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alagasianflame's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A fantastic mystery from a mystery master; I expected no less.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
It’s a murder mystery, but there’s no graphic gore.typedtruths's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexism
➸ Trigger warnings for period-typical sexism, period-typical racism & racial slurs including antisemitism, antiziganism (g slur), and mentions of blackface and cultural appropriation, drugging, alcohol consumption, seizures (on-page), death of a mother from an accidental overdose mentioned, murder of a mother/mother-in-law and wife by poisoning (which was first diagnosed as death from heart failure), incarceration pending trial, military service mentioned, and mentions of euthanising a dog.fishreads's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This was the second Agatha Christie novel that I've read, but it was the first one I've read in English. I've been toying with the idea of reading Agatha Christie's novels since I saw some wonderful looking translated editions at my country's biggest book fair. Since "Read an Agatha Christie book" was a prompt in one of the challenges I'm trying to complete this year (in an effort to diversify my reading tastes), I thought a first Hercule Poirot book was a good place to start. Growing up watching Hercule Poirot movies with David Suchet made the quirky little Belgian detective a fond childhood memory. At the time, I wasn't aware this was also the first Agatha Christie published book, so I'm all the more pleased for starting my Agatha Christie exploration properly.
"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" opens with the character of Lieutenant Hastings retelling the events of how he happened to be invited to Styles Court by his acquaintance John Cavendish, the stepson of Styles Court's current owner, Mrs. Inglethorp. Mrs. Inglethorp, a lady in her seventies, became the family matriarch after the death of her first husband, Mr. Cavendish, who left the majority of his wealth to his wife instead of his two sons. While Mrs. Inglethorp might have been perfectly generous to her two stepsons, her second marriage to Arthur Inglethorp, a man twenty years younger, made the rest of the family quite displeased.
A few days into Lieutenant Hastings's stay at Styles Court, Mrs. Inglethorp dies in her bed, her symptoms seemingly pointing to poisoning. Hastings invites Hercule Poirot, a very famous detective who left quite an impression on him after they met in Belgium, to investigate the case.
It took me a few days to finish this book, as I kept falling asleep after reading only a few pages in the evening. In the beginning, during the setup of the scene and before Poirot's arrival, the writing did drag a bit. Lieutenant Hastings might entertain the idea of being a detective and proclaim his methods further advanced than Poirot's, but his overconfidence couldn't have been more obvious. Maybe it makes me a mean person, but I did enjoy the parts where Poirot would not so subtly insult Hastings's intelligence. At the same time, I have to say Poirot seemed quite fond of Hastings and appreciated his other qualities.
As for the murder mystery, even though my initial assumption of who the culprit/s might have been was correct, all the subsequent events and clues managed to throw me off the track completely, so by the end, I was quite surprised by the reveal.
I'm not sure about other editions of the novel, but the one I got for free contained a few racist slurs and instances of antisemitism.
I decided to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars as I didn't find it the most compelling, can't-put-the-book-down type of mystery. I still found it sufficiently entertaining, even if I had to pause more than a few times to look up translations of Poirot's random French exclamations. It did make me wonder if reading a translation in my native language (hopefully with readily annotated French translations) might make the experience somewhat more enjoyable.
Themes: single POV, murder mystery, detective
"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" opens with the character of Lieutenant Hastings retelling the events of how he happened to be invited to Styles Court by his acquaintance John Cavendish, the stepson of Styles Court's current owner, Mrs. Inglethorp. Mrs. Inglethorp, a lady in her seventies, became the family matriarch after the death of her first husband, Mr. Cavendish, who left the majority of his wealth to his wife instead of his two sons. While Mrs. Inglethorp might have been perfectly generous to her two stepsons, her second marriage to Arthur Inglethorp, a man twenty years younger, made the rest of the family quite displeased.
A few days into Lieutenant Hastings's stay at Styles Court, Mrs. Inglethorp dies in her bed, her symptoms seemingly pointing to poisoning. Hastings invites Hercule Poirot, a very famous detective who left quite an impression on him after they met in Belgium, to investigate the case.
It took me a few days to finish this book, as I kept falling asleep after reading only a few pages in the evening. In the beginning, during the setup of the scene and before Poirot's arrival, the writing did drag a bit. Lieutenant Hastings might entertain the idea of being a detective and proclaim his methods further advanced than Poirot's, but his overconfidence couldn't have been more obvious. Maybe it makes me a mean person, but I did enjoy the parts where Poirot would not so subtly insult Hastings's intelligence. At the same time, I have to say Poirot seemed quite fond of Hastings and appreciated his other qualities.
As for the murder mystery, even though my initial assumption of who the culprit/s might have been was correct, all the subsequent events and clues managed to throw me off the track completely, so by the end, I was quite surprised by the reveal.
I'm not sure about other editions of the novel, but the one I got for free contained a few racist slurs and instances of antisemitism.
I decided to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars as I didn't find it the most compelling, can't-put-the-book-down type of mystery. I still found it sufficiently entertaining, even if I had to pause more than a few times to look up translations of Poirot's random French exclamations. It did make me wonder if reading a translation in my native language (hopefully with readily annotated French translations) might make the experience somewhat more enjoyable.
Themes: single POV, murder mystery, detective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Antisemitism, Classism, Incest, Racial slurs, and Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent
ninahuynh's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-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? N/A
4.25
I never knew Agatha Christie to be this funny, haha! The writing style and word choices were difficult for me to understand at points, but I chugged along and boy did the plot thicken. I just love Hastings’s vehemence for Alfred Inglethorpe. So many great quotes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Murder
jessthanthree's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Racism, Death, and Infidelity
Minor: War, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Incest
missgrangerr's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Queen of mystery for a reason! Very well plotted.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, and Murder
leosaki's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Nothing quite like a first person narrator who is so full of himself when he is in reality very empty
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, War, Infidelity, Medical content, Death, and Death of parent
ellanarose's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Murder, and Racial slurs
nagaakil's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Incest, Murder, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, and Infidelity
oceanwriter's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I’m pretty sure this was my first Agatha Christie book (how bad is it that I don’t remember…) and my expectations were high after a lifetime of hearing about her and her mysteries. It’s easy to see how she became an original master of the genre, but as someone who’s read so many other mysteries and prefers more thrill to the plot, I ended up feeling underwhelmed.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the book that started it all — Agatha Christie’s debut as well as the first introduction to Hercule Poirot. When a wealthy and elderly woman is poisoned, there are a number of suspects in the household. It’s up to Hercule Poirot to deduce who the killer is.
The book was good. I love the fine details of everything and it was a great setting. I just struggled to get excited or really into the plot. The problem when you read a lot of mysteries is that the formulas become ingrained. I was more in the mood for a short audiobook at the time rather than a mystery itself, so I’m sure that was part of the problem. I will definitely be returning to Agatha Christie though, particularly Murder on the Orient Express.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Racism