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A review by mystereity
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So, one of my friends on the Cozy Mystery discord mentioned she had just finished playing The ABC Murder video game and saw it was only $1.49 on Steam so I snapped it up and played for hours. Absolutely loved it and it gave me the idea to read the Poirot series from the beginning, which meshed well with book bingo. Woo! I read Murder on the Orient Express back in high school and wasn't impressed with the ending, so I've never read much Christie. Perhaps a few years of life experience and a change in tastes led me to really enjoy this one.
There was a lot I liked in this. This was the first Poirot mystery, and I liked how a lot of of him was revealed/introduced through Hastings' observations particularly the descriptions of Poirot's eyes turning greener. The plot was all too common in murders; family secrets and money and the family in this one was up to their eyeballs in family secrets and money. Oooo juicy! I loved the misdirections and red herrings, they were masterfully done and you don't realize they're leading you in the wrong direction until many chapters later. Really enjoyable and I gave up trying to guess whodunit around halfway through the book.
I did have a question; Hastings returned to England after being invalided out of the war but it's never explained why he was invalided out. It doesn't seem like he was wounded or ill, so what was it? PTSD? Again, doesn't seem like it. Not really important, but I'm curious (and nosy!)
There was a lot I liked in this. This was the first Poirot mystery, and I liked how a lot of of him was revealed/introduced through Hastings' observations particularly the descriptions of Poirot's eyes turning greener. The plot was all too common in murders; family secrets and money and the family in this one was up to their eyeballs in family secrets and money. Oooo juicy! I loved the misdirections and red herrings, they were masterfully done and you don't realize they're leading you in the wrong direction until many chapters later. Really enjoyable and I gave up trying to guess whodunit around halfway through the book.
I did have a question; Hastings returned to England after being invalided out of the war but it's never explained why he was invalided out. It doesn't seem like he was wounded or ill, so what was it? PTSD? Again, doesn't seem like it. Not really important, but I'm curious (and nosy!)