This edition published 10th November 2022. Originally published in 1920.
From the cover of the book:
After the Great War, life can never be the same again. Wounds need healing, and the horror of violent death banished into memory.Captain Arthur Hastings is invited to the rolling country estate of Styles to recuperate from injuries sustained at the Front. It is the last place he expects to encounter murder. Fortunately he knows a former detective, a Belgian refugee, who has grown bored of retirement…
The first Hercule Poirot mystery, now published with a previously deleted chapter and introduced by Agatha Christie expert Dr John Curran.
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1916. Lieutenant Arthur Hastings (before his later promotion to Captain) is on sick leave from the Western Front when he bumps into his old friend, John Cavendish. Cavendish invites Hastings to stay at Styles Court for some rest and recuperation in the Essex countryside, warning him that all is not rosy at the family estate, as his elderly step-mother, Emily, has remarried to a much younger man - one Alfred Inglethorp, who the family considers to be after her money.
When Hastings arrives at Styles, he lands right into the middle of more than one family disagreement in the Cavendish household, but they all seem united against the interloper Inglethorp, especially Emily's companion Evelyn Howard, who is very vocal about her dislike of him. However, Hastings is delighted to find that his old pal, former police detective, Hercule Poirot is residing in the village, as part of a group of Belgian refugees. Hastings and Poirot rekindle their friendship, which becomes very important when a drastic turn of events happens up at Styles Court...
Following a day of violent quarrels, during which Evelyn departs apparently never to return, and Alfred is absent on mysterious business, Emily succumbs to strychnine poisoning during the night. Poirot is called to the scene by Hastings to put his little grey cells to the test in the quest for the guilty party. And so begins a a joyful pairing as they work together to track down the murderer through oodles of twists, turns and blind-alleys - with scorched wills, crushed coffee cups, and false beards having important roles to play in the surprising solution. This novel introduces good old Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard too, before his Chief Inspector days.
The Mysterious Affair At Styles marks the beginning of Christie's golden career, after she was challenged by her sister to write a crime novel. Written in 1916, during the midst of the Great War, it took four years for the novel to be published - and it only appeared after some changes were requested in the format by the publishers - changes which subsequently became part of Poirot's well-known MO. The rest is history.
Christie's inspirations are clear to see in this first novel. The experience she gained working as a VAD nurse and a drug dispenser during the Great War led to the theme of poisoning being central to this story, and this later became a mainstay of many of her novels. Her love of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Conan Doyle is also apparent here, particularly in Poirot's reliance on observation of little details that prove to be turning points in the story, and in the relationship between Poirot and Hastings, which is is very reminiscent of that between Holmes and his faithful side-kick Watson. You can also trace many of the themes which arise in Christie's subsequent work - family disagreements, contested wills, marital strife, greed, betrayal, jealousy, and passion - and of course, there is a lovely country house setting, with a delicious locked room element.
This was a very enjoyable reread for me. I had forgotten quite how complicated the plot actually is, and how many elements echo throughout her prodigious body of work. As usual, I alternated between the text and the fabulous audio book narrated by my favourite Hugh Fraser - whose role as Hastings in the sublime David Suchet adaptations adds a rich extra dimension.
It was an excellent mystery to kick off a new year of Christie reads for #ReadChristie2024 too. This year, the challenge is delving into the development of her novels across time, beginning with the 1920s and spanning the decades to the 1960s/70s. More 1920s up next... decisions, decisions... which little gem to choose?
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is available to buy now in multiple formats.
About the author:
Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.
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