This being Edwardian England, no one talks about their feelings.

It’s cool though, I’m totally fine with that.

I want to put you in my pocket so I can always have you deducing something amazing near me! Although, if I know anything about Poirot, it’s that his only true friend is Captain Hastings, so I guess I’m just sloppy seconds. Hercule Poirot, you are a weird little Belgian man. Way to check off everything on my must-have, classic, mystery list! This book has all the standard British mystery tropes, with Dame Christie putting them to good use: A remote English manor, a host of weird characters all staying in the home, a locked-room murder by poisoning, and a murder trial. Lucky for everyone involved, the War is going on, so some Belgians are taking flight and settling into the English countryside, which is conveniently how Poirot comes in to save the day. It’s up to Hercule Poirot, that charming little Belgian detective, to figure out who poisoned Mrs. Inglethorp dies a terrible and traumatic death by poisoning, no one is surprised or really very sad (oh, you Brits…). (Or maybe it does? NO SPOILERS here.) When Mrs. Get a clue, 1920s England-just because you have a beard does not make you a villain. It seems John’s (and his brother Lawrence’s) mother has remarried, despite being in her 70s (gasp!), and no one really cares for the new guy, Alfred Inglethorp. He runs into an old (rich) friend, John Cavendish, who invites him to recuperate at his amazing English home, Styles Manor (um, yes please). Hastings is away from the war, convalescing. We meet Captain Hastings for the first time. For instance, who are these zombie women following around a random dude with a candle? And what in the world is happening to the man (woman?) bent over the table over there on the side? I wish I could tell you, dear reader, I really wish I could. If you want to go super-traditional and find yourself an old copy, the original cover is going to have a bunch of non-information on it. The book was first published in 1920, and there have been a lot of different covers for it, depending on what was trendy at the time.

So this is the first mystery Agatha Christie ever wrote. Relationship Status: We Just Keep Coming Back To Each Other

Poirot the mysterious affair at styles