Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Just perfect...

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

World War 1 and British Army officer Arthur Hastings is recuperating in a quiet manor in the English countryside. When a woman is murdered in the household, Hastings enlists the help of an old friend to solve the mystery - Hercule Poirot.Intriguing and quite nostalgic. This is the mystery that cemented the Poirot-Hastings partnership. So quite an historic feel to it.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a very good example of early Poirot, it's a very good story, but it's the character play and development that's key to the success here. I often think it would have been nice if they'd have run this as a pilot, to set the characters up, and explain Poirot's back story, but it fits in really well nonetheless.It's a wonderfully cosy British murder mystery, you can almost hear the clink of ice in jugs of iced tea. It doesn't have the excitement of many late episodes, but it's still a very enjoyable episode. I really enjoy Michael Cronin's Alfred Inglethorpe and Joanna McCallum's Evie Howard, but the acting in general is excellent. The production values are superb.I know the solution does seem a little far fetched, but it's still cleverly devised, you just need to stretch your imagination a little.

Set in 1917 and based on Agatha Christie's first book, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is sort of a prequel to the regular Poirot series (in fact, it reminded me somewhat of the recent Casino Royale - right down to the absence of the classic opening credits and the gradual introduction of the familiar music theme - only the timeline here makes much more sense). Having met before in Belgium, Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings run across each other again in the English country, where they have to solve a perplexing crime - the poisoning of the owner of the huge manor where Hastings was staying as a guest. This is also the first time Hastings meets Inspector Japp (Poirot had known him from before). The production is exceptional (apparently going 2 decades back from their usual timeline was no problem for the cast and crew), and the story will absorb and surprise you. Many little details and clues are well-thought-out, but (and here we are going into "spoilers" territory) an illogical central contrivance is hard to ignore. Simply put, everything connected with "the letter" that the killer writes and that incriminates him/her is complete bull: why doesn't the killer TAKE THE LETTER WITH HIM instead of ripping it to (only 3) pieces and leaving it behind? Why doesn't he come back to get it at a later date, even if he has to break into a locked room? Why does he write the letter in the first place, clearly naming his accomplice? Why does he leave it locked in a place for which his target also has a key? And finally, why does the target, after having read the letter, allow herself to be poisoned in exactly the way described in it? Everything about this "letter" reveals this as Agatha Christie's beginner's work, although as I said in all other respects her story is well-thought-out, intriguing and surprising. (***)

World War One 1917: Lieutenant Hastings (Hugh Fraser) is on sick leave from the army after being wounded in France. His old friend John Cavendish (David Rintoul) invites him to stay at the Cavendish country estate, Styles Court, where there's tension in the family. Cavendish's mother Emily Ingelthorpe (Gillian Barge) has married Albert Ingelthorpe (Michael Cronin) a man twenty years younger than her, and the family believes that he can only be after one thing - her money. That night Emily dies a painful death and the subsequent autopsy reveals that she has been poisoned. In the neighbouring village of Styles St Mary, a number of Belgian refugees have taken up residence including Hastings' old friend Hercule Poirot (David Suchet), the eccentric but clever sleuth who is called in to investigate the murder."The Mysterious Affair At Styles" (1920) was Agatha Christie's first novel and it also introduced her most famous creation to the world, the eccentric little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head and eccentric mannerisms. This film was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Christie's birth in 1890 which fell in 1990. The period detail of World War One was superbly depicted in this film (just look at those automobiles!) Ross Devenish directed the film with care and style while David Suchet, Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson offered their usual excellent performances. Great care was taken with the supporting cast in which Michael Cronin stands out as the somewhat shifty looking Albert Ingelthorpe."The Mysterious Affair At Styles" has recently been reissued on video and DVD, catch it while you can!