Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Way to Start the Summer
Review: Agatha Christie's first Hercule Poirot mystery is the ever-delightful The Mysterious Affair at Styles. All of her trademarks are right here from the beginning in the character of Poirot and his brilliant gray matter and the delightful Hastings (before he become completely stuffy, as in the later books). There are red herrings aplenty and everyone seems to be up to something suspicious, much like one would want from an English country house. I have taken a summer vow to re-read all of the Poirot books that I read over the past four decades but this time to read them in the order they were written. The sole advantage of memory loss may be the ability to read these books again without a clue as to who did it. Maybe growing older will not be so bad. This book makes a perfect start to the series and to my summer. A bon-bon of Belgian chocolate.
Rating:
Summary: Mysterious Affair requires a Scorecard
Review: Dame Agatha Christie introduces Hercule Poirot to the mystery novel loving public in this thriller set in WWI. Poirot and a group of fellow Belgians have resettled in an English village, after displacement from their homeland. Poirot has already retired from Belgian police work, speaking fondly of turn-of-the-century cases with friendly Scotland Yard detectives. This is a standard issue murder case with the ancient mansion dweller as the victim. She is recently remarried and has also recently broken with a long-time friend and companion. Filling out the list of suspects are two step-sons who would benefit financially from her demise and several house guests, including a young pharmacist and a German spy. Poirot is called in the day of the murder and follows his standard practice. He sends cryptic messages to suspects to gauge their response, tracks suspects across the county, and even does primitive forensic studies. The book is written by a resident wounded veteran who was a long-time friend of both Poirot and the family at Styles. There are two features here to recommend this book. The first is the mystery within the mystery structure in which the obvious suspect ultimately turns out to be the guilty one, albeit with an unexpected accomplice. The second is the deliberately researched poisoning mechanism employed. Dame Christie received a positive review in the 1920's from a leading British pharmacology journal for her efforts. For those who enjoy the complex, this book is wracked with it. It is nearly impossible to keep track of all the characters and their myriad interactions with Poirot and each other. Reading it the second time brought out a lot of foreshadowing and important facts, dropped into the text as minor details.
Rating: 
Summary: Agatha's first case
Review: For lovers of 'cozies', this first adventure of the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, is mother's milk. It is such an entertaining, such a comfy novel; that even though Agatha Christie has created others much bettter, one can still appreciate her masterful techniques from the very begginning. The place is Styles Court, a great English country house in the village of Styles-St.-Mary, in Essex. The victim, Emily A. Inglethorp, the matriarch of the Cavendish family who has recently re-married. The suspects? Well, there are many, but her infamous new husband, Alfred Inglethorp, heads the list. The story starts with a re-telling acccount given by Captain Arthur Hastings, an old friend of Poirot, who ultimately brings him into the case to elucidate the murderer. As soon as Hastings arrives at Styles, he clearly senses that not all is well. His old friend John Cavendish tells him he is in financial trouble. John's wife, who conveys to Hastings "the impression of a wild untamed spirit in an exquisitely civilized body"; is entirely enigmatical. Emily's assistant, Evie, is a practical and matter-of-fact woman who "had a large sensible square body". Although we never really learn what such bodys look like, we can immediately picture them. Here, I find, lies one of the secrets of truly masterful character description. Even very early in the book, we come across the famous description of Poirot: "...hardly more than five feet, four inches...", with "the head exactly the shape of an egg", which "he always perched a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military." He was so incredibly neat that "a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound." The description of the characters is unique, and so is the great amount of interactivity among them. They are not a huge lot, but there's enough of them to give us a supply of good complications and 'red herrings': the sinister Mr. Inglethorp, the unimaginative John Cavendish and his perhaps too imaginative brother Lawrence, the servants, even the townsfolk. All the characters play their roles in due course, with none overshawing the others. This is a very complete novel and, as such, is also very graphic. There are at least five illustrations created by the author, among plans of the house and handwritten letters. The reader has - apparently - all the clues at hand. This was very common at the time, as well as the titling of each chapter. It all works to provide us with the whole picture. Poirot displays his wits to no end (with quite a bit of activity I must say that we don't find in later novels), and the story - typical of the rules of a good mystery for the 1920's - ends happily for everyone involved except, maybe for Hastings; who seems to be looking for a wife but has no luck in finding the right one. Ah! No problem, mon ami, perhaps in the next adventure?
Rating:
Summary: Hercule Poirot's first book
Review: Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's long-running character, is introduced to the world in this book. He is a Belgian detective who is living near Styles, a large home owned by Mrs. Inglethorpe. When Mrs. Inglethorpe is killed, Poirot is asked to help solve her murder. The detective works with his friend Hastings, who is staying at Styles, and he methodically interviews each person in the house to ascertain the identity of the killer. Poirot pays fastidious attention to every detail and painstakingly pieces together a solution, much to the consternation of Hastings, who is more impulsive and emotional when trying to solve a crime. This book marks the beginning of a long-running series which has attracted fans for many decades and is a good example of Christie's wonderful "whodunits".
