The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The First Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Captain Arthur Hastings, invalided in the Great War, is recuperating as a guest of John Cavendish at Styles Court, the "country-place" of John's autocratic old aunt, Emily Inglethorpe - she of a sizeable fortune, and so recently remarried to a man 20 years her junior. When Emily's sudden heart attack is found to be attributable to strychnine, Hastings recruits an old friend, now retired, to aid in the local investigation. With impeccable timing, Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective, makes his dramatic entrance into the pages of crime literature.

©1920 Agatha Christie Limited All Rights Reserved (P)2002 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Great for a road trip

My husband and I listened to this book on our road trip--it was amazing! It sucked us in and made the time pass quickly so all we wanted to do was figure out who did it!! Agatha Christie is a master of suspense and intrigue. Highly recommend. #intrigue #suspense #mystery #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Loved it!

Hugh Fraser is a wonderful narrator. He does such a great job with the voices and flow of the story. He’s one of my favorite Christie narrators for sure.

Always great

it is about 35 years since I read this book.
it trouly caught me again. Difficult to lay down between opertunities to read.
still could not guess who the killer was

Bravo for Hugh Fraser

The wonderful actor Hugh Fraser (Captain Hastings in the delicious BBC productions) is the perfect narrator for Agatha Christie's Poirot novels. His individual voices are captivating and varied, and he is especially good at Poirot's Belgian accent.

This is Dame Agatha's first Poirot novel, and provides a nice bit of backstory into how Poirot and Hastings became friends. The mystery is full of those features that became a hallmark of all her novels. An intriguing murder. A houseful of suspects. A few red herrings. And, of course, the big reveal at the end. Plus Inspector Japp makes his debut. A nearly perfect first book that stands up well.

You will love this book!!

the story is great and so enjoyable, but the narration is really the crown jewel. Hugh Fraser is so talented as an actor and portrayed Captain Hastings wonderfully in the series. But I had no idea he would be such a skilled narrator! I enjoyed this book so much. I can't recommend it enough.

classic for a reason

This was a fantastic book. For those who have seen the recent BBC programing of Poirot, this is spot on in both the voice narration of lead characters, the flow of the plot, and the story it's self. (Though perhaps I should be saying that BBC was perfectly faithful to the books, as the books did come first.) Either way a fantast story that kept me guessing right up to the end and a talented narration by Hugh Fraser. I can not really imagine any possible way for this book to improve.

wonderfully read, engaging mystery

This story is narrated in the first person by Captain Hastings, played in the well known British TV series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" by the narrator of this book, Hugh Fraser. It's a perfect match, and Fraser is a wonderful performer on many Agatha Christie audiobooks. He's terrific. This was Dame Christie's first book, and is also the first appearance of Hercule Poirot, recently arrived in England from the German-occupied Belgium of WW I.

The mystery is well crafted and well written, with all the clues laid out but well hidden under red herrings and the setting of a family manor home during the deprivations and suspicions of a country at war.

Still Entertaining

I discovered the books written by Agatha Christie about 50 years ago. I've loved them since then. After repeated reading and viewing, I am still entertained by the books, films and TV shows. The stories hold up over time.

This book was the first of the Hercule Poirot series, written in 1920. Some of the language and situations are dated, but the wonderfully complex solution to the mystery is Christie at her best.

Hugh Frasers narration is excellent. HIs accent for Poirot is superb.

Great narrator.

Liked the voices, the plot and the first appearance of Poirot. Fun to enjoy a story written so long ago.

My introduction to Christie

I loved it. it was a perfect introduction to crime novels IMO. first intro to audio books as well.