Clara’s Verdict
Before Poirot became a television institution and a publishing phenomenon, there was this: a slim, ingenious mystery set in an English country house in the summer of 1916, written by a twenty-something Agatha Christie who had no particular reason to believe she would ever be published at all. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first Poirot novel, the first appearance of Captain Hastings, and one of the finest debut detective novels in the language. This BBC Audio full-cast dramatisation — with John Moffatt as Poirot, Simon Williams as Hastings, and Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp — is an excellent way to encounter or re-encounter a story that has lost none of its elegance across more than a century.
About the audiobook
It is 1916. Captain Hastings, invalided out of the Great War, is convalescing at Styles Court, the family home of his friend John Cavendish. By extraordinary coincidence, billeted in the village is a certain retired Belgian detective with an egg-shaped head — a man who made an impression on Hastings in Belgium before the war. When murder disrupts the blistering summer, Hastings calls upon his acquaintance, and thus begins one of the great partnerships in crime fiction.
Christie’s plotting in this first novel is already fully formed. The clues — a fragment of a burnt will, a false black beard, an empty packet of bromide powders — seem unrelated until they do not. The household at Styles is drawn with precision: the tensions, the money, the marriages of convenience, the secrets kept and the ones that cannot be contained. Poirot’s methodology — his insistence on using the « little grey cells » rather than running about in fields looking for footprints — is established here in its definitive form. The book runs to 2 hours and 13 minutes in this production, which means it is tight enough to listen to in a single sitting.
The narration
This BBC Audio production uses a full cast, and it is one of the better arguments for the dramatisation format. John Moffatt’s Poirot is meticulous and dry and faintly exasperated by everyone around him — a reading that emphasises the character’s intelligence without making him infallible or remote. Simon Williams gives Hastings exactly the right combination of well-meaning bumbling and genuine warmth. Philip Jackson’s Japp is sceptical and sharp. The 2005 BBC radio dramatisation has been condensed to a single two-disc production that, as one reviewer notes, « works so well » — the compression actually sharpens the plot rather than diminishing it.
What readers say
With 20 ratings and a score of 4.5 out of 5, this production has a loyal following. Reviewer C. Fuller-Hale described it as bringing « to life all of the characters from Agatha Christie’s finest mystery in my opinion » and praised the pace, the casting, and the faithfulness to the source material. Natalie highlighted the production values: « Always a pleasure to listen to John Moffat’s interpretation and the actors complement each other so well. » A listener called Milly and Dilly offered a charming review that captures the appeal succinctly: « Agatha Christie always a good bet… I love AC stories, I listen to them on long journeys and in my kitchen when I’m having a cooking day. »
Who should listen?
Anyone who has never read Christie should start here: this is the beginning of the Poirot universe, and it remains a masterclass in how a classic mystery should be constructed. Long-term Christie devotees will enjoy the production for the quality of the cast and the pleasure of revisiting the original. It is also a near-perfect listen for journeys, cooking days, or any situation that calls for two hours of intelligent, beautifully crafted entertainment.
Listen to The Mysterious Affair at Styles on Audible UK — get it here.
