“I came across a man in Belgium once, a very famous detective…”
First written in 1916 and later serialized in The Times, Agatha Christie’s masterful literary debut The Mysterious Affair at Styles (officially published by John Lane in 1920) offers a quintessential tale of murder and intrigue as our narrator finds himself in residence at a large Essex country estate where a shadowy murder has occurred and myriad suspects begin to emerge. Notably, the novel takes place on the British home front during World War I at the sunset of the Edwardian country-house era, and this epoch serves as an important backdrop to the story. Famously, The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first of Christie’s novels to introduce readers to the famed eccentric detective, Hercule Poirot, a Belgian refugee living in Britain following Germany’s invasion of his home country (Christie based Hercule’s first name on the Greek hero Hercules, but later couldn’t recall how she came up with his last name “Poirot”). The birth of Poirot led to 33 novels and over 50 short stories. The idea for the character came to Christie as an amalgamation of various Belgian refugees she witnessed living in Torquay as well as Belgian soldiers she had personally assisted when working as a Red Cross nurse during the World War I.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is narrated by Arthur Hastings, a young man who has recently been “invalided” home from the warfront. After spending some depressing months in a convalescent home, he has since been granted several months leave during which he runs into an old boyhood friend, John Cavendish (who is forty-five years old; or fifteen years Hastings’ senior), and he invites Hastings to his mother’s estate at Styles Court in the fictional village of Styles St. Mary. John Cavendish’s mother, Emily Agnes Inglethorp, is the owner of the vast estate at Styles. She is a society woman, likely around seventy years of age, though still “energetic” and “autocratic.” She is known to be generous with her fortune after having inherited Styles Court upon the passing of her husband (John Cavendish’s biological father), and now John and his brother, Lawrence, rely on their mother’s money for income. However, Mrs. Inglethrop has recently been remarried to a disagreeable, suspicious man who is about twenty years her junior –Alfred Inglethorp– a man whom many suspect of being a mere “fortune hunter.” With this late-in-life marriage, both brothers John and Lawrence have been effectively disinherited from their late father’s fortune. Needless to say, Mr. Inglethorp is not well received in the family. This is the tense context into which Hastings finds himself.
One day, while casually enjoying his leisurely delights in Styles St. Mary, Hastings bumps into an old acquaintance at the post office: the famed Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who happens to be living nearby: “I came across a man in Belgium once, a very famous detective, and he quite inflamed me. He was a marvelous little fellow. He used to say that all good detective work was a mere matter of method… He was a funny little man, a great dandy, but wonderfully clever” (10). Poirot was once one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police, who was known to possess a flair for the extraordinary, and who solved some of the most baffling cases of his day. Poirot is hardly more than five foot four, but he is still an “extraordinarily good-looking little man” with a head always perched a little on one side. He dresses with a neatness of attire, but Hastings notices he now has a limp. As readers, we are instantly drawn in by Christie’s image of Poirot.
Notably, this all takes place during a warm summer (Hastings initially arrives on the fifth of July), which conveys this happy little village with fond glimpses backward in time into the world of the idle British aristocracy as they retreated into sprawling country estates: “It was a still, warm day in early July. As one looked out over the flat Essex country, lying so green and peaceful under the afternoon sun, it seemed almost impossible to believe that, not so very far away, a great war was running in appointed course. I felt I had strayed into another world” (6).
However, this idyllic vision of arcadia is quickly disrupted when, late on the night of July 17th, Mrs. Inglethrop is found to have been poisoned with strychnine while lying in her bed with her doors bolted shut from the inside. The characters are all awoken in the night as they barge into her room only to find a violently convulsing Mrs. Inglethorp as she utters two cryptic sentences: “Better now – very sudden-stupid of me – to lock myself in” and then “Alfred-Alfred-“ before she abruptly dies of poisoning. A most savage murder! But whodunnit? Naturally, Hastings solicits the help of Poirot who agrees to assist, if for no other reason than to repay Mrs. Inglethorp for all her generosity toward Belgian refugees. Upon inspecting the crime scene with Hastings, Poirot unveils a string of strange clues –a ground coffee cup, a fresh candle grease stain, a burned fragment of Mrs. Inglethorp’s will in the fireplace hearth, a dispatch case with a key in the lock, and other little-noticed details.
