Looking For a Good Book

CLASSICS WEEK

Regular readers of my reviews will know that I’m a relatively new reader in the mystery genre. It is for this reason that I have not read much Agatha Christie (I’m much more familiar with some of her plays than I am with her novels). Thanks to Open Road Media, I’ve been able to build a digital library of some classic fiction which I have been slowly reading through, including Agatha Christie’s first novel and the introduction of one her most famous characters – Hercule Poirot.

Poirot, a Belgian refugee from the first world war, is settling in England with the help of a wealthy benefactor – Emily Inglethorp. Poirot is moving to Styles Court when Emily is murdered, poisoned, and the local authorities are completely stumped, despite there being a good half-dozen likely suspects with secrets that rather not have revealed.

Fortunately, Poirot has great detective skills, which he’ll put to work to solve the crime of his benefactor’s murder.

This was a fun, though slow, read. For modern readers who are used to a faster-paced read (or those with some reading ADD), this was a bit slower than a modern read – more description and careful consideration of lots of details. Of course detail is often important in a detective mystery.

While the mystery is nicely built, what really makes this work is the character of Hercule Poirot.  I’ve never read (or watched) a Poirot mystery and hadn’t realized what a delightful character he is. He definitely adds that unique ingredient to the mystery to set it apart and make it more interesting. One can see why this debut novel made a splash back in 1920 when it was first published.

Looking for a good book? Agatha Christie’s debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. also introduced readers to the unconventional detective Hercule Poirot. It’s a great introduction to Dame Agatha Christie.

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The Mysterious Affair at Styles

author: Agatha Christie

series: Hercule Poirot #1

publisher: Open Road Media

Kindle Edition, 171 pages