The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie’s first ever murder mystery. Includes an introduction by Christie archivist John Curran, and the original unpublished courtroom chapter as an alternate ending to the novel.‘Beware! Peril to the detective who says: “It is so small – it does not matter…” Everything matters.’After the Great War, life can never be the same again. Wounds need healing, and the horror of violent death banished into memory.Captain Arthur Hastings is invited to the rolling country estate of Styles to recuperate from injuries sustained at the Front. It is the last place he expects to encounter murder. Fortunately he knows a former detective, a Belgian refugee, who has grown bored of retirement …The first Hercule Poirot mystery, now published with a previously deleted chapter and introduced by Agatha Christie expert Dr John Curran.

THE MYSTERIOUS

AFFAIR AT STYLES

This novel was originally written as the result of a bet, that the author, who had previously never written a book could not compose a detective novel in which the reader would not be able to ‘spot’ the murderer, though having access to the same clues as the detective. The author has certainly won her bet, and in addition to a most ingenious plot of the best detective type she had introduced a new type of detective in the shape of a Belgian. This novel has had the unique distinction for a first book of being accepted by the Times as a serial for its weekly edition.

John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1921

Copyright (#ulink_35671673-591f-5700-9abc-bfb0cb30a0bf)

HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Styles edition 2016

First published in Great Britain by The Bodley Head Ltd 1921

The Mysterious Affair at Styles™ is a trade mark of Agatha Christie Limited and Agatha Christie® Poirot® and the Agatha Christie Signature are registered trade marks of Agatha Christie Limited in the UK and elsewhere.

Copyright © 1920 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.

www.agathachristie.com (http://www.agathachristie.com)

Introduction copyright © John Curran 2013

Agatha Christie Notebooks/‘The Last Link’ unpublished original version copyright © Christie Archive Trust 2013

Agatha Christie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008123185

Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780007463497

Version: 2017-10-18

Dedication (#ulink_d6a018c6-58aa-5389-b243-99ec0b672543)

To my mother

Contents

Cover (#u598470b1-0a2e-5cfd-9a09-f2290238f1ca)

Title Page (#u3567cad2-96a7-53c7-814a-c0e4cc1365bf)

Copyright (#u69ba76c2-4499-5d15-8733-03973f4b2695)

Dedication (#uf051cac5-e0cf-5d87-b6e7-07369a36453d)

Introduction by John Curran (#u328fcd99-ca87-54a7-beb5-d56cc1a9736f)

1. I Go to Styles (#ud973a134-166c-5b7a-a545-7af7e7b18d9c)

2. The 16th and 17th of July (#uc22e2212-f5d8-59a0-8d0f-03c4151118b2)

3. The Night of the Tragedy (#uaa64fced-6843-5083-bec0-dfe19e7bcdea)

4. Poirot Investigates (#u0adcbee7-ddd1-50f5-af95-af397d510f5f)

5. ‘It isn’t Strychnine, is it?’ (#litres_trial_promo)

6. The Inquest (#litres_trial_promo)

7. Poirot Pays His Debts (#litres_trial_promo)

8. Fresh Suspicions (#litres_trial_promo)

9. Dr Bauerstein (#litres_trial_promo)

10. The Arrest (#litres_trial_promo)

11. The Case for the Prosecution (#litres_trial_promo)

12. The Last Link (#litres_trial_promo)

13. Poirot Explains (#litres_trial_promo)

Appendix: ‘The Last Link’—Original Unpublished Version (#litres_trial_promo)

Footnote (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Agatha Christie (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES: (#ulink_1f766055-5c8f-51e6-9889-19c71bcbb73c)

AN INTRODUCTION (#ulink_1f766055-5c8f-51e6-9889-19c71bcbb73c)