The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920, is Agatha Christie's first detective novel. It serves as the introduction to Hercule Poirot, Belgian inspector extraordinaire. Egg-headed with nicely kempt mustaches, Poirot is one of the most famous and long-lived characters in detective fiction. When Christie's final book featuring him was published in 1975 (a year before her death), he would be the only fictional character to be given an obituary in the New York Times: 6 August 1975 "Hercule Poirot is Dead; Famed Belgian Detective."

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is set in England during World War I at Styles Court, where the widow Emily Cavendish has inherited her deceased husband's estate. Eventually she marries the much younger Alfred Inglethorp, while her two stepsons - John and Lawrence - John's wife, and several other people come to live at Styles. Plenty of potential suspects for the crime! When Emily turns up dead one night, the case begins, and John, who'd inherit the whole lot, is right in Poirot's sights. But who really done it? What transpires is the first classic case which would launch Christie's fabulous career, chock full of red herrings and surprising plot twists.