The Mysterious Affair at Styles: The First Hercule Poirot Mystery

By Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie’s debut novel was the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective.

A refugee of the Great War, Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactress, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work.

Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village. All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that earned Agatha Christie her well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984899828

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Reviews for The Mysterious Affair at Styles

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very enjoyable debut of both Christie and Poirot.

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A poisoning at Styles brings in the clueless Cpt. Hastings and HP to solve the murder.

[tomdonaghey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930) (Harley Quin) by Agatha Christie. This character, Harley Quin, is reported to have been Dame Agatha’s favorite as she only had to write about him when she wished to. Quin, along with his puppet, the good Mr. Satterthwaite, set out to right wrongs, solve vexing problems of the heart, and occasionally solve a murder.Satterthwaite is in his sixties, an English gentleman who has no wish for sport or romance or business. He is from that class of people Christie liked to populate her books with, the idle rich who know everyone of importance and in hand, are known to all, and beloved by them in return. He has an interest in people and they seem to trust and open up to this benign older gent. But it is Mr. Quin who is the driving force here. He appears and disappears like a spector, arriving in a time of need, appearing to Mr. Satterthwaite when there is a problem, merely talking with the kind gentleman, asking questions that Mr. Satterthwaite is surprised to find he knows the answers to, and helping the latter solve the puzzle.This book contains an even dozen tales of the pair, each a tie plum of deliciousness ready to be devoted. Help yourself.

[carl_alves_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although this novel is a Hurcule Poirot, it is told through the viewpoint of a friend of Poirot, Mr. Hastings. The viewpoint character is effective, since he basically has no detective instincts whatsoever, therefore not giving away what Poirot is thinking, which would ruin the mystery. The novel starts off with the death of Emily Cavendish. There are a handful of characters who are in the house at the time, and like with most good mysteries, there are various clues lying about. Half the time, I felt like Hastings, not being able to figure out who did what and always playing catch up with Poirot. About two thirds of the way through, I had a guess as to who committed the murder, and it turns out I was half right.I like Christie’s story telling style, but there were some problematic elements of the way the story unfolded, and a couple of elements that defied logic. Poirot comes off as enigmatic and charming. Because of the gap in time from when the story was written until now, some of the aspects of the plot were a bit hard to grasp, but for the most part the plot was strong, and the reveal was logical. This was a strong mystery novel that I would recommend.Carl Alves – author of Conjesero

[dh1writer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Agatha Christie's first Poirot mystery. What else is there to say?

[humouress · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Apparently, Agatha Christie - who had never written a book before - wrote this book in response to a complaint that there were no crime novels where all the facts were known to the reader, as well as the detective, before the denouement which weren't solvable in the first few chapters. This is the book, narrated by Hastings, that introduces us to Hercule Poirot.Hastings has been invalided out of the war, and while convalescing, is invited back to Styles, the country home of an old acquaintance, John Cavendish. While there, a crime occurs, and on wishing out loud that a great detective he met in Europe was here to help them, Hastings discovers that Poirot is, in fact, living in the nearby village, as a Belgian refugee from the war. And so Poirot gets involved in the case, and finally brings the criminal to justice.I've read many books by Christie in the past, but I can't remember if I've read this one before. So earnest was I (previously) in reading the clues to solve the crime (which I never did) that I hadn't realised before that Christie is quite funny; written at the same period as P.G. Wodehouse was writing, while not being as uproariously funny, it has a similar sense of humour.Poirot (speaking of the criminal) : "... We must be so intelligent that he does not suspect us of being intelligent at all."I acquiesced."There, mon ami, you will be of great assistance to me."I was pleased with the compliment. There had been times when I hardly thought that Poirot appreciated me at my true worth."Yes," he continued, staring at me thoughtfully, "you will be invaluable."This was naturally gratifying, ...Poor old Hastings would like to think of himself as the romantic lead, or at least the great detective (since he often thinks that Poirot is no longer on his game), but is usually seen by the other cast members as a sympathetic shoulder to lean on.Christie (and occasionally Poirot) misdirects us gaily until the last moment, when Poirot explains all. There are, of course, the odd coincidence, and a few instances of great good luck. I might have docked stars for my not being able to solve the crime (*sour grapes*), but I'll give them back for the unexpected humour. And the hint of romance doesn't hurt; there's nothing so sweet as requited love.I must say that, while reading Poirot's dialogue, I kept thinking of David Suchet playing the part (though admittedly his eyes aren't green). Kudos to him for getting the part down.

