Rating: 
Summary: A Belgian Beginning
Review: Admitted, I am an Agatha Christie fan. This book, however, is a little different to her others. It is the first book in which the famous little Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, features. The story is told through the eyes of Hastings, who at this stage of the game has not yet become Poirot's assistant, but is only an acquaintance. The murder occurs at friends of Hastings, and Poirot is in the right place at the right time. Poirot keeps Hastings, and the reader guessing, right to the last page. A delightful read.
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: 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: A Great Start
Review: Agatha Christie's sister once boasted to her that she had never read a mystery in which she didn't know right away who the killer was. Agatha answered her by writing her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It was quite a start to a brilliant literary career. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is well plotted and the characters are great to read about. Hercule Poirot and Hastings are really hilarious together. Poirot has to be the greatest crime-solver in literature. The entire cast of characters in this novel is interesting. This probably isn't Christie's best work (my favorite is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) because her characteristic clean prose hadn't quite developed yet, but this is an extremely important work and is, like all of her books, entertaining. The literary critic Edmund Crispin summed Christie's work up best when he wrote: "You know, relaxing with a Christie, that for an hour or two you can forget the authentic nastiness of life and submerge yourself in a world where, no matter how many murders take place, you are essentially in nevver-never land."
Rating:
Summary: Review Of "The Mysterious Affair At Styles"
Review: Agatha Chritie has done it again in this classic mystery of suspense. I encourage everyone to take time out and read this splendid and dynamic work of art from the one and only "Queen Of Crime." Hercule Poirot is the smartest detective I have ever read about. I originally had to read this book for English, and after reading this book for the first time I had to have my own copy. The murder involves the poisoning of the mistress, Emily Inglethorp. The belgian detective is called on upon his friend Hasting's to investigate the strange matter. ...! This book is so suprising and superb. Give Agatha Christie a chance and take time to read this book and all her others as well.
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Summary: Agatha Christie's first and one of her best Poirot mystery!
Review: Captain Hastings is invalided home from World War I, and while on leave comes across an old friend, John Cavendish. When Hastings is offered to stay for the duration of his leave with the Cavendish family, he immediately takes up the offer. Arriving at Styles Court, instead of having a relaxing and pleasant stay, he gets involved in a murder! The victim is Emily Inglethorpe, mother of John Cavendish, murder by poison. It is then that Hastings brings in the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, a refugee from his homeland. Will the detective be able to sort through the clues, use method and order, and exercise his 'little grey cells' to bring the killer to justice?This is truly one of Agatha Christie's best Poirot novel! My father, my sister, and I are the proud owners of almost all of Agatha Christie's mysteries. All of her books are just so enjoyable to read that the best atmosphere I recommend you read them in is when you're either curled up on the couch or relaxing on your bed. Very hard to put down, I can almost guarantee you won't take as long as a week to finish one book! The story and plot of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is ingenious, with lots of clues, happenings, twists and turns which never seem to come together or make sense! Agatha Christie has that writing style where she seems to be giving you everything, all of the hints and clues, but at the same keeping you in the dark, guessing and suspecting but never actually knowing. Then she gives you a finale which just leaves thinking, "Of course! Absolutely brilliant! That's how it happened!" The character of Hercule Poirot has a personality all of his own. Yes, we have our Sherlock Holmes and other well known and well liked characters, but Hercule Poirot himself is a remarkable character. With his system of method and order, gathering all of the clues even the most significant ones, then putting them all together with the help of a little imagination, he is quite brilliant. Then there's Captain Hastings, so incredibly gullible that though at times you'd like to ask him whether he's keeping up with everything, you can't help but like him. Then there's the array of other characters for this mystery who all seem to have a motive for murder: John Cavendish, Mary Cavendish, Alfred Inglethorpe, Evelyn Howard, Lawrence Cavendish, Cynthia Murdoch, Dorcas, and more. Everyone is under suspicion, who do you think is the murderer? I recommend all of Hercule Poirot's mysteries. And besides Poirot, Agatha Christie has written stories on numerous other heroes and heroines, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, Parker Pine, and others. Other mystery writers whose work I enjoy reading are Lillian Jackson Braun and Dick Francis. Also, don't miss out on any of the TV series and movies of Hercule Poirot. Starring as Poirot is David Suchet, perfect in his role! Plus, the movie, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is on DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Solid Start
Review: Christie's first published novel is clunky and over-worked, but it has two things going for it: it introduces Poriot and it clearly demonstrates Christie's talent for creating a complex plot with an unexpected resolution. In the years to come, Christie will write a great many better novels than STYLES, but it is a solid start to a brilliant career. Christie fans will enjoy the book; others, however, may find it dated and wordy.
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: Smashing debut for Christie and Poirot!
Review: For anyone just starting to read mystery novels and particularly anyone who is new to Agatha Christie, I would highly recommend starting with this, the first Poirot mystery. Poirot has recently come to England as a WW1 war refugee. Shortly after his arrival, he encounters an old friend Captain Hastings, who serves as the perfect Watson to Poirot's Holmes. An old lady who had been of great help to Poirot is murdered and he feels an obligation to find her killer. A simple premise but Christie builds a wonderfully complex mystery upon it, with multiple suspects, several red herrings and a lot of atmosphere. The ending is a genuine shocker and the mystery is nicely interposed with comedic moments due to Captain Hastings' various observations about life and love, most of which show his intelligence to be decidedly inferior to that of his little Belgian friend! Definitely do not miss - you will thoroughly enjoy it!
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?
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