Do women really kill by poison? Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles May give an answer | Book Review

The Mysterious Affair at Styles—Hercule Poirot begining

The perception of Poison being the women’s weapon is cynical and stereotypical. But why would they not? It's easy to procure, requires no physical strength—only brains—and women have plenty of those.

One such murder mystery that pierces into the heart of this notion is— The Mysterious Affairs at Styles by Agatha Christie.

This book introduced one of the greatest detectives of all time—Hercule Poirot. A smart Belgian detective who uses his “grey cells” to crack mysteries and crimes by getting into the brains of criminals. He meticulously employs all the tricks and methods to catch the mice. His presence of mind leaves the reader in an awe!

(Series alert: for cinematic buffs, you can watch series of the same name as well)

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Genre - Mystery, Detective Fiction, crime

 Plot -

Captain Hastings is staying at his Friend John's place in the Styles Court—a large manor in the countryside. In times of war, Emily Inglethorp,Step mother of John gets murdered with last words naming her new husband—Alfred Inglethorp. John Cavendish, his wife Mary Cavendish, his brother Lawrence, Miss Cynthia and Alfred Inglethorp are under suspicion.

Hastings calls the most awaited detective—Poirot to uncover the Real murder. How will be solve this one, a treat to read.

Murder weapon— Poison. Who killed Emily and why?

Ratings -     4.6 ⭐

What worked For me-

The evidence based method of using grey cells over emotions made this novel engaging. The characters feel well defined with enough background to confer the motive of Crime.
Relationships were well explored.

I enjoyed the floor-map provided in the book and the letter as well. These small details excite the reader to follow up the plot.

The court room naration was quick and captured all the evidenced with adequate emphasis on each suspect. The prosecution felt motivated to catch the criminal and not frame any one as culprit. The policeman were quick in action rather then being late like forever.

The Hercule-Hasting pair is intresting. The way Poirot converses his findings to Hastings and Hashtings reciprocates it in his own understanding, will definitely hook anyone up to the plot twists. 

What didn't work that well -

I enjoyed the book Overall, but I think it was confusing at times to keep up with the time frames during court room scenes appearing in the book initially. 

I found this relying heavily on the stereotypes rather than offering something strikingly diffrent theory.

(Hardcover) Get it here!

End-Cut by Reviewer 

The book is a must read. It's short length helps reader keep up the pace and frequent twists make you reach back to square one again and again, which is quite intriguing to feel.

After reading almost half of the book I was still confused as to how did the crime happened in the first place. The crime was honestly well written!

Reader would eagerly wait and seek Hercules Poirot's appearance to know where he went and why?
Hashtings sometimes may be found dumb but he did his part well in the story.

My favourite character - Lawrence Cavendish (spoiler alert: his love for Miss was cute as he wholeheartedly wanted to do things for her.)

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