“…the air seemed rife with suspicion… A vague suspicion of everyone and everything filled my mind. Just for a moment I had a premonition of approaching evil” (16).
Who could have done such a thing? Could the murderer be one of the following characters?
- Alfred Inglethorp: Mrs. Inglethorp’s new husband and a much-despised man who is alleged to have married her for her fortune. He has a long black beard and wears gold-rimmed pince-nez spectacles (Hastings notes: “it struck me that he might look natural on a stage, but was strangely out of place in real life”). He would have much to gain with the passing of his wife, namely her entire estate.
- Evelyn “Evie” Howard: Mrs. Inglethrop’s companion and cousin to Alfred Inglethorp. She had a dispute with Mrs. Inglethrop and Alfred shortly before abruptly leaving the house to serve as a nurse in Middlingham, a manufacturing town located some fifteen miles away. She warns Hastings to keep his eyes open because the house is filled with sharks, especially Mr. Inglethorp.
- Cynthia Murdoch: a protegee of Mrs. Inglethorp. She works at a Red Cross Hospital (much like Agatha Christie once did, herself), and is the daughter of a deceased friend of the family. She likely has access to any number of poisons through her medicinal work.
- John Cavendish: Mrs. Inglethorp’s elder stepson through her prior marriage (i.e. a son from her first husband’s first marriage). He is a friend of Hastings who initially invites him to Styles at the start of the book.
- Lawrence Cavendish: Mrs. Inglethorp’s younger stepson through her prior marriage (i.e. a son from her first husband’s first marriage).
- Mary Cavendish: John’s wife. She later privately confesses her wish to leave John because Styles is like a prison to her. She is a friend of Dr. Bauerstein.
- Dr. Bauerstein: a London specialist recovering in the village from a nervous breakdown and “one of the greatest living experts on poisons, I believe.”
- The maidservants are Dorcas and Annie.
- The gardeners are Manning and William. They have been cultivating ornate begonias in the yard –Poirot takes careful note of this fact.
- Mrs. Raikes: a neighbor woman whom many people suspect of having an affair with Alfred Inglethorp, though it is later revealed that John Cavendish is the one having the affair with Mrs. Raikes. Hastings notes she has the face of a gypsy.
“Beware! Peril to the detective who says: ‘It is so small –it does not matter. It will not agree. I will forget it.’ That way lies confusion! Everything matters” (37).
Throughout the investigation, Hastings serves as an amusing sidekick to Poirot – a Watson to Poirot’s Holmes—but he is continually outflanked and outmaneuvered by Poirot’s superior intellect and Socratic irony, as well as his frustratingly elusive, almost playfully puzzling method of revealing only small slivers of his “little ideas.” His idiosyncrasies are both silly and serious at the same time (he only ever refers to Hastings as “mon ami”). After routinely failing to grasp the meaning of Poirot’s inquiries, Hastings is comically shown to have a wildly inflated opinion of himself. And also joining in the investigation are two men from Scotland Yard: James “Jimmy” Japp and Superintendent Summerhaye. Japp (or “Jappy”) is already familiar with Poirot. They previously crossed paths in 1904 during the Abercrombie forgery case, and when they caught Baron Altura in Antwerp after he eluded the police all over Europe. Nevertheless, the presence of Scotland Yard adds further gravity to this case. Can Poirot and Hastings solve this mystery before Scotland Yard can make a fatal error?
The Mysterious Affair at Styles offers a brilliant, succinct, tightly woven plot from the master of the mystery genre, Agatha Christie. Her hand-drawn maps and scribbled notes peppered throughout the book only add to the remarkable ornateness of this concise whodunnit mystery. By the end of the book, a trail of clues leads back to a surprising conclusion, a person whom we initially suspect of being guilty, but later write-off when the evidence seems to lead elsewhere. For those who have not read the novel, I strongly encourage you to devour it first before proceeding forward with this review (fair warning, spoilers lie ahead). For as Poirot states: “I do not mind telling you –though, as you know, it is not my habit to explain until the end is reached” (39).
Solution (Spoilers Ahead)
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“It is one thing to know a man is guilty, it is quite another to prove him so” (167).
