“A vague suspicion of everyone and everything filled my mind. Just for a moment I had a premonition of approaching evil.”

I very specifically chose to end my 100 books in a year challenge with Dame Agatha Christie’s first Hercule Poirot novels: of all the mysteries and crime thrillers I read this year, and in my life, they could never have happened without her. I’ve picked up quite a few Queen of Crime’s over the years, but am no where near tackling her entire catalog. “Styles” stands as the quintessential crime mystery, at the very least in the top ten, on thousands of “best of” lists for decades now. And there’s a reason! This is mystery at its finest: red herrings, cheeky dialogue, ego! An undeniable measure of success of any book would be the continued reading, a hundred years after first publication.

I don’t believe this will be my last book of the year, I might have one or two left in me, but it is the diving board into next year’s challenge: I’m going to read all 38 Hercule Poirots (chronological) in 2025! It’s been done before, sure, but not by me :D Can’t wait to read, review, and recommend the best of the best.

5/5 “Because, in all this house of mourning, yours are the only eyes that have wept.”