Prismark10 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' is the first Poirot story. However as this is the feature length story marking the beginning of the the third season, it almost serves as a prequel.The action moves to 1917, the great war is still raging. Lieutenant Hastings has been wounded and also maybe shell shocked. He is invited by an old friend John Cavendish (David Rintoul) to stay at his vast estate, Styles Court to recuperate. Along the way Hastings is told that John's mother has married Albert Ingelthorpe (Michael Cronin) who is 20 years younger than her. The motive for the marriage can only be money.In the nearby village Hastings encounters a man who he once met, Hercules Poirot who is a Belgian refugee.Later that night John's mother dies, it is poison. Hastings has no option but to call in Poirot, the man who he once helped in an investigation.The obvious culprit is Albert Ingelthorpe who is silent about his whereabouts and who also purchased some poison for a dog. However Poirot is convinced that Ingelthorpe might have a watertight alibi even though he has motive compared to others in the household.A generation of schoolchildren at the time might have been confused that PE teacher, Mr Baxter from Grange Hill cannot surely be the baddie. As we have gone back in time Suchet's Poirot has more hair. Unfortunately little is done make Hastings and Japp look younger.As I have said about the previous early episodes of Poirot, the art and set decoration is sumptuous. There are just some wonderful scenes with a huge hanging painting as some people walk down the stairs of some government building. There are short scenes which require period detail, costumes, sets and extras. Money was thrown into this series.However it did feel a bit overlong and the reasons that Poirot deduced to catch the culprit was rather weak. It is a locked room mystery but one where the killer has written down the incriminating evidence.

kaberi-893-642316 This was the first mystery story that Agatha Christie ever wrote. Reasonably faithfully depicted here, it is an entertaining if straightforward retelling of what happened when Captain Hastings, recovering from a war wound in 1917, finds himself visiting the estate of an old friend in the village of Styles St. Mary. The same village where, coincidentally, Hastings's acquaintance Poirot has been living for the last 4 years, along with 7 other Belgian war refugees. When Poirot's benefactor, Mrs. Inglethorp dies mysteriously one night, Poirot and Hastings work together to investigate the matter.The story is helped along by some minor touches of humor, especially the scene where a young woman appeals to Hastings for advice, and Hastings impulsively proposes marriage to her. This story, outside of simply being the first Christie novel, is also noted for having her first rather shocking final revelation, one that here is so shocking that the final confession "All right, we love each other!" looks really too ridiculous to be believed. But overall, the period detail is wonderful to behold, and Suchet and company as usual do an excellent job.

TheLittleSongbird The Mysterious Affair at Styles(the book to introduce the quintessential detective) is not my favourite Agatha Christie novel, but it was a great read with memorable characters, fine atmosphere and a carefully-constructed plot. This adaptation of the book is not my favourite episode of the wonderful Agatha Christie:Poirot series, but it is ever bit as compelling as the book and more.The characters are still memorable, Poirot is still the clever and eccentric detective we know and love, Hastings is appropriately naive and Japp is still amusing. Supporting cast wise, Albert especially is very shifty. The plot is very clever and careful, with the odd logical lapse, and sticks fairly faithfully to that of the book. And the atmosphere is also there, not haunting as it is in Hickory Dickory Dock, One, Two, Buckle My Buckle or The ABC Murders, but a lot of scenes left an impression, especially Emily Inglethorp's death scene and the final solution.On its own terms, The Mysterious Affair at Styles works wonders. The adaptation is shot in a very sumptuous visual style with interesting camera-angles, luxurious costumes and breathtaking scenery and evoking of the period. The music is not the best there is in these adaptations, but it is still beautiful and haunting as it should be, the dialogue is thoughtful and intelligent with the odd spot of humour and the direction is very well done making this episode I feel one of the better-directed early episodes.The cast are also magnificent. David Suchet is an outstanding Poirot and nails everything about the detective down to the appearance, accent and mannerisms. Hugh Fraser gives one of his better performances of the series and Phillip Jackson is a joy. The supporting cast are high-calibre across the board, with Michael Cronin, Robert Calf and Gillian Barge particularly standing out.In conclusion, a fine adaptation and one of my favourites of the series. 9/10 Bethany Cox

pawebster A picturesque version of 1917 in England is beautifully evoked -- lovely scenery, vintage cars, perfect costumes. Poirot and Hastings are good and the story is absorbing, at least at first. You need to be very wide awake, however, to keep careful track of the characters and events. Agatha Christie herself commented (I think in her autobiography) that she had perhaps overloaded this, her first book, with clues. In the book, you have time to take all this in and can look back if necessary. This TV version has to cram it in at fairly high speed. This - along with the technical nature of the poisoning - means that the average viewer has very little chance of working out how the crime was done. Another problem is that there are quite a lot of characters, some of whom get very little screen time. It was a commendable act of piety to make this film for the centenary of Agatha Christie's birth, but perhaps the book is not really suitable for dramatization.