The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

by Agatha Christie

With impeccable timing Hercule Poirot, the renowned Belgian detective, makes his dramatic entrance on to the English crime stage. Recently, there had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn, constant companion to old Mrs Inglethorp, had stormed out of the house muttering something about 'a lot of sharks'. And with her, something indefinable had gone from the atmosphere. Her presence had spelt security; now the air seemed rife with suspicion and impending evil. A shattered coffee cup, a splash of candle grease, a bed of begonias all Poirot required to display his now legendary powers of detection.

Reviewed by Amanda on

3 of 5 stars

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Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2012/08/20/review-the-mysterious-affair-at-styles-by-agatha-christie/

I think my main issue with this book–and a big reason why it was easy to put down–was that the detective in the case, Hercule Poirot, is not the narrator. In fact, we see him through Mr. Hastings’ eyes, and it’s not always a flattering light. I never mind not knowing everything the detective knows (so that the perpetrator is a surprise at the end of the book), but something about being so “distant” from the detective left me feeling quite disconnected from the entire mystery.

The way that Agatha Christie weaves her murder mystery, though, is fabulous. With more suspects than you can shake a stick at (sorry; that was terribly cliche of me, wasn’t it?), the suspect pool is ever changing with each new piece of information. I loved this aspect of the mystery. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, something happens that dashes all of your original assumptions and you’re left with wondering who could possibly have committed the murder. It’s not necessarily twisty and turny, but I think it’s more that Christie plays on your assumptions and manipulates them pretty thoroughly.

Overall, while I felt a slight disconnect from the book and characters, the mystery was good enough that I will seek out more Agatha Christie books in the future.

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  • Started reading
  • 14 August, 2012: Finished reading
  • 14 August, 2012: Reviewed