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Anne's Reviews > Mysterious Affair at Styles
Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot, #1)
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Anne's review
bookshelves: agatha-christie, mystery, read-in-2009, audio, crime, read-in-2019
Jun 10, 2009
bookshelves: agatha-christie, mystery, read-in-2009, audio, crime, read-in-2019
Read 2 times. Last read December 20, 2019 to December 29, 2019.
Poirot is introduced in this book, so how can you not love it?!
Actually, pretty easily.
This simply isn't Agatha Christie'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 those of you who are already fans, I think you'll find this a fun book because, while he's not entirely fleshed out yet, all the trademarks of Poirot are there. Hastings is still a bit of a well-intentioned dumbass, and Japp shows up and gives the weird little Belgian free reign to solve the case under the table. Plus the whodunnit was appropriately twisty and turny.
My advice?
If you're new to Poirot - don't start here. Yeah, I know that it's #1 but you don't need to read these books in order. Think of The Mysterious Affair at Styles as a prequel that you can go back and read after you get hooked on Hercule.
Actually, pretty easily.
This simply isn't Agatha Christie'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 those of you who are already fans, I think you'll find this a fun book because, while he's not entirely fleshed out yet, all the trademarks of Poirot are there. Hastings is still a bit of a well-intentioned dumbass, and Japp shows up and gives the weird little Belgian free reign to solve the case under the table. Plus the whodunnit was appropriately twisty and turny.
My advice?
If you're new to Poirot - don't start here. Yeah, I know that it's #1 but you don't need to read these books in order. Think of The Mysterious Affair at Styles as a prequel that you can go back and read after you get hooked on Hercule.
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Reading Progress
June 10, 2009
– Shelved
Started Reading
June 15, 2009
–
Finished Reading
December 20, 2019
–
Started Reading
December 29, 2019
–
Finished Reading
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Mwanamali
(last edited Jan 03, 2020 05:24AM)
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Jan 03, 2020 05:24AM
Great review Anne. I've actually never met a Christie fan who thinks this is objectively her best work. They may say it's their fave tho. Her best work is And Then There Were None followed closely by Murder On The Orient Express which imo ties with They Came To Baghdad
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I think it would be an emotional fav for any Christie fan - even if they didn't think it was her best. I agree with your 3 top choices. All are great books!
Wow so long since I read any Agatha Christie. I vaguely remember Poirot. I think there was a series on TV way back when.
It's still playing somewhere. I loved that show. Several of the audiobooks use David Suchet (the actor who plays him) to voice Poirot!
This is a free Nook ebook on Thanksgiving at Barnes and Noble. Going to take your advice though and maybe take this with a grain of salt
Well.. I'm new to Poirot.. how did you get hooked on Hercule? I was just checking whether to start reading book 42 but I don't know it feels diving head first into something I'm likely to get lost in
Go ahead and start with book 42. These are all basically stand alone stories. There's no underlying plot that you would need to have knowledge of in order to appreciate the cozy mystery setting.
It was a mistake starting from here. I just finished it and i can't even begin to express my hate for this book. It sucks on so many levels. I should have started with The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd
Sefalika wrote: "Now that is some sound advice! It's best not to start on Poirot with Styles because Poirot came a long way after it. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Orient Express, ABC Murders and Murder in Mesopotam..."All of those - yes!
Rayhan wrote: "It was a mistake starting from here. I just finished it and i can't even begin to express my hate for this book. It sucks on so many levels. I should have started with The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd"Oh yeah, this one is not great. I think you can only 'appreciate' it after you've read some of the really good Poirot out there and swing back to this one as a fan.
Which one would you recommend to read after this?
I have two Poirot's on my shelf currently, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. I enjoy the hell out of both of them. Christie was a powerhouse writer!
Rayhan wrote: "Which one would you recommend to read after this?"Go straight to one of the famous ones. Murder on the Orient Express, The A.B.C. Murders, And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Akroyd, or Death on the Nile.
Jim wrote: "I have two Poirot's on my shelf currently, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. I enjoy the hell out of both of them. Christie was a powerhouse writer!"Both are excellent examples of what she could write. Two of my favorites!
I wish someone had told me this , to not start my poirot journey here . Alas , i did start here and was unimpressed and that led me to not read another Poirot book for a few good months .
From the other side I started my adventure with Christie here and I'm not dissapointed. I loved this story. It's only making me feeling better if u are saying that there are other better books heh.
gap_____gap wrote: "From the other side I started my adventure with Christie here and I'm not dissapointed. I loved this story. It's only making me feeling better if u are saying that there are other better books heh."That's awesome! You'll definitely love the other ones.
Dr Rashmit wrote: "I wish someone had told me this , to not start my poirot journey here . Alas , i did start here and was unimpressed and that led me to not read another Poirot book for a few good months ."How did you like the rest?
I am rereading all of Christie after originally reading them in the 1970s. Even having read them before, I agree that his isn't the best place to start and am glad I followed your advice. It's often more difficult to enjoy others in the series if you don't start on a positive note. Thank you for all of your wonderful Christie reviews, Anne!
Thank you, Emma! I hope you enjoy your rereads as much as I did. Christie had a wonderful style.
I liked Poirot fine in this, but Hastings really started to get on my nerves. Like, can you be less of a puffed up dumb*** for five minutes and let the professionals work? Please?
A terrific review for this twisty little mystery, Anne!
Kimber wrote: "A terrific review for this twisty little mystery, Anne!"Thank You! Glad to see you liked it, too!
Alexis wrote: "I liked Poirot fine in this, but Hastings really started to get on my nerves. Like, can you be less of a puffed up dumb*** for five minutes and let the professionals work? Please?"L:OL! Yeah, I know. He's always doing that in every book.
This book was such a surprise after loving And Then There None so much. Good to know the books don’t need to be read in order, because I don’t want to give up on Ms. Christie just yet. :)
Wish I had read your review before I read this book. It was my first Agatha Christie book and I was disappointed....I'm going to read another one to give it a chance. (Because I've loved all the movie adaptations). Thanks for your review!
Which of her books do recommend to read first?
