The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Narrator: Jeff Woodman

Unabridged: 6 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 10/19/2012


Synopsis

Sidelined by his war injuries in 1916, Captain Hastings travels to his friend’s estate at Styles Court to recover from his wounds. As the summer heats up, a tragic murder occurs, and Hastings calls upon the services of his old acquaintance Hercule Poirot. With seemingly unrelated clues—a scrap of a burned will, a false beard, and an empty packet of bromide—the brilliant detective launches his first investigation on English soil and forges an enduring friendship.

Author Bio

What a daunting task to write about the most famous mystery writer, Agatha Christie. She was born in 1890 in England, where she was home schooled by her American father. It was an unusual way to be educated for the times. Her father did not want her to begin learning to read until age eight, but out of boredom, she taught herself to read by age five.

In his research, Curran found a plethora of information about Agatha. He outlines many of those interesting facts. Since there are so many, just a few will be mentioned here. Agatha could have been an excellent performer as a pianist, but she was much too shy to perform. She once had three plays running simultaneously in London. She traveled around the world in 1922, which would have been quite a feat back then. Agatha loved dogs. She has a rose named after her. She never did drink alcohol nor smoked. Her last public appearance was in 1974, at the premier of the movie, Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie's name has appeared every day for 53 years in every newspaper with a West End London theatre listing. Her favorite flower was Lily of the Valley. The information about this illustrious author goes on and on. It is a great asset to readers that author John Curran wrote the definitive book about an iconic author. One other interesting fact was that Agatha met Archie Christie in 1912, married on Christmas Eve 1914, spending their honeymoon at The Grand Hotel in Torquay, but Archie returned to France on Dec 27th due to the War. Agatha and Archie fid not really experience married life until he was posted at the London War Office. Agatha has been quoted as saying only then did she feel that her married life truly began.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Cassonia on 2009-09-22 23:14:37

I love the story but the narration was off for me in this version. That is why my rating is so low. I've listened to a version read by the actor who played Capt. Hastings in the BBC production and that version is much better.