Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Mysterious Affair at Styles

“You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.” - Poirot to Hastings, contradicting every mystery plot in which he participates.

I’ve tried starting TMAaS at least once before, maybe even twice, but both times was bored and disinterested. The first person narrator seemed offputting, and the rapid introduction of boring suspects (with the all the Christie staples of sexist and racist descriptions!) was not appealing. I powered through this time, though, because I haven’t really been in the mood to read any fiction lately but had a good experience with Death In the Clouds two weeks ago.

A fourth of the way through: it’s gotten more interesting, partly in plot but mostly in opportunities to recognize familiar patterns. As far as character tropes, we’ve got the square, sensible nurse type, the nervous diligent maid, the brooding brothers, the suspect (but maybe not suspicious) doctor, the hot mysterious wife, the cute young ward, the “wicked” “gypsy” face of some pretty outsider, the unloved elderly victim, the bumbling detective sidekick nonplussed by every conclusion Poirot comes to… That last is the most obnoxious, since he’s also the narrator! The continual internal dialogue of “poor Poirot is getting too old, he pays attention to unimportant stuff, what can he be thinking” feels heavy-handed and grating. I get the set up, to some degree, since this is the first Poirot novel and the first readers might somehow miss the fact that he’s going to solve everything. Wouldn’t a friend of Poirot’s know how he works and give him more credit?? It’s so fake and annoying! It’s also a weird way to introduce the world to Poirot: old and past his prime, before we’ve even witnessed his work! Then again, I guess a lot, if not all, of Christie’s themes are about not writing people off due to age (or gender or relationship or motive or whatever); characters are constantly stunned by the odd outsider Poirot and the sweet elderly Ms Marple, no matter how many times they solve the most complicated crimes. And of course the suspect is always someone no one would expect…

Anyway, the locked room and poison are familiar Christie tropes, as is the unloved elderly victim. This plot in particular reminds me a TON of the Christmas mystery I read a year or two ago. The characters seem almost interchangeable, although the victim is more charitable than the curmudgeonly patriarch in that one.

Once I finished it, it felt more like Death on the Nile but less sexy. Kind of forgettable. I like that it actually WAS the person everyone suspected, plus the one no one suspected! Overall it feels pretty forgettable, though, and like Christie recycled several elements of this story in later ones, usually with better returns. There was the standard racism, unfortunately, the overuse of the word "apache,"

I'm ranking it lower than Death in the Clouds, because, even though it's a tidier story, it felt less unique and annoyed me more. Ha. One of the elements that grated on me most - Hastings' transparently ignorant assumptions - also provided some truly funny moments. The one that stands out most is his pity proposal to Hastings' auburn haired second choice Cynthia, whom, it turns out, doesn't see him romantically at all.

With a sigh, Cynthia flung herself down, and tossed off her hat. The sunlight, piercing through the branches, turned the auburn of her hair to quivering gold.
“Mr. Hastings—you are always so kind, and you know such a lot.”
It struck me at this moment that Cynthia was really a very charming girl! Much more charming than Mary, who never said things of that kind.

I don’t know what possessed me. Her beauty, perhaps, as she sat there, with the sunlight glinting down on her head; perhaps the sense of relief at encountering someone who so obviously could have no connection with the tragedy; perhaps honest pity for her youth and loneliness. Anyway, I leant forward, and taking her little hand, I said awkwardly:
“Marry me, Cynthia.”
Unwittingly, I had hit upon a sovereign remedy for her tears. She sat up at once, drew her hand away, and said, with some asperity:
“Don’t be silly!”
I was a little annoyed.
“I’m not being silly. I am asking you to do me the honour of becoming my wife.”
To my intense surprise, Cynthia burst out laughing, and called me a “funny dear.”
“It’s perfectly sweet of you,” she said, “but you know you don’t want to!”
“Yes, I do. I’ve got——”
“Never mind what you’ve got. You don’t really want to—and I don’t either.”
“Well, of course, that settles it,” I said stiffly. “But I don’t see anything to laugh at. There’s nothing funny about a proposal.”
“No, indeed,” said Cynthia. “Somebody might accept you next time. Good-bye, you’ve cheered me up very much.”
And, with a final uncontrollable burst of merriment, she vanished through the trees.

"Thinking over the interview, it struck me as being profoundly unsatisfactory." Lol.

Content Warnings

ttumbletree's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

hasmazlom13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

demoluver's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-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

3.5

This is the first book I’ve finished in like, 3 years. This was good enough that I’ve rekindled my love for mysteries and I will likely read more Agatha Christie in the future.

Content Warnings

lucyselim's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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