The Mysterious Affair At Styles

"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is the first novel published by Dame Agatha Christie in 1920. This annotation examines this novel while analyzing how plot, characters and setting meld together to form a total and complete entertaining novel. The plot, of course, is the story being told, and if it's being told by Agatha Christie, it is bound to be a murder mystery. Characters move the plot along through their actions and words in dialogue. Setting is the place or arena where the action is taking place. Remove one of these essential story elements and you don't have a novel. In any one particular chapter one or more of these elements will be evaluated and acts as a preview to the ensuing chapter. The chapter annotation appears before each chapter.
Captain Hastings acts as narrator telling this story in the first person. Together he and Hercule Poirot travel to Styles with the aim of a restful period only to have their respite interrupted by the poisoning of a character. Clues abound and the astute reader who is paying attention and not become sidetracked by lies and red herrings, will arrive at the solution to this mystery along with Monsieur Poirot at the same time.