The Mysterious Affair at StylesThe heiress of Styles has been murdered, dying in agony from strychnine slipped into her coffee. And there are plenty who would gain from her death: the financially strapped stepson, the gold digging younger husband, and an embittered daughter-in-law. Agatha Christie's eccentric and hugely popular detective, Hercule Poirot, was introduced to the world in this book, which launched her career as the most famous and best loved of all mystery writers. Agatha Christie was a British crime fiction writer who is considered the world's best-known mystery writer and, apart from William Shakespeare, is the bestselling author of any genre. Her books have sold over two billion copies in the English language and another two billion in over 56 foreign languages. As an example of her broad appeal, she is the all-time bestselling author in France, with over 40 million copies sold in French versus 22 million for Emile Zola, the nearest contender. She is famously known as the 'Queen of Crime' and is, arguably, the most important and innovative writer in the development of the English mystery novel. |