The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel byAgathaChristie. It was written in the middle of World War I, in1916, andfirst published by John Lane in the United States inOctober 1920and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head (JohnLane's UKcompany) on 21 January 1921. The U.S. edition retailed atUS$2.00and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence(7/6).
Styles was Christie's first published novel, introducingHerculePoirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, andArthurHastings (Lieutenant and later, Captain). Poirot is describedas "adear little man", "an extraordinary looking little man" anda"quaint dandyfied little man". The story is told in first personbyHastings and features many of the elements that have becomeiconsof the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due toChristie'sinfluence. It is set in a large, isolated country manor.There area half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding factsaboutthemselves. The book includes maps of the house, the murderscene,and a drawing of a fragment of a will, as well as a number ofredherrings and surprise plot twists.
Christie dedicated this first book of her career "to my mother"–Clarissa ("Clara") Boehmer Miller – with whom she had developedavery close relationship, especially after the death of herfather,Frederick Miller, in 1901. (Wikipedia)
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