STILL THE QUEEN OF CRIME?

 Book Review

Title.             The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Author.          Agatha Christie 

Publisher.      By Agatha Christie Ltd/Planet Three Publishing, London

Published in 1920 and introduced a Belgian detective, Monsieur Hercule Poirot to the English ‘upper classes’. On screen many well known actors have portrayed the super sleuth, but there is one who sits over the heads of others. David Suchet, of course. So, the story is over one hundred years old and it is still being read.

Without wishing to state the obvious it is a master class in story telling, in character creation and for plot. It requires concentration as the characters are introduced to the reader. And of course

all the details as both Hastings and Poirot give the reader information.

It would be ridiculous for me to be other than complimentary as both Agatha Christie and her Belgian detective have been lauded by many. It is set before the end of The Great War in 1918 when some Belgian nationals were in England.

The plot is detailed and attention to it is paramount. There is no rush to reach a conclusion and in doing that the reader should enjoy the writing; the style of it and ‘wordage’.

It is narrated by Hastings who is convalescing after being invalided from the Front. He bumps into an old friend John Cavendish who lives with his mother at ‘Styles’. A country pile of Englishness. Having nothing better to do Hastings goes to stay with his friend, his recently married mother and her husband Alfred Inglethorp.

Basically, the woman of the dies unexpectedly and automatically the husband is suspected. But it is not as easy as that because there are other plots to become entangled with. Of course the writer wants her readers to, not necessarily to be fooled, but to work hard at solving the riddles she has created.

Then, if you haven't quite got it, there is a chapter at the end where Hastings voices his confusion and all is revealed to him by Monsieur Poirot. He has to be right.

For me Agatha Christie retains the crown of ‘Queen of the Plot’ and maybe still ‘The Queen of Crime!’