Friday, September 4, 2015

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Wealthy widow, Emily Ingelthorpe, has recently remarried and her sons view the new husband, Alfred, as a fortune hunter. As the novel begins Emily is surrounded by her young husband, her sons and their wives, and several other house guests. When she is a found dead, guest Captain Arthur Hastings contacts his friend Hercule Poirot to help solve the case.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is my third Christie novel and it's a great cozy mystery. The writing is lovely; and Christie does a marvelous job of throwing the reader off the scent of the real killer. Plus, Poirot's fastidiousness is laugh-out-loud funny.

I listened to the audible.com version which was marvelously done by David Suchet. (I have to admit that listening to the book sometimes made it difficult to differentiate between the dizzying array of characters.) If you've ever watched the BBC Poirot mysteries you'll especially love the audio version of this novel. Suchet does a wonderful job with all the voices and made me feel quite nostalgic for Inspector Japp and Captain Hastings.

This is the book that introduced Poirot to the world. What a happy incident.

It's available for 99 cents on Kindle and for 2.95 at Audible. (Sadly, the Suchet version is no longer available.)


8 comments:

Farm Girl said...

I am so glad you are back with your Friday reviews. I hope you have had a nice break.
Yes, there are times when I just have to sit and watch Hastings and Japp and Mrs. Lemon. I think I would love to hear David Suchet read aloud.
I am so glad you did this one.
I have been on a Barbara Rosenblat kick listening to her read all of the Mrs. Polfax books. I am now at that last one so I will need to look for something else. So glad you are back. Happy September!

hopeinbrazil said...

Thanks, Kim!

Sheila said...

I am working my way through Agatha Christie books. Have you read any Miss Marple? I like Margaret Rutherford playing her in the old movies.

hopeinbrazil said...

Yes, Sheila, I've read Murder at the Vicarage. One of my blogging friends likes to listen to her novels being read on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=agatha+christie+audio+books+full+length+

I haven't tried that yet.

Beth said...

I finished reading/listening to the Poirot series in the last few months. I liked the first half of the series more than the second. Poirot takes on the attitude of being judge and jury after a while which I didn't care for. Hugh Fraser (Captain Hasting from the TV series) is also an excellent narrator. The Mystery of the Blue Train is once of my favorite Poirot.

Also check out her Tommy and Tuppence series. These are more light-hearted than Poirot.

Small Kucing said...

I have read this. It's very gripping. Sudden unexpected ending

Thistle Cove Farm said...

I adore Agatha Christie; just finished listening to an audio book of her short story mysteries. They were amazing!

Laure Covert said...

I have never read this first Poirot novel. I do so love David Suchet in his BBC role and would like to try the audio versions with his voiceover! Thanks for this post!