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The Mysterious Affair at Styles  By  cover art

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
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Publisher's summary

There were not less than seven people at the fashionable estate in Essex, England, who might have abided Emily Inglethorp if she were more dead than alive. There were not less than seven motives and no fewer than seven apparently fool-proof alibis when the wealthy lady of Styles lay dead in her own bed. Had the perfect crime been committed?

Here is the famous first case that launched the legendary career of Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie's brilliant and eccentric detective steps out of retirement and into the shadows of a classic mystery. The victim is a wealthy heiress. The suspects are her fortune-hunting husband, her jealous relatives, her hired companion, and others. The solution is a deadly scheme that can only be revealed by the master detective himself, Hercule Poirot.

Public Domain (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Mysterious Affair at Styles

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

The first and maybe the best Agatha Christie novel

A complex and surprising crime novel. Being Agatha Christie-s first, she did not have time to fall into her routines yet. Characters are all interesting, the concept is still fresh.

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7 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Worst Ever Recording Quality!!!

The issue with this recording is neither the story nor the narration. The problem is that throughout the majority of recording it sounds like someone else is talking in the background in the same, or nearby room.
Additionally, there are several instances where dialogue (2-3 lines) is repeated. This is the first time I have ever received a poor quality recording from Audible. I hope it’s the last, as well.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Must be understandable to be enjoyed

This presentation has to be the worst ever. It reminded me of the quality of radio in its beginning.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

enter Poirot

this is the book where we meet Commander Hastings and Inspector Poirot. that said, you won't be missing much if you skip it. there's no deep backstory here, but ( very) passing illusions to the war that drove Poirot to live in England. ( have to love the cover - perfect example of cover art of the time. the scene portrayed is not in the book, just a piece of cheesecake to attract the male reader while waiting at the train station.)

as for the book, it's just too long. there's lots of snippets of evidence but you know that Christie is not going to let you see the whole picture until the wrap up. readers are invited to consider how much time they want to spend on the mystery before it's finally resolved. people like me will find that they forgotten who's who by that time.

the reading is by a woman, who does a good job, but it takes a brief adjustment to realize that she is reading the male perspective. the recording should have been edited better because there are several times where she starts over. well at least six. but it's not too distracting if you are a forgiving nature.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

True mystery

Very interesting keeps you appealed to the last. Excellent narration. I enjoyed this audible and hope you would to.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great mystery - not a great recording

Did not care for the narrator, her voice had a grating quality. There is also background noise in the recording itself.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Worth reading (or hearing) again...

I read this story many years ago, so thankfully couldn't quite recall the ending. Agatha Christie did a wonderful job of adding layers to stories, so the endings weren't quite simple, much like life.

At first it bothered me having a female read a story clearly meant to be narrated by a male, but she did a good job of varying the voices of characters and I found myself coming back to listen as I would typically keep picking up an enjoyable book I'm actually reading.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Always love Agatha Christie but…

Good classic if dated story. Reader might be okay for Miss Marple but is NOT good for Poirot. All in all, this was disappointing.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Story is fantastic, narrator is not.

I wanted to read this book for a book club and this was the only free copy audible had. So because it was free I can’t complain too much, but that being said, this version was not the best. I didn’t love the narrator, and multiple times it would repeat a sentence or a whole paragraph, which was jarring and made the book seem disjointed. So beware the narration.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not the best

The recording was poor, the book was read by a female while the story was narrated by a male, and the storyline was mostly mechanics.

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