Hello, everyone! Welcome, or welcome back to my blog. I have just recently started a new category for my book reviews, which will contain the reviews of only Agatha Christie’s books. I am, first of all, going to start with the Hercule Poirot series. Today, I am going to be reviewing two of Poirot’s first appearances, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and The Murder on the Links. Also, I will not be putting an ‘About the Author’ section in every one of these posts, because I have already given a lengthy bit of information in the introductory post, titled ‘Agatha Christie Series‘. So, if you haven’t checked that out already, go ahead and do so. Anyway, here’s my review. I hope you like it.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Much like A Study in Scarlet, this was the first of Agatha Christie’s books that made her famous. In this, she first created the little Belgian detective known all around the world – Hercule Poirot. In the book, Poirot is accompanied by his friend, Captain Hastings. This book was written in the middle of, and published just after the First World war. In this, Agatha Christie served as a VAD. It’s influence on her first book is evident, as you will find out, after reading it. It is much shorter than most of her other novels. In this, any experienced reader will also be able to make that it is one of the author’s first books.
Agatha Christie is known for the unexpected endings to her stories. That feature is first seen here; although she, in this particular book, stresses on one fact that make us feel that a certain person is guilt free. In her later books, she does not do that, because by this time she probably had learnt how to automatically lead readers astray. I know I am being very vague here, but any more of this, and I shall have revealed the whole story. An especially unsavory thought when it comes to detective books.
The story is very simple. Captain Hastings is visiting someone, and a murder happens there. The knows that his friend, Hercule Poirot, is staying nearby, and goes to fetch him. Poirot, as is characteristic of him, leads all the suspects and even his friend, on a merry chase, while trying to unravel a case that has offered everything it has, at once. The story is very simple. It is straightforward, with the characteristic twist coming only at the end of it.
In usual cases, simple stories are boring, but here, the extremely clear circumstance, and the lack of a lot of drama make this case stand out. And, if you are an ardent reader of detective novels, you will know what I mean by drama. There are only three clues: A broken coffee cup, a splash of candle grease, and the name of the husband on the victim’s dying lists. There are no cigarette ends, footprints, or controversial letters. And it is among these seemingly congruous clues, that Hercule Poirot find his inspiration, and solves a case that gives him worldwide fame.
This book is interesting enough for a detective fiction, but does not require you to think a lot. Like most other Hercule Poirot novels, this book just requires you to go with the flow. You let Poirot do his own thing, while you wait and watch.
The Murder on the Links
The Murder on the Links is Agatha Christie’s second Poirot novel. This, unlike most other stories, is based in France. It is somewhat of a disappointment to me, as is it is much too complicated, and has a lot many side-stories running in it for my taste. The main plot, however, is extremely clever, and while the story runs on those lines, it keeps you on the edge of your seats. In my opinion, Agatha Christie probably had the added pressure to perform well, after the success of her first novel. She tried to make it more interesting and tortuous, but ended up having particular possibly irrelevant parts in the book that at least I, had to plough through.
Hercule Poirot receives a letter from a man in France. The man believes that he is in danger and someone is trying to kill him. He calls upon Poirot for help and protection. Poirot agrees to do so, but on reaching France, he finds out that his client had already been murdered. He has been stabbed, and was found lying face-down in a shallow, sort of a grave, dug on a golf course adjacent to his property. Poirot is dejected, and vows to avenge his late client. And true to his nature, he does that. All of his exploits, methods, interviews, and the final decision in the book, has been written in first person by his friend Captain Arthur Hastings. Captain Hastings himself, later in the story, finds love, and gets married.
If only the plot and the outcome are viewed, from the point of view of a critic, the book is a very good one. The plot is original, the course of action taken by Poirot is interesting. And as expected, the final outcome is totally different from what we have been led to imagine. Here, Agatha Christie’s earlier shortcoming of actually having the character to lead the audience on a false trail is gone. She has been able to lead the audience on a completely different trail than Poirot’s trail of thought without it being obvious, as in her first novel.
Even then, as we get to second half of the book, she has introduced a lot of red herrings, and the suspense seems unbearable. There is much impatience on the part of the reader. I wanted very badly for Christie to stop going in circles, postponing the moment of truth, and cut straight to the chase. Obviously after the book finished, I realised that all the events had been in logical sequence. They slowly leading to the final showdown. However, I feel that this could have been achieved by simpler means.
This novel will be a good read for an experienced reader of detective fiction as the plot and its execution in itself is very interesting. For a person who has just started reading this genre, or started reading at all, however, I would recommend not reading this book. It might bore you, or put you off. But if you do want to experience to complete Hercule Poirot, you must read this book. It will introduce you to a lot of nuances in his character that you will see in later books.
So, that’s it for today, guys. I hope all of you liked the review. If yes, then that’s great! If you didn’t, then still stay tuned; who knows?, you might like the next post I post. I would recommend you to please check out my other posts, if you haven’t already. Please like, and subscribe to my blog. It’s fun, and it’s free. And most importantly, stay home, and stay safe.