[redfiona_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I know I said I was going to expand my reading horizons but when I find myself in times of trouble, Agatha Christie comforts me. I also owe the Gutenberg Project for putting it online.The Mysterious Affair At Styles is a solid book, and a good introduction to Poirot. What I find most interesting about it however is how much you can see Christie developing from it. It's got all the building blocks of your average Poirot, the country house, the summation in the drawing room, but it's lacking some of the small character bits that the later Christies have.

[banoczi_henrietta · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this a little bit less than Murder on the Orient Express but it was still amazing. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed first-person narration so much and Hastings was a lovely narrator. The ending was once again unexpected and Poirot has successfully become one of my favourite characters of all time <3

[jimgysin_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This Poirot guy just might have a future in literature...

[leggimiqui · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unsurpassed!

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I started this one I didn’t realize it was Christie’s first published novel and it introduced the world to Hercule Poirot, the now infamous detective. After reading it I can easily understand why Christie became such a hugely successful author. A murder takes place in an old English manor and suspicion falls on all of the family members of the deceased who live there. The book even provides a “Clue style” map of the home showing its layout and all entrances and exits. There are a few red herrings and fun twists, all-in-all it’s a satisfying mystery.The story is told through the point-of-view of Lieutenant Hastings. He is the Watson to Poirot’s Sherlock. Their relationship is a constant source of entertainment throughout the novel. Hastings is a typically Englishman, all manners and cups of tea, while Poirot is at times exuberant or flustered, but always carefully calculating and processing all he sees. I thought it was hilarious that Hastings’ kept thinking Poirot was getting a little old and loosing his touch when really Hastings just hadn’t caught up with his thought process yet. BOTTOM LINE: A classic Christie mystery, not my all-time favorite, but a fun introduction to her large body of work. “If the fact will not fit the theory, let the theory go.” 

[fist_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This first Hercule Poirot mystery hasn't aged all that well. The author's acerbic social observations and ironic humour are still absent here . The country house setting is clichéd, the characters are made of cardboard and the occasional racist comments directed at blacks and jews may have been fine in 1920, but are positively jarring today. If you plan to read your way through all of Agatha Christie's detective stories, this is one for the bottom of the pile.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After hearing so much about how great Agatha Christie's mysteries were, I decided to read a recommended book, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles".This story is told in first person narrative by Mr. Hastings, who is visiting an old friend at the estate of Styles, Mr. John Cavendish. John's step-mother, Mistress Emily Cavendish, has recently married a man who seems to only want her for her money. Early on in the story, Mrs. Cavendish dies of apparent strychnine poisoning, and the entire family is suspect.I suppose if I'd read this as my first ever mystery, without running into the "family in the drawing room as the murderer is exposed" cliche, I would have enjoyed it more. It was mildly diverting and amusing, but I doubt I'll reread it.

[tanya8dogearedcopy · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I liked the book, but I made a serious mistake when I first approached it: I underestimated Agatha Christie. The last time I read Agatha Christie was in high school (The ABC Murders and Murder on the Orient Express) and now I had thought her dated and perhaps even less-than- sophisticated! I was struck by the density of the cast list, the plot, the motives and the subterfuges. I anticipate returning to this book again and being able to appreciate it more with each re-reading or re-telling.

As much as I love Nadia May, she was miscast for this book. The narrator is a 45 year-old male Captain coming in from the Front. Despite Nadia May's versatility, there was no way to ignore that she wasn't a 45 year-old male Captain coming in from the Front! There is a scene early on wherein Captain Hastings looks out the window to see Lawrence Cavendish walking with Cynthia Murdoch. In my mind's eye, I saw Miss Marple peering out the window! Later, as Captain Hastings expresses his crush on Mary Cavendish or even later, proposes to Cynthia Murdoch, it took me aback.

Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, Hercule Poirot Mysteries (1-4): Mini Op-Ed Reviews, 10/10/2011 and; The Msyterious Affair at Styles, 10/14/2011

[condorena · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first of the famed Agatha Christie's book written in 1920. It takes place during The Great War and Hastings the narrator has just been invalided out as he called it. He goes to stay with a friend at a old estate known as Styles. It is here that Hastings first takes on his role as the famed ex- Belgian policeman Hercule Poirot's Watson.

After Hastings spent a few weeks the estate the matriarch of the Cavendish family succumbs to poisoning. Fortunately Poirot is living near the estate as part of an exiled group of Belgians that had been aided by the murder victim and he begins to become the caricature he later exemplifies. A mustache twirling, little grey cell using Sherlock.

The tale twists and flips with Poirot putting the small puzzle pieces together all the while a Perry Mason style court case has already begun. It is an illustrious beginning to a long career until his final adventure written in 1975 named CURTAIN

[jean_sexton-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I actually had to buy this book twice. The Kindle Chios/Perennial Press edition was missing the illustrations. The Kindle "Fully Restored Edition" included them and helped the mystery make sense. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. I thought it played fair with the reader. I loved Hercule Poirot. I cannot believe I hadn't read this before and have missed out on this classic series. I'm going to work others into my reading schedule (already overloaded!) for next year. If you enjoy classic mysteries, try this. If you've read it long ago, I think you might enjoy revisiting it.

[thefallingalice · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hastings wird von seinem Freund John eingeladen, einige Tage auf dem Anwesen seiner Mutter zu verbringen, die zum Ärger der gesamten Familie den offenbar dubiosen Alfred Inglethorpe heiratete. Zu dieser Zeit hält sich zufälligerweise auch Hercule Poirot in einem Dorf in der Nähe auf und so wird er zu Rate gezogen, als man Mrs. Inglethorpe tot in ihrem Zimmer auffand. Jeglicher Verdacht fällt auf den ungeliebten Ehemann, dem zudem auch noch das gesamte Erbe zufällt. Doch ist er nicht der einzige, der die alte Frau hätte vergiften wollen, auch der Rest der Familie steckt in finanziellen Schwierigkeiten. Hercule Poirot ist die Situation schnell klar, doch um alles zusammenfügen zu könne, fehlt ihm noch das letzte Glied in der Kette…Agatha Christie schafft mit Hercule Poirot einen kleinen sympathischen Belgier, der eine diebische Freude an Details und Zusammenhängen zeigt. Vollkommen konzentriert auf einen Fall spinnt er ein Netz aus Beweisen und Taten, die für den Außenstehenden zunächst verwirrend erscheinen. Nicht nur einmal hält sein alter Freund Hastings den Detektiv für übergeschnappt oder senil. Doch alles geschieht aus präziser Berechnung.Keine Seite dieses Buches ist überflüssig. Christie entwickelt ein Szenario, bei dem man mitdenken kann, bei dem man auf die Auflösung hinfiebert, und der so anders ist, als all die Kriminal- und Thrillergeschichten von heute. Poirot braucht keine tiefschürfende Vergangenheit oder persönliche Probleme, die ihn während des Falls beschäftigen und ablenken können, es finden weder Verfolgungsjagden noch Entführungen oder Drohungen an den Ermittler selbst statt. Agatha Christie braucht das nicht, um eine richtig gute Detektivgeschichte zu schreiben.Ich will mehr davon und der Fischer Verlag hat mit seiner Reihe FischerTaschenBibliothek noch einiges der wirklich genial erzählten Geschichten um Hercule Poirot und Miss Marple auf Lager – in einer wunderbar optischen und praktischen Form.

[sasham-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I am not a huge fan of the character Poirot this is still an excellent little crime caper and more impressive that it was Christie's First published book. While I did think the plot was overly clever / complicated that is what you want in a who-dun-it, isn't it?