Rating:
Summary: What an intro to the quirky little Belgian
Review: I've always preferred Agatha Christie's early mysteries to those published late in her life. Somehow the most recent works feel cranked out rather than thought out. "Styles" reeks with atmosphere, and the characters, stock though they may be, are quite good. The English country house, locked room murder tale has been overdone a bit (I eschew hyperbole), but it seems fresh-born here. Perhaps it is because this is the author's first-born mystery novel and she cared about what she was doing. Other reviewers have described the actual plot, so I will not repeat that. Suffice it to say that the plot works, and the surprises are indeed unexpected. The logic and denouement are fair to the reader. The plot doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to..."work," for lack of a better verb. Mystery readers, often without knowing it, read this genre not for the ingenious plot but for the feel of place and for the characters. If feel and characters are your thing, you can't go wrong with this one.
Rating:
Summary: What an intro to the quirky little Belgian
Review: I've always preferred Agatha Christie's early mysteries to those published late in her life. Somehow the most recent works feel cranked out rather than thought out. "Styles" reeks with atmosphere, and the characters, stock though they may be, are quite good. The English country house, locked room murder tale has been overdone a bit (I eschew hyperbole), but it seems fresh-born here. Perhaps it is because this is the author's first-born mystery novel and she cared about what she was doing. Other reviewers have described the actual plot, so I will not repeat that. Suffice it to say that the plot works, and the surprises are indeed unexpected. The logic and denouement are fair to the reader. The plot doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to..."work," for lack of a better verb. Mystery readers, often without knowing it, read this genre not for the ingenious plot but for the feel of place and for the characters. If feel and characters are your thing, you can't go wrong with this one.
Rating:
Summary: This is my desert island book. Hands down.
Review: I've been reading Agatha Christie books now for a few years, and oddly enough, I hadn't read the first in the Hercule Poirot series until a couple of months ago. Even though the Poirot books are my favorites, and I have already read Curtain (the last one in the series), I still hadn't read the first one!
This first one gives you a taste of what Agatha Christie always delivers to her readers in terms of emotion and suspense. I've already read it twice, and I think I could read it forever (which is often not the case with mystery novels).
A wonderful lazy summer day read!
Rating:
Summary: Meet Hercule Poirot
Review: In 1920 Agatha Christie introduced a quirky little Belgian detective to the world in this book she wrote on a dare from her sister. The time is World War I and Poirot is one of a small group of Belgian refugees who has come to live in a rural English village. With his egg-shaped head and his well-groomed moustache, Poirot enters and soon becomes one of fiction's best-loved detectives. Also in this novel, the reader is introduced to his cohort, Captain Arthur Hastings, recovering from a war injury at the upper-class household known as Styles Court. The mistress of the manor is Emily Inglethorpe, an elderly woman who has just married a much younger man. The family members occupying the house all become suspects when Mrs. Inglethorpe is murdered and it is up to Poirot's little grey cells to sift through all the red herrings and, in the final chapter, reveal all in true detective fashion. High on Poirot's list of suspects are: John Cavendish, the elder stepson; Mary Cavendish, his wife; Lawrence Cavendish, the younger stepson; Evelyn Howard, Mrs. Inglethorpe's companion; Cynthia Murdoch, her protegee; and Dr. Bauerstein, a mysterious stranger who lives in Essex. All have motive and opportunity but only Poirot can discover the truth. This first novel sets the tone for many Christies to follow. The wealthy family inhabiting a country house, the non-violent method of murder (poisoning) so favored by Mrs. Christie, and the light-hearted but often serious romance all became hallmarks of many of her later works. Have a cup of hot chocolate with Poirot and enjoy the adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Introducing Hercule Poirot.
Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Agatha Christie's first book and the one that first introduced the world to the inimitable Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Christie startedwriting this book in 1910 when,during a period of illness, she was so bored that her mother challenged her to write a book. This, more of less , was the result and what a result it was!. The story takes place at Styles Court , a country house in Essex.We are also introduced to Captain Hastings, Poirot's sometimes sidekick, in this book.The Mysterious Affair at Styles is classic Christie - lots of upper-crust suspects, an isolated country house, lots of red herrings, crisp dialogue and superb plotting. This is a great introduction to Christie and definitely one of her best. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Opens the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Review: Thirty-year old Mrs Agatha Christie turned a nice little profit with this, her first book, in 1920. It introduced Hercule Poirot. Wisely, she gave him many flamboyant, eccentric characteristics to leaven the depiction of detection work, but unwisely she created a character of advanced age that she subsequently needed to preserve for a further fifty years. What became the regular Christie recipe for a whodunit is found here. Perhaps there is a tad more reliance on the dispensing of medicines, reflecting the author's occupation during World War One. A formula that she later discarded was the use of a narrator - Hastings - who presents one of the "cases" of his friend Poirot. 1920 and the publication of this book marked the opening of the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction". Expect that there are plenty of servants, plenty of drinks at bedtime, much making and re-making of wills, and characters - including Poirot - who walk everywhere. This rates highly in the Christie collection for classic charm, readability and ingenuity. Few of her books from the 1920s excel it.
|
