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Sunday, November 8, 2020

#ReadThis @AgathaChristie @HarperCollins @Morrow_PB #TheMysteriousAffairatStyles by #AgathaChristie First #1 #HerculePoirot #Mystery

The most read after the Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is hugely deserving of your literary attention and it's sad we were born too late to interview her. We begin at the beginning with The Mysterious Affair at Styles and she hit the ground running with her debut novel. If you have to read it more than once to ensure you fully comprehend and don't miss anything, you're in good company. Even if you think you have read this tale before, you might NOT have read THIS EDITION which includes its entirety; this includes Agatha Christie's original unpublished ending which after reading it, we believe should have been included in the first place!  Bravo to those that did the legwork in deciphering her notebook.  This part is called "The Last Link" and it's not to be missed.  Also for all Americans reading it is interesting to note in this part that the British are using Fahrenheit as we believe they did not transition to metric until the 1960s.  It matters that it was 86 that day in the shade!

Published today by William Morrow of Harper Collins, Agatha Christie is exactly the kind of excitement your extended social distancing at home needs!  It's the perfect time for it.  It will improve your brain power.  It goes without saying right now we all need to tune out the nasty noise and connect with inner excellence that is not necessarily celebrated by the masses bowing to mediocrity.  Agatha Christie has most obviously proven the test of time and we're here to remind you.  Authentic, original and the height of entertainment, Agatha Christie will jumpstart your intellect and get you to put down your phone (unless you are on whomyouknow.com of course!).

Taking place at the conclusion of WWI, war veteran Hastings narrates and intelligently introduces you to all the characters, and they are characters in every sense of the word. John Cavendish generously invites his pal Hastings to his stepmother's estate, Styles, in beautiful Essex, England. With two grown sons in the family, a new young husband, beaucoup de estate staff and the townspeople, it is quite unclear to the reader exactly whodunnit. However, ta da! Elucidating all the grey matter is Belgian detective legend Hercule Poirot, and if you think that name sounds familiar perhaps you saw Murder on the Orient Express starring Kenneth Branagh, who plays Poirot in this later tale. We're getting there! And you might have also heard Death on the Nile is hitting the big screen shortly. We hope to get to that too. Best on the screen that we've seen is And Then There Were None, but we're really getting ahead.

We want to read them all, and we know you do too. So begin at the beginning. Virtually visit Styles St. Mary to meet Mrs. Emily Inglethorp, who rules the roost until she's poisoned. That's not the mystery: the mystery is who on earth did it and why? It's an understatement to say this book is well done right down to the map of the night of the tragedy in Chapter Three. There is much to learn from the pieces of Belgian Refugee Poirot's thought process that is truly timeless and if you carefully follow along, you might guess correctly, and if not, read it again! Valuing Method and Order, Poirot makes sense. Six points of interest can punctate each of the six months you've been sequestered...

Agatha Christie began writing this in 1916 and it's set in 1917 and it first went on sale in the UK in 1921. Keep in mind back then there was no demand for dumbed down beach reading or competition from other media like tv or the internet, and intellect was valued in a higher regard. Well, everything that's old is new again and as the world has slowed down we think the demand for Christie is going to go up.  Compared to the light reading we see coming out today, this is what you want to read to really be entertained properly.

Pay attention to the law.  Pay attention to the weather.  Pay attention to human behavior.  Use all your grey cell matter!  It matters.  What's a mere distraction?  What's a coincidence?  What is deliberate? 

We won't say too much about the specifics of each character because we want you to think for yourselves, but don't put off reading Agatha Christie for one more minute.

The Mysterious Affair at Style has Earned Whom You Know's Highest Recommendation. We hope you're reading up there, Agatha!







Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie became, and remains, the best-selling novelist of all time.

She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation.

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