The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) - Softcover

Christie, Agatha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1435110633 ISBN 13: 9781435110632

Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

A wealthy woman is poisoned at an English country manor and the world of detective fiction is changed forever. With The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie launched herself, and her beloved Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, into popular culture history.

 

When Captain Arthur Hastings runs into an old friend, John Cavendish, and is invited to the family estate at Styles, he has a “premonition of approaching evil.” Outside, the Great War is still raging, and England is in upheaval. Cavendish’s widowed stepmother has brought the turmoil home by marrying a sinister-looking younger man, and when she is killed, presumably poisoned with strychnine, he becomes the first and most obvious suspect. But other family members may also have had motives for murder. Luckily, one of the Belgian refugees from the German occupation staying at Styles is a retired police detective: Hercule Poirot is on the case.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Here is the famous first case that launched the legendary career of Hercule Poirot and his ingenious creator Agatha Christie, now the most popular mystery writer of all time, as well as the world's best-selling author (over two billion copies of her books are in print). With The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie's cerebral and eccentric Belgian detective steps out of retirement and into the limelight of a classic mystery.

Styles Court is a magnificent English manor house owned by a rich, strong-willed matron who, to the dismay of her stepson, has recently married a fortune hunter. The scene is set for death by violence. The murder of the mistress of Styles Court is so baffling, so cleverly-plotted, that it challenges even the skill of Hercule Poirot, notwithstanding the legions of tiny gray cells that take residence in his ever-so-fertile mind.

From the Inside Flap:

Who poisoned the wealthy Emily Inglethorpe, and how did the murderer penetrate and escape from her locked bedroom? Sus-pects abound in the quaint village of Styles St. Mary--from the heiress's fawning new husband to her two stepsons, her volatile housekeeper, and a pretty nurse who works in a hospital dispensary. Making his unforgettable debut, the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on the case.
"The key to the success of this style of detective novel," writes Elizabeth George in her Introduction, "lies in how the author deals with both the clues and the red herrings, and it has to be said that no one bettered Agatha Christie at this game."

About this edition

• Publisher: Sterling Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1435110633
• ISBN 13: 9781435110632
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192