost as old as I am. Last year's Curtain, broadcast on a Wednesday last November, brought back many memories of sitting down with my grandfather to watch a performance. Early Poirot is seemingly more clue-based, more your typical detective than his future depictions seem to indicate. Latterly he seemed very much to look for reasons, whereas for the majority of the novel he's seeking clues. I did enjoy poor old Hastings bewilderment throughout, and will I am sure read the rest of these over the years.
