The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is Agatha Christie's first mystery novel and the book that introduced Hercule Poirot, along with Inspector (later Chief Inspector) Japp and Arthur Hastings. Written in 1916, during the First World War, it was first published in the US in October 1920 and in the UK in January 1921. Poirot, a Belgian refugee, is settling in England near the home of Emily Inglethorp, who helped him to his new life; when she is murdered, he sets out to solve the case, with Hastings a guest at the house.