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the very first Agatha Christie novel, written and set during the First World War, though not published until 1921. It is also the first Hercule Poirot novel, with the famous Belgian detective being a refugee in England having fled the invasion and subjugation of his country by the Kaiser's army. He is first described as follows:"Poirot was an extraordinary-looking little man. He was hardly more than five feet four inches, but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible; I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound."Even on his first appearance, he is regarded by several characters as an old eccentric who is already past his prime). Nevertheless, he of course sees through a tortuous set of clues to solve a murder, the final resolution of which seemed even more than usually convoluted and, frankly, absurdly risky from the murderer's point of view. The narrative did not feel particularly dated to me, unlike the last Christie novel I read, the Tommy and Tuppence novel The Secret Adversary, set in the 1920s. One interesting touch in this edition is the inclusion as an appendix of an alternative penultimate chapter where the plot threads are resolved, discovered in one of Christie's notebooks decades later; though the essential difference rests only in its taking place in a courtroom where Poirot is being cross-examined, rather than in the Styles House with the detective doing his standard presentation in the drawing room in front of all the principal actors.

[alwright1_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was occasionally impatient with the silliness of the narrator, but it kept me awake on a long drive home without a lot of boredom.

[balthazar0lawson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Agatha Christie book I've read and what better place to start than her first published book and the first Hercule Poirot book.

I never knew what to expect from her books but I've been pleasantly surprised. Many would say that the writing style is very old fashioned but what is one to expect from a novel that is almost 100 years old.

This is an easy read, told in the first person from the point of view of Hastings and is a nice introduction to the author and characters.

[windsky007 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - (FREE Audiobook Included!)-Included TOC for Reader.-Included biography the author.-Free Audiobook link for download.The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. It was written in 1916 and was 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. The U.S. edition retailed at US$2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).[citation needed]Styles was Christie's first published novel, introducing Hercule Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings (Lieutenant and later, Captain).[2] Poirot is described as "a dear little man", "an extraordinary looking little man" and a "quaint dandyfied little man".The story is told in first person by Hastings and features many of the elements that have become icons of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due to Christie's influence. It is set in a large, isolated country manor. There are a half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding facts about themselves. The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will, as well as a number of red herrings

[snukes-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Agatha Christie novel I've read, and while it wasn't astonishing, I did enjoy the who-dunnit, and trying to guess where each of the clues was going.

[abiray-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book, Christie introduces us to who is her arguably most memorable character - Hercule Poirot. Those familiar with Christie's books and their television and movie adaptations should be interested in reading the establishment of Poirot, Hastings, and Japp and discovering how their relationships evolved from their beginnings in this book to the much warmer friendships, especially between Poirot and Hastings, depicted in later books. The mystery itself is typical Christie, complete with red herrings and twists and turns.

[auntieknickers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I reread The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Poirot's first case, a year or so ago. As usual with Christie's books, I could not remember who the murderer was even though I had probably read it at least twice before. (Subsequently I watched the David Suchet film,) Having read a great many first novels, I was surprised at how polished Christie's first effort was.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Poirot's first case is a quick and entertaining read and it kept my interest. The clues were not obvious enough for me to solve the mystery before hand, and there were plenty of red herrings, but it was still a fun read. I would read more of this series if only for the challenge of exercising my deductive powers. The characters are believable and I enjoyed the relationship between Hastings and Poirot. It was not one of troubled genius and everyman simpleton (ala Holmes and Watson), but rather more dispassionate experienced Poirot and passionate young Hastings. It's more egalitarian. Also, as a side note, its also interesting to catch and observe some of the vocabulary used by Christie from the 1920's that you would never hear anyone using today. My favorite was the liberal use of the verb "ejaculate". Our book club had a good laugh about where we would be able to inject that word into modern conversations. Sadly, we couldn't find a acceptable example.

