Recently I have been trying to wade my way through James Joyce's Ulysses. Not because I enjoy Joyce (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man I found boring), but just so I can say I've read it. I needed a diversion from Ulysses, so I started The Mysterious Affairs at Styles.
It was Christie's first published novel, appearing in 1920, but apparently she had started it mid-way through the First World War, in 1916. The action takes place at Styles Court, a country manor. The novel is narrated by Arthur Hastings, a soldier on leave who is visiting his friend, John Cavendish. Cavendish's stepmother, the wealthy Emily Inglethorp, has recently married Alfred Inglethorp, a man some twenty years younger than her. There is suspicion all round that Alfred has married Emily for her money and is not to be trusted. Emily's companion, the straight talking Evelyn Howard, is especially damning of Alfred.
Arthur Hastings has barely been a day at Styles Court before drama breaks out. Emily Inglethorp is heard yelling from her bed. She dies minutes after. There are many suspects, the guilt points many ways and several of the alibis provided are dodgy. Who did it? Hastings employs his eccentric Belgian friend, Hercule Poirot, to find out.
This was a brilliant entertainment from start to finish. Christie writes with a wonderful crispness and economy. It's the type of prose that really holds you attention throughout. The brilliantly organised plot - the way the clues unfold and the different character motivations are revealed - is like admiring a well set dinner table. Everything perfectly in its place.
I think I should like to read some Agatha Christie, maybe the more famous novels, like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
(This post written in October 2020. It's been sitting in drafts for all this time.)
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