The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Dover Mystery Classics) |
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Author:
Agatha Christie
By Dover Publications
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $5.95
Our Price: $0.49
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Product Description
An aging heiress, fatally poisoned; the door to her room locked from the inside, the charred remains of a will in her fireplace are some of the ingredients in this absorbing tale of murder, jealousy and greed. Agatha Christie’s classic introduced Hercule Poirot, the brilliant and amazing Belgian detective.
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THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES (DODD, MEAD, & COMPANY, INC./1920), 2009-01-03
REVIEW: Dame Agatha's career as a writer began with a prompt from her mother and a dare from her sister. While the twenty-year-old was recovering from influenza: Christie's mother suggested she try writing a story to pass the time. As a result of her encouragement the future authoress began churning out short stories; and an attempt at a long, involved (and supposedly horrid) romantic novel called "SNOW UPON THE DESERT" which was rejected as "unpublishable" (and which has never seen the light of day in print as it is now lost for good). With some constructive criticism from author Eden Phillpotts: Christie continued to hone her craft. But it was a long-recalled dare from her sister one day in 1908 (in which she teased Agatha by declaring, "I bet you can't write a mystery in which the reader can't guess the murderer.") that sealed her fate as the soon-to-be crowned "Queen Of Crime". And so in 1915 she began to work on what was to become her debut novel "THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES". And even though it took nearly five years for it to be published: without a doubt Christie won that bet. "STYLES" is the first in a long line of masterpieces from her pen, and the first to feature one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time: Hercule Poirot (prounounced Pwah-row). The story itself centers upon the Ingelthorpe/Cavendish family, and the various sinister undercurrents which culminates in the poisoning murder of its matriarch. Luckily, M. Poirot is situated in a nearby village as a refugee from the the war. He sifts through the mounting evidence and motives, hones in on the truth about the tragedy at Styles, and prevents an innocent man from being hanged. HARSH LANGUAGE: about 5 minor words. VIOLENCE: 1 scene detailing the murder. SEXUAL REFERENCES: none.
THE MORAL COMPASS: Dame Agatha's first mystery novel is a must for fans of the genre. The notion of truth and justice winning out over the evil designs of the murderer is a classic morality tale. As a bonus you get some fairly plausable romantic subplots that fleshes out the drama, and you get the distinct mental pleasure of applying your own "little grey cells" to the crossword problem at hand. This is a gem of a little book that has very little to offend other than a few minor swear words and the brief violence of the murder. Thus it should readily earn an ACCEPTABLE rating for its content.
A must read for true mystery fans, 2008-09-19
Actually, this isn't Agatha Christy's best, but I give it a five star rating for its importance as her first mystery and the first Hercule Poirot story. All others came from this one and it is a first rate puzzler. Those already familiar with Agatha Christy will have it partially figured out if mot completely long before the end, but this shows the influence she had on the development of the mystery genre. She plays a game with the reader and she plays it fair and square. While doing so, she creates one of fiction's most memorably eccentric characters, Hercule Poirot. He is such an enjoyable character that the book is captivating observing him although the suspects in this one aren't particularly likeable. This is a pure puzzle and doesn't have the sense of tragedy that some of her later books have. It's a fast read and definitely an enjoyable one.
 "...the colossal cheek of the little man!", 2008-08-18
...I got a hunch about 1/2 way through that one of the characters was the murderer - but could not even begin to see how they did it or were connected. My first read of a Christie book - and I'll be digging in to others since I enjoyed this one so much.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie , 2008-06-10
The Mysterious Affair at Styles: A Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie
Great eBook for Kindle!
Somewhat Clunky Beginning for the Belgian Sleuth, 2008-05-07
The first "grownup" novels I recall reading were those of Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, and while I periodically return to Wodehouse with great enjoyment, I haven't revisited the Christie books until now. I figured this, her first published work (written in 1916, published in 1920), would be a good starting place. As well as being her first work, it introduces my favorite of her recurring characters, the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
To my surprise, the story takes place during WWI (not after, as many suppose), a detail that plays a minor role in the story. The story is told by Poirot's occasional sidekick (he only appear in eight of the Poirot novels) Captain Hastings, who has been invalided home for the duration of the war. The specifics of his injury aren't explained, but he has gone to the Essex countryside to spend some time at a friend's family mansion (the Styles of the title). Things there prove to be rather tense, as the elderly matriarch has married a much younger man, whom everyone suspects of being a golddigger. Meanwhile, Hastings' friend and his brother are in tenuous financial circumstances due to the provisions of their dead father's will. Of course, the old lady ends up dead, and there are plenty of suspects to go around.
Fortuitously, Hastings runs into Poirot in the local village, where Poirot and some fellow Belgians are living as refugees from the war. The two had apparently met years before, and soon Hastings has enlisted him to investigate the old woman's death. Found dead in her locked room, she appears to have been poisoned, but by whom and how is a mystery. Clues abound (as do plenty of red herrings) in the somewhat complicated story, which finds Poirot already in full form. Alas, he is the only fully developed and lively character to be found, with Hastings already his usual naive sappy self, and none of the rest of cast particularly memorable. As a story, it's somewhat clunky, although all the elements that made Poirot such a popular character are there in abundance (except his mustache mania). Not a great read, but not a bad one either.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780486296951
ISBN: 0486296954
Label: Dover Publications
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: 1997-07-22
Publisher: Dover Publications
Studio: Dover Publications |
