I first discovered Agatha Christie’s books as a teen and in 2008 when I was put on bedrest I read all her full-length novels. This year, I’ve decided to re-read them in publication order to see how they stand up against my earlier memories.
The tale of The Mysterious Affair of Styles is a tale as old as time. Young husband is seen to do away with older wife to get her money. Alfred Inglethorpe is the recent widow of rich wife, Emily Inglethorpe, who has been poisoned under mysterious circumstances. Everyone at Styles is determined to pin the crime on Alfred, and Poirot [with his ever faithful Hastings] must step in and find the killer.
I would say The Mysterious Affair at Styles is definitely one of my top 5 most re-read Christie novels. Being the first one I think it’s read first by a lot of new fans and it’s definitely a good place to start as the reading gets introduced to Monsieur Hercule Poirot, and his famous “little grey cells”. Not to forget his “sidekick” Captain Hastings. I have a confession. I absolutely loathe Hercule Poirot. I think Agatha Christie is a genius in the mystery genre. So much so that my cat is named “Agatha” [whether that be for Agatha Raisin or Agatha Christie, I’ll let you decide!], but Poirot is a pompous know-it-all. My opinion of him definitely hasn’t changed, but I think it is the “love to loathe” that has me wanting to re-read these mysteries so much. While we’re being honest, Hastings is pretty much lacking brain cells, which Poirot points out on many occasion. It’s the combination of the highly intelligent Poirot and the lowly Hastings that work so well for this mystery, and all the ones that follow.
The mystery itself is such a classic, and the way Poirot picks up all the clues [even those that are discovered off page] with the drawing room denouement is just superb. The story still stands up in modern day and I definitely would recommend it to new readers. If you are looking for a classic mystery you can’t go wrong with The Mysterious Affair at Styles.
On a side note, The Mysterious Affair at Styles gets a kind of sequel in Curtain, Agatha Christie’s last book, which I’m tempted to read next. As I’ve read both I can’t help thinking how this story further plays out in Curtain. However, there are many, many Poirot mysteries in between!
It's a Literary Escapism 