Here is my first entry in the Read Christie series – dwelling into the 1920s decade with The Mysterious Affair at Styles!
A classic whodunit novel, The Mysterious Affairs at Styles was the debut novel for the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, in which she introduced her famed Belgian detective, Hercules Poirot.
Set in the countryside, the story follows the murder investigation of the locally well-known and established socialite and charitable older woman, Mrs Emily Inglethorp. The suspicion immediately falls on her much younger and quite recently wedded husband, Alfred Inglethorp, who is accused of ‘bare-faced fortune hunting’. Yet, the entire Styles household – including the lady’s stepsons, daughter-in-law, and protégé – harbour a motive to perpetuate the crime.
Enter Mr Hastings, an army soldier and a dear friend of the lady’s son; he finds himself as an observing spectator in the middle of the affair. Nevertheless, taking charge of the situation, he nudges the family to employ his dear friend and the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who is also residing in the same village as a refugee, to investigate. Years later, to clear the rumours surrounding the mysterious affair, Mr Hastings takes to penning down his narrative of the events.
The entire novel is a first-person narration of the ensuing investigation. Paralleling the famed literary detective duo – Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Christie drafts a similar pair in Poirot-Hastings. An overtly excitable, highly imaginative and impulsive Hastings recounts the entire affair while freely injecting his views, feelings and deductions.
As readers, we are bound to sway with the wind to each of his observations and begin jumping to conclusions. With a clever use of this writing style and the reader’s mind, Christie distributes loads of red herrings and diversions throughout the storyline. And we, readers, in a race to find the culprit before Poirot, fall into the trap each time.
Hercule Poirot approaches the puzzle with his ‘order and method’, considering every detail in contrast to the narrator. He inspects, interviews, suspects, and unravels the business piece by piece. Resembling a lot of Golden Age detectives, the debutant follows the clues with precision. Later in his further novels, we see this style develop and make way for a more mature individualistic approach. More use of his ‘Grey Cells’ than these traditional methods!
Interestingly, Poirot displays ‘towering rage’ and several emotional outbursts during this investigation. But finally, the little fellow brings down the culprit in a classic Christie finale.
The novel is an exciting read that taps into the reader’s curiosity and, even cunningly, toys with it. Featuring multiple elements that later become a trademark of her style, Christie begins with a tease. She calls out the whole whodunit genre, speaking through the telegraphic style of Miss Howard –
“Lots of nonsense written… criminal discovered in last chapter. Everyone dumbfounded.”
She foreshadows the crime, the method and even the culprit within the initial pages. And if Poirot wasn’t ethical, the entire story might have just finished in the first 36 pages only. Yet Christie builds the story, keeps the reader engrossed and gives us an intricate storyline with a caricature of a complex web of emotions within the Styles household.
And, of course, she has the last laugh!
Apart from the main storyline, the novel’s backdrop features subtle references to the ongoing devastating war. While the countryside remains shielded from the direct line of fire the front experiences, the ripples are felt across. The Styles household employs a ‘no waste policy’, and Mrs Inglethorp leads several charities and functions to raise funds for the war efforts. Also, women are seen taking up jobs exploring their tinge of independence and financial security.
Most profoundly, there is a significant distrust and animosity towards outsiders and foreigners. Although respected in their fields, Hercule Poirot and the expert Dr Bauerstein are initially subjected to suspicious apprehensions from domestic staff. And, of course, the whole of Styles remains cold towards Alfred Inglethorp even though he marries the lady of the house!
The story seems to be inspired by two significant sources. Christie draws heavy parallelism from the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in illustrating her detective and side-kick due – Poirot and Hastings.
Also, the circumstance of the murder and puzzle resembles an infamous case of poisoning in the Savoy Hotel of Mussoorie in the 1900s, wherein Lady Garnet Orme was found murdered in her room, possibly due to strychnine. The case had become a huge sensation even in the British nation. Adding her imagination to her significant experience in the hospital dispensary as a VAD during the war times, Christie cooked her story of poison in response to a challenge from her sister.
In a wrap, The Mysterious Affair at Styles is an intrigue-filled whodunit that gave to the world, Hercule Poirot and to all of us, the Queen of Crime! Well-rooted in history and circumstance, it is a tightly woven murder investigation with exciting characters and a neat puzzle.
Stay tuned for more on #readChristie Challenge 2024!
More Content from Blog
Thirukkural begins with a 'Praise to God' as its inaugral chapter. Find out how it talks about God and devotion…
Reading Thirukkural explores Thiruvalluvar's philosphical treatise on ethical and moral values. Read on to find about it's history, structure and…
Reading Thirukkural explores Thiruvalluvar's world-renowned Tamil classical text penned more than 2000 years ago. Join me on this journey of…
End of Content.
Great review! It’s been a couple of years since I’ve re-read Styles but it feels really important. Poirot isn’t his fully-realized self, but It’s exciting to see the start. I felt really satisfied with the murderer, I remember being honestly surprised the first time I read it. Christie often makes the murderer a person who for various social reasons, one takes at face value and overlooks. I can’t be more specific or I’ll spoil this and other books! But Christie seems to see people that society might overlook, even her two main detectives.
Thank you for stopping by, Janelle and sharing your thoughts!
Indeed, Christie has a knack for catching us off-guard. The finale reveals are astounding and are the main reason I became her fan!
Also, imagine Poirot the world famous detective who caught nefarious criminals in his prime, residing in a quiet English village available to solve quiet cozy English murders!