Choose Your Own Adventure!You are Captain Arthur Hastings, and you are slowly falling in love with a Belgian. The feelings are embarrassing at first; you find the Belgian himself to be quite an embarrassment. But there is just something about him. Could it be his suave, continental sense of humor... his keen sense of justice... his shapely, rubenesque figure? Or is it simply his hypnotic mustache, perhaps? The passion develops in fits and starts. You don’t want to love him, you really don’t. You...

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1), Agatha ChristieOriginal publication year 1920.Characters: Hercule Poirot, Inspector Japp, Arthur Hastings, John Cavendish, Emily Inglethorp, Alfred Inglethorp, Cynthia Murdoch, Mary Cavendish, Evie Howard, Lawrence Cavendish.Abstract: The famous case that launched the career of Hercule Poirot. When a wealthy heiress is murdered, Poirot steps out of retirement to find the killer. As the master detective makes his way through the list of suspect...

Ok. Let's get down to business. This is an old fashioned British mystery novel. So much information! Trying to keep it all straight in my head was extremely difficult. My brain was all over the place but that's what makes a good mystery, in my opinion. This is the first book starring the world famous Hercule Poirot and his friend Hastings. Poirot is an eccentric detective from Belgium who fled to England during WWI. Hastings is a little on the dramatic side, always jumps to the wrong conclusions...

It never entered my mind that I'd one day reread this version of the very first Hercule Poirot in such an unexpected medium as electronically. Well I did and here we are.Some of the words used in this translation were unknown to me. Most of the difficult words are guessable in their meaning via the sentences they adorn.All things considered, I think this version of Poirot is unique. We encounter a detective that has yet to grow a full head of eccentricities. But he still gambols as a mountain go...

Agatha Christie's first novel and it shows, a somewhat convoluted story with too many red herrings and even an unneeded trial at the end, written by the bored writer during the First World War ( the Great War) no surprise when rejected by the publishers until 1920. Don't get me wrong this is a highly entertaining book for the mystery fan, though with a little more experience the eagle will fly. Now the murder case set in the majestic estate of Styles home of a wealthy woman Emily Inglethorp 70,

This is where Poirot began! Christie’s most famous detective started his investigations (at least on paper) with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. I have already read a couple of his other adventures, so I am a bit out of order. I figured it was time to go back and tackle them the way Christie intended!This was a strong start and I can see how it appealed enough to become a series. It is fun to follow the quirky behavior and deductive reasoning of our protagonist. While it is not always easy to t...

Poirot is introduced in this book, so how can you not love it?!Actually, pretty easily.This simply isn't Agatha Chrisite's best work.And that's mainly due to this being her first book. Yeah, so not only was she still figuring out who Poirot was, she was still figuring out this whole mystery writing gig. I mean, for her first stab at it, she did a phenomenal job. But if you go into this thing thinking you're going to get her best story, you'll more than likely be disappointed.Sorry, Hercule.For t...

This is Agatha Christie’s debut novel, published in 1920, and the first featuring her detective, Hercule Poirot. By any standards it is an assured and well written debut novel and, considering the period it was written, it is also remarkably undated. Apparently, Agatha Christie was challenged by her sister to write a detective story, for which I am eternally grateful, as this was her offering. Like one of the characters in this novel, Agatha worked in the dispensary of a local hospital and gaine...

I'm a long time Agatha Christie fan, and I recently decided to re-read some of her novels. ***** 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' is Agatha Christie's first published book, and it's less sophisticated than her later work. The story does, however, introduce three well-known Christie characters: Hercule Poirot, Captain Hastings, and Inspector Japp. Hercule PoirotCaptain HastingsInspector JappAs the book opens Hastings has been injured in WWI and is recuperating at Styles Court, a manor house in t...

This is my first introduction to Agatha Christie. Having never read her before, I was interested in starting her with the Poirot series which includes her famous detective, Hercule Poirot. The story is a cleverly written murder mystery with interesting twists and turns, all the time not giving away the real culprit. I had my hunch of the criminal and motive, and though they prove correct at the end, time to time doubt entered my mind as to whether I figured it right. :) The character set was mos...

First Read: September 2016, Rating: 4 StarsSecond Read: November 2018, Rating: 4 StarsThis is the first installment in the Hecule Poirot series and was just as brilliant as every other detective book I have read by the undoubted Queen of crime fiction!The novel is set in an English manor house, Styles, owned by the the Cavendish family. Hastings, our protagonist, is staying with the family in their regal abode when the unexpected and inexplicable murder of Emily Cavendish (or the more recently r...

How did I go for so long without reading an Agatha Christie?! I wish I'd picked one up sooner! I figured my first read should be the first book published (I have an irrational need to read books in order) and I have to say that this is a fantastic debut novel. Most authors' work gets better with time - if Christie gets better than this then I have some treats in store!Long story cut short:- Mrs Inglethorp, the old lady owner of Styles Court, suffers a violent fit early one morning and dies. It a...

After having my interest peaked in Hercule Poirot (a character not well known to me) after reading about Belgium during World War 1 and then watching Murder On The Orient Express which plot I enjoyed a lot, I decided to give this a try and I was not disappointed!! Christie's writing style from the point of view of Hastings into the mystery of the murder is simply magnificent and from the beginning she makes everyone a suspect and keeps you guessing and wondering who committed the crime right unt...

The first Poirot. Everybody has a motive, everyone acts suspiciously--and the customary floor plans are provided.