The Mysterious Affair At Styles

by Agatha Christie

4 Likes

A wealthy heiress is poisoned in her locked bedroom, and everyone in the grand country estate of Styles Court is a suspect. Was it her new husband, her resentful stepsons, or someone even closer to home? With a tangle of alibis, hidden motives, and shocking betrayals, the case seems impossible to solve. Enter Hercule Poirot, the brilliant Belgian detective making his very first appearance. With his keen intellect and signature flair, Poirot must unravel the clues before the murderer strikes again.

# Poirot # murder
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  • Published
  • Jan. 1, 1920
  • Genre
  • crime, Detective, Murder Mystery
  • Language
  • English
  • Total Chapter
  • 13
  • Total pages
  • 109

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3.00/5

3 reviews for The Mysterious Affair At Styles

S

4/5

Scarlet - Aug. 21, 2025, 1:58 p.m.


What I really enjoyed about the book is how it immediately pulls the reader into a classic country-house mystery. The setting is quiet and familiar, yet beneath it lies an atmosphere of suspicion where everyone seems to have a motive.

Poirot’s sharp observations and unique methods make him stand out from the very beginning. I liked how Christie built his character through small details—his orderliness, his confidence, and his unconventional way of solving puzzles. At the same time, the narration through Hastings gives the story a light, sometimes amusing perspective, which balances the tension.

J

5/5

Jane - Aug. 11, 2025, 4:06 p.m.


I picked up The Mysterious Affair at Styles thinking I’d read a few chapters before bed — big mistake. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Christie’s writing feels effortless, yet every page is laced with subtle misdirection that kept me second-guessing myself. As a reader, I felt like I was being outsmarted in the most satisfying way. For a debut, it’s astonishingly confident, and it reminded me why classic crime fiction still has the power to grip me completely.

O

3/5

Olivia - Aug. 7, 2025, 2:30 p.m.


Reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles felt like stepping into a time capsule—both in good and slightly frustrating ways.

On one hand, it's impressive. This was Agatha Christie's first book, and it already shows how sharp her plotting instincts were. The mystery itself is tight, and the way Poirot solves it is clever. I respect the craftsmanship.

But if I'm being honest, I didn’t love the experience from start to finish. The pacing dragged in places, especially early on. Captain Hastings, the narrator, can be kind of dense, and I found myself getting annoyed with him. It’s like he’s there just to miss the obvious so Poirot can look brilliant—which gets old after a while.

Poirot himself is interesting, but in this first book, he feels a bit more caricatured than in later stories. You can tell Christie hadn’t fully fleshed him out yet. Still, the ending caught me off guard, and that twist made the whole read feel worth it.

So overall: I'm glad I read it, but it’s not a personal favorite. I appreciate it more than I enjoyed it. If you’re new to Christie, I’d probably recommend starting with And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express instead.