Hercule Poirot #1
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
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 victim’s 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. 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 and short story has its own entry on Goodreads.
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1920
This edition
- Format
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121 pages, Paperback
- Published
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October 21, 2002 by Deodand
- ISBN
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9780646418438
- ASIN
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0646418432
- Language
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English
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Detective Chief Inspector James Japp
Detective Chief Inspector James Japp (later Assistant Commissioner Japp) is a fictional character who appears in several of Agatha Christies novels featuring Hercule Poirot.Japps career in the Poirot novels extends into the 1930s but, like Has...
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John Cavendish
John is Emilys step-son by her first marriage. He is Hastings friend and invites him to spend his convalescence from a war wound at Styles.more...
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Emily Inglethorp
Mrs. Inglethorp is elderly and the woman of the house at Styles Court, which she owns. Her new husband is Alfred, about 20 years her junior. She is John and Lawrence Cavendishs step-mother by her first marriage, their father having died.more...
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Alfred Inglethorp
Mr. Inglethorp is married to Emily, her second husband. He stands to inherit most of her estate if she dies. Most members of the family and household consider him a fortune hunter!...
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Cynthia Murdoch
Cynthia lives at Styles; she is the daughter of a family friend who passed away. She works in the nearby hospital pharmacy....
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Mary Cavendish
Mary Cavendish is Johns wife.more...
About the author
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
