num_pages: 174
description: Agatha Christie's debut novel was also the first to feature Hercule Poirot her famously eccentric Belgian detective. A refugee of the Great War Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court the country estate of his wealthy benefactor the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful including the victims much younger husband her resentful stepsons her longtime hired companion a young family friend working as a nurse and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village. All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that contribute to Agatha Christie's well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1926; 4) The Big Four 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train 1928; 6) Peril at End House 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia 1936; 13) Cards on the Table 1936; 14) Dumb Witness 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play Black Coffee 1930 and two collections of short stories Poirot Investigates 1924 and Murder in the Mews 1937. Each novel play and short story has its own entry on Goodreads.
language: English
title: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
publisher: Warbler Classics