[lmichet_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book because whenever I take it into my head to read a long series of books surrounding a central character I feel that it is my duty to begin with the earliest possible book. It is as if I am reading the biography of a person-- it would not do them justice to begin anywhere else but at the beginning. For this reason I waited almost five years to finish my readthrough of the Holmes novels in grade school simply because I could not find a copy of 'His Last Bow'-- a fact which deeply saddened me, because it is my opinion that Holmes is one of the greatest characters in western literature, ever. Period. He appealed to both the learned at the intellectual layman because he is simply a beautiful concept. If anyone from fiction deserves to have really lived, it is Holmes. But enough about that. Partly because my college's copy of 'His Last Bow' had gone missing, I decided to go to another of English literature's great detectives, Poirot, and again I began at the beginning. I wasn't terribly impressed by 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles.' It seemed a bit silly to me that the characters should so often talk about detective novels. If felt like we were constantly in danger of breaking the fourth wall. The thing about Holmes mysteries is that they are simultaneously character studies, great storytelling, and puzzles. We are interested in the secret of the story, but we will reread it once again for the pace and excitement of the tale, and we will read it a third time because by that point were are enfolded deep in the Holmes cult of personality which Watson is so eager to draw us into. That is the effect of the strange 'biography' bent which the voice of Watson brings us into-- he tells the story retrospectively and with great love for the title character, who is his one great lifelong friend. Conan Doyle's decision to tell the story this way is what, in the case of a very few of the stories, lifted them the plain-old popular detective story and into literature.Now, Poirot's story is similarly here secondhand, through the testimony of a friend, but a friend who is not so close to him. Furthermore, because our narrator is implicated in the disaster himself, his attention is less on the character of Poirot the detective and more on the solution, for which he waits as eagerly as any one of the suspected criminals. Watson, on the other hand, was eager for the solution because he was eager for Holmes to win. And so the attention was eternally on Holmes, and we love the story because we love Holmes, and that is that. But because Poirot is here thrust into a situation where his 'biographer' is less interested in him as a man than as a solver of mysteries, he seems a bit fabricated. I'm sure this is not the case in all the Poirot books-- like Holmes he must have developed a personality following, or we would not be continually having television series based on him. He eventually became the focus, but here he is not. Even from the beginning Holmes was Watson's focus. But in 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles,' Poirot is just another detective-- a good one, but just another one-- in a world where amateur detectives have existed and where they-- and Holmes himself, even-- are talked about and referenced quite frequently. We are aware that we are in a genre. This is what kills this story.However, the fact that Agatha Christie was able to write a complex, interwoven plot filled with characters who are all in some way influential is rather amazing. No character in this book is a bystander-- all are important. It is really very deep. I say that it is no wonder she became famous. This book is very skilled, if genrebound and without proper focus yet on the character who will cause it to fly or fall.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Agatha Christie is one of the masters of the "cozy" mystery. What was most amusing about this novel was the way the narrator of the story vacillated between admiration for Poirot and condescension for what the narrator assumed were the failings of age - and of course all the wrong turns he took trying to figure things out ahead of Poirot.

[rubyscarlett-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm really glad I've started to read Poirot's stories in chronological order - it does give you a better sense of how Christie evolved. It's striking how much she feels she owes a debt to Sherlock Holmes - he's mentioned in the very first pages of the book. The relationship between Hastings and Poirot is also not dissimilar to that of Conan Doyle's pair, with Hastings narrating the events.
I quite liked the story, it's nothing to write home about but Hercule Poirot is such a marvellously rich character, this book is really his show. The plot is fine, introducing one of the author's favourite weapon - poison. Entertaining and cosy, without a doubt.

[.monkey.-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I will never "get into" Christie's books the way I do a nice meaty novel of more modern day (a Jeffery Deaver or Lisa Gardner, for instance), they're a lot of fun with the short light-hearted "cozy" mystery to try and solve, and this one meets the expectations. This was my first Poirot; I have a random mishmash of 2ndhand Christie books and was fortunate enough to wind up with this first Poirot among them, so I could start at his beginning. I wasn't overly enamored of him, but he's interesting. I'll be curious to read more and see how he developed over time, which is especially intriguing knowing how she hated him!