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the_castle_library's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This is my first Agatha Christie book and the first in the Hercule Poirot series.
What a very twisty mystery indeed! I quite thoroughly enjoyed it and the writing style that kept you guessing who ACTUALLY dunnit 😄 Agatha wrapped up the ending perfectly and it didn't feel rushed as many others do.
What a very twisty mystery indeed! I quite thoroughly enjoyed it and the writing style that kept you guessing who ACTUALLY dunnit 😄 Agatha wrapped up the ending perfectly and it didn't feel rushed as many others do.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
prettiestwhistles's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Medical content, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Racism, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, and War
edwardian_girl_next_door's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
My umpteenth read of this particular Christie (for my wip retelling it from Mary Cavendish's point of view!). A rollicking read on the surface, the flaws appear upon closer inspection -- too many red herrings, too many side plots, too many coincidences and pieces of convenient timing. (The forward in my edition notes that, despite this, Christie went on to master the art of false clues, and I'm inclined to agree.) The influence of Sherlock Holmes is particularly marked as Christie tries to find her own voice in the genre; Hastings fits Dr. Watson almost to a tee, from his veteran status to his overall rather clueless demeanor. This novel also introduces archetypes which Christie continued to use in her later writing, such as "the wealthy old matriarch" and "the proud, aloof, and deeply emotional woman character." On top of that, it provides a fascinating glimpse into WWI England, a world engulfed in ration cards, spies, convalescent homes, and Red Cross charity fêtes. With all its quirks, it's a book near and dear to my heart, and a must-read for anyone interested in Christie or the cosy mystery genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Infidelity and Medical content
Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Antisemitism
sappypatheticm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse, Antisemitism, and War
typedtruths's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Sexism
➸ Trigger warnings for period-typical sexism, period-typical racism & racial slurs including antisemitism, antiziganism (g slur), and mentions of blackface and cultural appropriation, drugging, alcohol consumption, seizures (on-page), death of a mother from an accidental overdose mentioned, murder of a mother/mother-in-law and wife by poisoning (which was first diagnosed as death from heart failure), incarceration pending trial, military service mentioned, and mentions of euthanising a dog.writteninmagic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, and Classism
fishreads's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This was the second Agatha Christie novel that I've read, but it was the first one I've read in English. I've been toying with the idea of reading Agatha Christie's novels since I saw some wonderful looking translated editions at my country's biggest book fair. Since "Read an Agatha Christie book" was a prompt in one of the challenges I'm trying to complete this year (in an effort to diversify my reading tastes), I thought a first Hercule Poirot book was a good place to start. Growing up watching Hercule Poirot movies with David Suchet made the quirky little Belgian detective a fond childhood memory. At the time, I wasn't aware this was also the first Agatha Christie published book, so I'm all the more pleased for starting my Agatha Christie exploration properly.
"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" opens with the character of Lieutenant Hastings retelling the events of how he happened to be invited to Styles Court by his acquaintance John Cavendish, the stepson of Styles Court's current owner, Mrs. Inglethorp. Mrs. Inglethorp, a lady in her seventies, became the family matriarch after the death of her first husband, Mr. Cavendish, who left the majority of his wealth to his wife instead of his two sons. While Mrs. Inglethorp might have been perfectly generous to her two stepsons, her second marriage to Arthur Inglethorp, a man twenty years younger, made the rest of the family quite displeased.
A few days into Lieutenant Hastings's stay at Styles Court, Mrs. Inglethorp dies in her bed, her symptoms seemingly pointing to poisoning. Hastings invites Hercule Poirot, a very famous detective who left quite an impression on him after they met in Belgium, to investigate the case.
It took me a few days to finish this book, as I kept falling asleep after reading only a few pages in the evening. In the beginning, during the setup of the scene and before Poirot's arrival, the writing did drag a bit. Lieutenant Hastings might entertain the idea of being a detective and proclaim his methods further advanced than Poirot's, but his overconfidence couldn't have been more obvious. Maybe it makes me a mean person, but I did enjoy the parts where Poirot would not so subtly insult Hastings's intelligence. At the same time, I have to say Poirot seemed quite fond of Hastings and appreciated his other qualities.
As for the murder mystery, even though my initial assumption of who the culprit/s might have been was correct, all the subsequent events and clues managed to throw me off the track completely, so by the end, I was quite surprised by the reveal.
I'm not sure about other editions of the novel, but the one I got for free contained a few racist slurs and instances of antisemitism.
I decided to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars as I didn't find it the most compelling, can't-put-the-book-down type of mystery. I still found it sufficiently entertaining, even if I had to pause more than a few times to look up translations of Poirot's random French exclamations. It did make me wonder if reading a translation in my native language (hopefully with readily annotated French translations) might make the experience somewhat more enjoyable.
Themes: single POV, murder mystery, detective
"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" opens with the character of Lieutenant Hastings retelling the events of how he happened to be invited to Styles Court by his acquaintance John Cavendish, the stepson of Styles Court's current owner, Mrs. Inglethorp. Mrs. Inglethorp, a lady in her seventies, became the family matriarch after the death of her first husband, Mr. Cavendish, who left the majority of his wealth to his wife instead of his two sons. While Mrs. Inglethorp might have been perfectly generous to her two stepsons, her second marriage to Arthur Inglethorp, a man twenty years younger, made the rest of the family quite displeased.
A few days into Lieutenant Hastings's stay at Styles Court, Mrs. Inglethorp dies in her bed, her symptoms seemingly pointing to poisoning. Hastings invites Hercule Poirot, a very famous detective who left quite an impression on him after they met in Belgium, to investigate the case.
It took me a few days to finish this book, as I kept falling asleep after reading only a few pages in the evening. In the beginning, during the setup of the scene and before Poirot's arrival, the writing did drag a bit. Lieutenant Hastings might entertain the idea of being a detective and proclaim his methods further advanced than Poirot's, but his overconfidence couldn't have been more obvious. Maybe it makes me a mean person, but I did enjoy the parts where Poirot would not so subtly insult Hastings's intelligence. At the same time, I have to say Poirot seemed quite fond of Hastings and appreciated his other qualities.
As for the murder mystery, even though my initial assumption of who the culprit/s might have been was correct, all the subsequent events and clues managed to throw me off the track completely, so by the end, I was quite surprised by the reveal.
I'm not sure about other editions of the novel, but the one I got for free contained a few racist slurs and instances of antisemitism.
I decided to rate this book somewhere around 3 stars as I didn't find it the most compelling, can't-put-the-book-down type of mystery. I still found it sufficiently entertaining, even if I had to pause more than a few times to look up translations of Poirot's random French exclamations. It did make me wonder if reading a translation in my native language (hopefully with readily annotated French translations) might make the experience somewhat more enjoyable.
Themes: single POV, murder mystery, detective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Incest, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent
jessthanthree's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Incest, Racial slurs, Medical content, and War
leosaki's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Nothing quite like a first person narrator who is so full of himself when he is in reality very empty
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and War
ellanarose's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation