The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Set in the summer of 1917 on a rural Essex estate, the story follows war-wounded Captain Arthur Hastings to his friend John Cavendish's Styles St. Mary mansion. The Cavendish household is filled with tension due to the marriage of Emily, John's elderly widowed aunt, herself of considerable fortune, to a younger, more suspicious man, Alfred Inglethorp, twenty years her junior. Emily's two stepsons, John and Lawrence Cavendish, as well as John's wife, Mary, and several others, also live in Styles. One night, the residents of Styles wake up to find Emily Inglethorp dying. When it is discovered that Emily's sudden heart attack is attributable to strychnine, Hastings, who had met his old friend, the Belgian Hercule Poirot, recruits him to assist in the local investigation. With impeccable timing, Hercule Poirot, the insightful retired detective, makes his dramatic entrance to solve a most baffling case.

Who poisoned the wealthy Emily Inglethorpe and how did the killer penetrate and escape her locked bedroom? Suspects abound in the quaint town of Styles St. Mary, from the heiress' fawning new husband to her two stepchildren, her volatile housekeeper, and a pretty nurse who works in a hospital dispensary. On the day she was killed, Emily Inglethorp was heard arguing with someone, probably her husband, Alfred, or her stepson, John. Afterwards she was very distraught and apparently made a new will, which no one can find. No one can explain how or when strychnine was administered to Mrs Inglethorp. High on Poirot's list of suspects are: John Cavendish, the eldest stepson; Maria Cavendish, his wife; Lawrence Cavendish, the youngest stepson; Evelyn Howard, companion of Mrs. Inglethorpe; Cynthia Murdoch, his protégé; and Dr. Bauerstein, a mysterious stranger living in Essex. Everyone has motives and opportunities, but only Poirot can discover the truth.

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Fiction, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Adults, Classic Literature, British Literature, Hercule Poirot (Fictional Character), Tommy Beresford (Fictional Character), Tuppence Beresford (Fictional Character), Captain Arthur Hastings (Fictional Character), Private Investigators, English Detectives, Murder, Investigation, Open Library Staff Picks, Books on CD, Private Investigators, fiction, Fiction, mystery and detective, traditional, Poirot, hercule (fictional character), fiction, England, fiction, Hastings, arthur, captain (fictional character), fiction, Fiction, mystery and detective, general, Fiction, thrillers, general, Beresford, tommy (fictional character), fiction, Beresford, tuppence (fictional character), fiction, Married, fiction, English literature, Language and languages, study and teaching, Crime, Fiction, general, Belgian, Detectives, romans, nouvellesPlaces

Essex, England, AngleterreTimes

1917Showing 12 featured editions. See all 1091 editions?

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Novels.