Pubblicato in Italia con il titolo Poirot a Styles Court. Nella prima apparizione di Hercule Poirot, il detective belga indaga sulla morte di una ricca vedova. Chi la voleva morta?

Written in 1916 and first published in October 1920 in the United States and in January 1921 in the United Kingdom, The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first novel in which one of the most famous detectives in literature makes his appearance. Like many of the Hercule Poirot novels, the story is narrated by his friend Arthur Hastings, as a veritable account of the facts, and introduces not only Hastings and Poirot, but also Inspector Japp.

Hastings is on sick leave from the war and he is invited to stay at Styles Court by his friend John Cavendish. Things are strained at Styles, following the sudden marriage of John’s stepmother to a younger man who, according to her family, is only after her money. One morning, the entire household is woken by strange noises coming from her room and when they manage to get in, they find her dead. The cause of death is poison from strychnine. Hastings enlists the help of his old friend Hercule Poirot, once one of the best in the Belgian police, now a refugee in a small English village. Who is the killer? One from her family or an outsider?

A family full of secrets and an isolated manor to launch Poirot’s fame in literature, this novel is gripping and full of red herrings and twists. A timeless classic that will keep you guessing until the end!