Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles

She’s the Queen of Crime, having sold over two billion copies of her books  worldwide . Her stories are full of murder and mayhem in the middle of the English country house. And her body of work extends to about eighty novels and collection of short stories. And she had created a string of detectives who never leave your consciousness: Hercules Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford.

We are of course talking about Agatha Christie.

Her first work, The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published in 1920. Written after her sister Madge challenged her ability to come up with a written novel, it was composed around the War years.  Agatha Christie was a nurse during the War, her fiancé Captain Archie Christie being a volunteer in the newly formed RAF.  Her extensive knowledge of poisons, very handy for any crime writer, date from that era.

 In this book we first meet Christie’s most famous detective, the little Belgian, Hercules Poirot. Because of the German invasion he had become a refugee and Mrs. Cavendish of Styles Court had provided the assistance required for Belgian refugees to settle in Essex. Captain Hastings, on ;eave from the Western Front, is visiting Styles Court. Mrs. Cavendish had recently married a younger man, Alfred Inglethorp. Her late husband had left her Styles Court and a considerable inheritance. Her two stepsons, John and Lawrence would only come to their inheritance after the death of their stepmother.

Mrs. Inglethorp’s recent marriage to an apparent fortune hunter, though a matter of discomfort to her family, is not enough of an incident to create a family rift. However, her friend and companion, Evelyn Howard is not shy of showing her disapproval.  A few days after the arrival of Captain Hastings, Mrs. Inglethorp has a huge argument with someone- either Alfred or John and as a result she makes significant changes to her will.

In the early hours of next morning, Mrs. Inglethorp is found poisoned from strychnine in her coffee. Hercules Poirot and Captain Hastings begin the investigation with a sullen grudging approval from Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard. Would they discover who killed Mrs. Inglethorp? Would that come as a total surprise?

The answer to the last question is of course a resounding yes. The plot twists and mystery of the identity of the killer is very much up to the reader to discover. I can only recommend the book but I would not be heartless enough to spoil the ending!

Styles, being her first work, is of quite the significance for the avid Christie fan. She also devotes quite a few pages of her celebrated autobiography on the genesis of the book. It reflects her choice of family gatherings over country house parties and close observations of little things that add flesh to a character. Eden Phillpotts, her mentor, had commented on her skill with dialogue and told her to stick to it. One can feel the justice of his words when one reads any of her works. The ease with which she uses the dialogue as a narrative device shows how talented she really was as a writer.

The plot twists and ingenious ways with which murder was committed in an Agatha Christie novel had been heavily criticized by Raymond Chandler. Although I agree with much of his criticisms, I cannot bring myself to apply them to Styles.  

This was not the first Christie book I had read but I did find her stories fascinating. I made quite an effort to get hold of Styles. I believe I was fifteen when I first read it and to this day it still remains one my favorite detective novels.