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the_bookwormhole_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
typedtruths's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
#1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles ★★★☆☆
look, the period typical sexism gets me every time i read christie but her mysteries are god tier. they deliver time. i think i know how it will go down and it never, ever works that way. hands down, the only author i can't predict and i love it
(except for the weird romance subplot but eh)
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
➸ Trigger warnings for period-typical sexism, infidelity, minor blood and injury depiction (fainting episodes, dead bodies), death of a father and husband, death from an epileptic fit mentioned (off-page), murder by stabbing with a knife, faked being tied up and held captive by armed burglars, false incarceration, and blackmail mentionedbessadams's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Infidelity, and Death of parent
anna_hepworth's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I've not read this one of Christie's before, but I can see some of the patterns that are common within other stories, and was interested in seeing how the plot came together.
Thoughts on finishing - this is one of the good ones. There are lots of fascinating twists and turns, there are people faking alibis all over the place (for themselves and others), Hastings gets to show what a twit they are while still being a generally good egg. There is a scathing commentary on modern policing which puts the police in a bad light.
I'm giving this one a 4, because unfortunately, it is showing its age, and I doubt that I would rate many of the Christie's as five star reads these days, even if I might have when reading as a more naive individual. Other than classism and misogyny that seems in keeping with the setting, I didn't notice any isms, but that doesn't mean they were there (I was reading this on a plane as something that didn't require a lot of focus; I would not call myself at all a discerning reader in this context)
Thoughts on finishing - this is one of the good ones. There are lots of fascinating twists and turns, there are people faking alibis all over the place (for themselves and others), Hastings gets to show what a twit they are while still being a generally good egg. There is a scathing commentary on modern policing which puts the police in a bad light.
I'm giving this one a 4, because unfortunately, it is showing its age, and I doubt that I would rate many of the Christie's as five star reads these days, even if I might have when reading as a more naive individual. Other than classism and misogyny that seems in keeping with the setting, I didn't notice any isms, but that doesn't mean they were there (I was reading this on a plane as something that didn't require a lot of focus; I would not call myself at all a discerning reader in this context)
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Infidelity
fraise's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Kidnapping and War
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
leaflibrary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked this one pretty well. The story - both past and present - felt very familiar, so much so that I wondered if I had seen an adaptation years ago. There truly is tragedy in this one, even if the characters who die "had it coming" due to past or present villainy.
My favorite character was Cinderella/Bella/Dulcie, an underage manic pixie dream girl who eventually marries Hastings. Much like the surprise of meeting a Poirot already in retirement last book, this end game pairing caught me off guard so early in the series. Apparently Christie later agreed, because Cinderella is barely - if at all - mentioned in the Hastings stories ahead. How disappointing! Dulcie is such a bold, rascally, risk-taking character, with a love of true crime and acrobat skills to boot. She could have been a youthful, plucky third in at least a few of the Poirot/Hastings pairings ahead!
I also wish she weren't SO much younger than Hastings - that weird old womanizing stick in the mud. She's "little over seventeen," and he's at least 30 (his age in Styles). Speaking of Styles, it's interesting how Christie covers that topic: she references it almost immediately, but without giving anything (other than the initial death) away for someone who hasn't read it yet.
My favorite character was Cinderella/Bella/Dulcie, an underage manic pixie dream girl who eventually marries Hastings. Much like the surprise of meeting a Poirot already in retirement last book, this end game pairing caught me off guard so early in the series. Apparently Christie later agreed, because Cinderella is barely - if at all - mentioned in the Hastings stories ahead. How disappointing! Dulcie is such a bold, rascally, risk-taking character, with a love of true crime and acrobat skills to boot. She could have been a youthful, plucky third in at least a few of the Poirot/Hastings pairings ahead!
I also wish she weren't SO much younger than Hastings - that weird old womanizing stick in the mud. She's "little over seventeen," and he's at least 30 (his age in Styles). Speaking of Styles, it's interesting how Christie covers that topic: she references it almost immediately, but without giving anything (other than the initial death) away for someone who hasn't read it yet.
“Do you remember the Styles Case?” I asked.
“Let me see, was that the old lady who was poisoned? Somewhere down in Essex?”
I nodded.
“That was Poirot’s first big case. Undoubtedly, but for him, the murderer would have escaped scot-free. It was a most wonderful bit of detective work.”
Warming to my subject, I ran over the heads of the affair, working up to the triumphant and unexpected dénouement.
So who knows how much time has passed. Near that section, Hastings, as narrator, announces, "Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a Billingsgate fishwoman blush!" This particular misogyny is hypocritical, given his immediate attraction to and eventual romance with a woman who does all of the above. The concept of "jazz[ing] morning til night" is now hilarious, and Hastings, as in Styles, is at his funniest while trying to be galant with ladies. The scene where Hastings gives Cinderella time to escape by fending off Poirot is especially funny:
It was a sound in the doorway that made us look up. Poirot was standing there looking at us.
I did not hesitate. With a bound I reached him and pinioned his arms to his sides.
“Quick,” I said to the girl. “Get out of here. As fast as you can. I’ll hold him.”
With one look at me, she fled out of the room past us. I held Poirot in a grip of iron.
“Mon ami,” observed the latter mildly, “you do this sort of thing very well. The strong man holds me in his grasp and I am helpless as a child. But all this is uncomfortable and slightly ridiculous. Let us sit down and be calm.”
The combination of awkwardness, earnestness, sarcasm, and homoeroticism (“It is that you have the strength of a bull when you are roused, Hastings!") adds fun to an otherwise rather grim murder mystery.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Grief
lucyselim's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This is my second Agatha Christie book (after Murder on the Orient Express of course), and I really did enjoy the intrigue. How she was able to come up with such a good murder plot is beyond me. And she reveals clues and revelations at just the correct moment to keep you interested and also completely in the dark around the true events of the murder. (Either that or I am the most perfectly stupid reader she could have asked for).
I enjoyed the closeness that a first person narrative supplied over a third person narrative, but I found Hastings himself was rather annoying and stupid. I hope other companions of Poirot in other books are better. Regardless of Hastings irritating manor, I enjoyed following a narrator who was at least 5 steps behind Poirot at all times, as it meant Poirot's reveals were all the sweeter: it would have been ruined if Poirot himself had been the narrator.
Each new piece of evidence brought me further and further from the truth, when in reality, my first assumption over the killer had been the correct one all along. However, by the time I reached the end, I think I had assumed almost everyone to have committed the crime! A brilliantly thought out, non-violent murder mystery was exactly what I had wanted and was exactly what I received.
I enjoyed the closeness that a first person narrative supplied over a third person narrative, but I found Hastings himself was rather annoying and stupid. I hope other companions of Poirot in other books are better. Regardless of Hastings irritating manor, I enjoyed following a narrator who was at least 5 steps behind Poirot at all times, as it meant Poirot's reveals were all the sweeter: it would have been ruined if Poirot himself had been the narrator.
Each new piece of evidence brought me further and further from the truth, when in reality, my first assumption over the killer had been the correct one all along. However, by the time I reached the end, I think I had assumed almost everyone to have committed the crime! A brilliantly thought out, non-violent murder mystery was exactly what I had wanted and was exactly what I received.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
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