Agatha Christie is known as “the best selling novelist of all time” (from her website), publishing 66 books and 14 short story collections.  Over a billion copies have sold in English along with another billion in translation!  Her novels have been enjoyed world-wide yet the only book that I had read was And Then There Were None.  It is time to rectify that and in 2020, I have set a goal of reading one of her novels each month starting with her  at the beginning of the Hercule Point series with The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

This series introduces the clever, retired detective who is a friend of the narrator and hastens to the country estate after the death of the newly married Emily Inglethorpe.  It was originally published as a serial in The Times Weekly edition and readers begin guessing who is responsible when it is revealed that the matriarch has been poisoned.  Hercule must assess the motives of multiple suspects including her husband, step-sons, their spouses and the help who all lived together and would have benefited from her fortune.

After reading the novel, I serendipitously discovered the Read Christie 2020 challenge which begins with The Mysterious Affair at Styles.  It provides a book each month along with encouragement and more details about each book to celebrate 100 years of her novels.

Who is interested in joining me on this journey through Agatha Christie novels?  Check out the website and follow the hashtags of #readchristie2020