Christie then submitted the manuscript to The Bodley Head. The manuscript was rejected by Hodder and Stoughton and Methuen. The character of Hercule Poirot was inspired by her experience working as a nurse, ministering to Belgian soldiers during the First World War, and by Belgian refugees who were living in Torquay. Decades later, when Christie told the story of Poirot's final case in Curtain, she set that novel at Styles.Ĭomposition and original publication Īgatha Christie began working on The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1916, writing most of it on Dartmoor. Hercule Poirot would go on to become one of the most famous characters in fiction. Christie and her husband subsequently named their house 'Styles'. The Mysterious Affair at Styles launched Christie's writing career.

The plot includes a number of red herrings and surprise twists. There are a half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding facts about themselves.

It is set in a large, isolated country manor. The story features many of the elements that have become icons of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due to Christie's influence. Christie had not mastered cleverness throughout her first novel, as 'too many clues tend to cancel each other out' this was judged a difficulty 'which Conan Doyle never satisfactorily overcame, but which Christie would.' : 22–23 An analysis in 1990 was positive about the plot, considered the novel one of the few by Christie that is well-anchored in time and place, a story that knows it describes the end of an era, and mentions that the plot is clever. Styles was well received by reviewers in the UK and the US at initial publication. This novel was one of the first ten books published by Penguin Books when it began in 1935. The true first publication of the novel was as a weekly serial in The Times, including the maps of the house and other illustrations included in the book. The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will. When Mrs Inglethorp is murdered, Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery. His friend Hastings arrives as a guest at her home. Poirot, a Belgian refugee of the Great War, is settling in England near the home of Emily Inglethorp, who helped him to his new life. Styles introduced Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head (John Lane's UK company) on 21 January 1921. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie, introducing her fictional detective Hercule Poirot. The Mysterious Affair at Styles at Wikisource

The mysterious affair at styles