The prime suspect at the outset of the novel is Alfred Inglethorp, husband of the late Mrs. Inglethrop. He is accused of committing the willful murder of his wife in order to inherit her vast wealth, however Poirot is quick to note his unusual behavior –Mr. Inglethorp seems unfazed, perhaps even eager to be arrested. After the preliminary trial, Poirot begins to clock all the mysterious clues that don’t quite add up (particularly Mr. Inglethrop’s unique handwriting that doesn’t match the purchase receipt of the strychnine poison from a pharmacy in the village, ostensibly to treat sick dogs at Styles). With too many facts not adding up, Poirot eventually intervenes and prevents the two Scotland Yard detectives from arresting Mr. Inglethorp before a full accounting.
Next, we learn that Dr. Bauerstein has been arrested! Could this renowned poison expert have been the culprit all along? Keeping in mind the backdrop of World War I, Dr. Bauerstein is soon revealed to be a Jew and a German spy (note the casual expression of antisemitism in this book), hence why he is often awake and dressed at all hours of the night (conducting espionage instead of suffering from insomnia as he initially claimed), and this also explains why two men from Scotland Yard were able to make such a sudden appearance in the small rural town of Styles St. Mary –they were tracking a foreign spy: Dr. Bauerstein. However, Dr. Bauerstein is soon exonerated of the murder of Mrs. Inglethorp.
Third, John Cavendish is then arrested under suspicion of murdering his stepmother when his handwriting accurately matches the purchase-record kept by Mr. Mace (the pharmacist in the village), and a phial containing the poison is found in his room at Styles, along with a fake beard and pair of pince-nez spectacles which have been carefully placed in his clothing drawers. He is also revealed to have been having an affair with Mrs. Raikes, and during a lengthy trial scene, Poirot carefully observes the evidence laid out, but he remains skeptical of John’s guilt.
A distraught Poirot struggles to find the missing link in the case. He and Hastings return to Poirot’s house, Leastways Cottage, in the village where he curiously smokes Russian cigarettes, and carefully stows the used matches in a little China pot (this little detail struck me as unusual). While ironically building a house of playing cards in order to focus his mind, Hastings unwittingly gives Poirot an idea, and Poirot suddenly springs up and rushes down the street flailing like a madman –he has apparently solved the case!
In exposing an elaborate string of clues which have been “cleverly manufactured,” Poirot reveals the murderer to be none other than Alfred Inglethorp –the most obvious suspect from the start of the novel, who was gradually exonerated as the story progressed. With help from his cousin and secret lover Evelyn Howard –who has been putting on quite a strong show of distaste for her cousin and lover—the two of them have evidently managed to create an elaborate ruse intended to draw scrutiny upon Alfred at first, only to exonerate him shortly after his arrest, thereby framing John Cavendish in the process. However, Poirot intervened and prevented the arrest of Mr. Inglethorp until all evidence was finally in place. The last clue was the discovery Mr. Inglethorp’s note to Evelyn Howard concealed inside a vase in Mrs. Inglethorp’s room (Mr. Inglethorp was prevented from retrieving his incriminating note and destroying it himself because he was being closely surveilled by the men from Scotland Yard). Poirot naturally solves the case with his unique blend of unparalleled genius and elusive charm (or the “method in his madness”). And with a brief lull in the war abroad, the sensationalist newspapers are eager to latch onto the story and run with the headline “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” giving it national attention.
On a final point of note, Poirot personally prides himself on having helped repair the marriage of John and Mary Cavendish while investigating this case. He cares deeply about people, as he demonstrates a near-psychic ability to read people’s inner thoughts, and he remarks that love between a man and woman is “the greatest thing in the world.” This stands in stark contrast to Hastings who does not seem to understand women at all, and who earlier commented “A man in love is a sorry spectacle.” Perhaps Poirot understands the idea that in order to be a good detective, one must also be an astute student of life. In addition to John and Mary Cavendish rekindling their marriage, at the book’s conclusion, John’s brother Lawrence Cavendish also finds love with Cynthia Murdoch (in fact, their budding love serves as a subtle backdrop throughout the novel). At one point, Hastings had suddenly and impulsively proposed marriage to Cynthia during the investigation, but she politely declined and casually brushed it aside. It was a strange and surprising moment in the book. At any rate, by the end of the novel Hastings laments his own loneliness, but Poirot consoles him, speculating there may be other opportunities to go “hunting” together again in the future.
Christie, Agatha. Mysterious Affair at Styles. Vintage Books, A Division of Random House LLC, New York, New York. 2019 (originally published in 1920).
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