Christie, Agatha: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Project Gutenberg, 2008. Ebook.
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SETTING: Styles Manor in Essex County, England, north-east of London, during WWI.
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SUMMARY: Arthur Hastings, the narrator of this story, is invited to spend some time at Styles Manor by his good friend John Cavendish. Within a day of his arrival, John's stepmother, who inherited the manor upon John's father's (her husband's) death, is found dead in her locked bedroom. Enter the famous Belgian detective, Mr. Hercule Poirot, who brilliantly solves the mystery.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "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 mustache 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." - Chapter 2.
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There's a huge possibility that I read this book once before. The story felt new, but the title was familiar, and this is also the first Hercule Poirot book written by Christie. It's quite possible that I read it so long ago that I forgot the story. My forgetfulness regarding which books I have and haven't read was the main inspiration for starting this blog, so I guess from this point forward, I won't forget. I picked that quote as my favorite because it is such a perfect description of Poirot, and a description that Christie fabulously maintains in all of her Poirot novels.
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Things I liked about this book:
- Poirot! My favorite detective! I love his style, both personal and professional. Working with a person like that would be productive and constantly entertaining.
- The culprits. Just like the last Christie book I wrote about, I was again wrong about who did the deed.
- The romantic relationships in this novel. They became one of the main themes, and it was a nice fit in a crime/mystery novel. I usually find romance in a crime novel annoying, but not this time around.
- Incorporation of real life activities in the novel. The story was written during WWI and, as Christie usually does, she incorporates that as the backdrop of this novel.
Thing I didn't like about this book:
- The amount of time spent detailing different poisons that can be used to murder someone. Seemed extraneous and unnecessary.
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I really enjoyed this book, as I usually do. Agatha Christie has a formula that I enjoy, and she has yet to disappoint me. Even when I branched out from the Poirot books, I was still satisfied.
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Recommend? Yes!
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