The Mysterious Affair At Styles

Written in 1916, during World War I, The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Agatha Christie’s first published novel. The story introduces the author’s world-famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, as well as Lieutenant (later Captain) Hastings and Inspector (later Chief Inspector) Japp. The mystery begins with Poirot settling in England near the home of Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is killed, Poirot must apply his detective skills to solve the mystery based on a few seemingly random clues. The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will.

After having been rejected by six publishers, John Lane (US) produced the story in novel form for the first time in October 1920. (The Mysterious Affair at Styles had previously been serialized in the UK’s The Times in February of that year.) The first edition of the novel has a hardcover with 296 pages. Beneath the dustjacket illustrated by Alfred James Dewey, the book is covered in pale brown cloth with dark green lettering on the upper cover and spine.

The Bodley Head, John Lane’s UK company, published the first British edition of The Mysterious Affair at Styles in January of 1921. However, the first Canadian edition, published by Ryerson Press in 1920, actually precedes the first British edition. In 1976, following Christie’s death, Dodd, Mead and Company published a commemorative edition of the novel.