The mysterious affair at Styles

258 pages

English language

Published Oct. 29, 2013 by Harper.

ISBN:
978-0-00-752749-6
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OCLC Number:
869770065

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3 stars (1 review)

CRIME & MYSTERY. With impeccable timing Hercule Poirot, the renowned Belgian detective, makes his dramatic entrance on to the English crime stage. Recently, there had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn, constant companion to old Mrs Inglethorp, had stormed out of the house muttering something about 'a lot of sharks'. And with her, something indefinable had gone from the atmosphere. Her presence had spelt security; now the air seemed rife with suspicion and impending evil. A shattered coffee cup, a splash of candle grease, a bed of begonias. all Poirot required to display his now legendary powers of detection.

95 editions

Review of 'The mysterious affair at Styles' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Written more than 100 years ago, this was a pretty quick read. Apparently written on a bet, that Agatha Christie couldn't write a detective novel in which the reader couldn’t deduce the criminal. I was surprised, but I'm no mystery junkie :)

This is the first Hercule Poirot novel as well, following a short story written a few years earlier. Have read many reviews that say this is not the best introduction to the little Belgian - better to go back and read this later as a "prequel".

It is also in the public domain, available on project Gutenberg and better, standardebooks.org/ebooks/agatha-christie/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles which edits and cleans up Gutenberg titles. I liked it.

Subjects

  • Private investigators
  • Detective and mystery stories
  • Fiction

Places

  • Belgium