The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Arthur Hastings who is convalescing from his injuries that he has incurred during the great war, is invited by an old friend to stay with him at Styles, Essex. Styles is ruled by the old but kind Mrs Inglethorp who has recently married a young guile man called  Alfred Inglethorp. Soon Hastings discovers that Styles is filled with Conjugal and financial problems.

One fateful night Mrs Inglethorp is taken seriously ill, her body goes through violent convulsions and she dies. later, a doctor confirms that the old woman had been poisoned through strychnine. Hastings suggests to the remaining family members to call in a detective. A detective who is an old friend of Hasting and would investigate the matter discreetly, A detective who is a Belgian, A detective whose green eyes light up when he has an idea and is living in the village because wherever he goes murder follows. can you take a guess who?

Review:

The book was published in 1920. and I read it on my iPad in 2012 for free! as part of the Gutenberg project.

The book is a typical Christie novel with an English country side setting, half a dozen suspects, a victim who was both loved and hated and a detective whose head resembles an egg. This is the first Poirot novel and also the first Published Christie novel. 

After reading a ton of Christie books I can't say there is anything new for me in the book But since I have not been reading Poirot novels in a chronological order it is only my fault. I think I would have liked the book much more had I read Poirot books chronologically. 

Poirot's Debut is a strong one. He comes off as an eccentric and lovable detective who is sympathetic to the good and wants the evil to be punished. Poirot's idiosyncrasies which are formed in this book carry on with him for the rest of his fictional life. He does seem overtly Clandestine is his detection and deduction in the book, and Poirot himself puts the reader off the track one or two times in the book.

A nice cozy murder mystery forms the  main plot of the novel. Why, how and who poisoned the old lady are the thee central questions around which the book revolves. The bit about how the poison was administered was interesting. The identity of the murderer is not difficult to figure out just go for the least likely suspect and you will be safe.

I'm going with three out of 5 stars for Poirot's Debut. A short, light and fun read. something you will read and forget.

I will submit this review as part of the BBC