Just Finished Reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which I just finished reading, was Agatha Christie's very first novel, published in 1921 and introducing her trademark sleuth, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.  Set during World War I, here we see Poirot as a recently-arrived refugee from his home country.  Arthur Hastings, on leave at a rural estate from the war, finds himself in the middle of turmoil surrounding the highly suspicious death there of the owner, the wealthy widow of the original landholder.  It appears to be a poisoning, and Hastings witnesses some peculiarities about the behavior of the various residents and visitors on that fateful morning: the deceased's profligate second husband, her two stepsons, the oldest stepson's wife, a young woman residing there who works at a nearby hospital, the widow's personal friend...and a problematic physician who just so happens to be a renowned expert on poisons.  Hastings runs into his old friend Poirot and asks him to look into the case, which has attracted the attention of Scotland Yard.  What ensues is a procession of suspects, revealed clues, Poirot's enigmatic ideas and behavior, puzzling actions and speech among the principals...and a surprise ending: of course the Belgian detective had pretty much figured it all out early on.  Hastings serves as a Dr. Watson-like character who reacts to each new development as most people would, repeatedly setting himself up for correction by Poirot.  For someone's very first novel I thought The Mysterious Affair at Styles was brilliant...I'm thinking of going through the entire Poirot series of Christie novels...I've already read the second book, titled Murder on the Links,  as well as The Mystery of the Blue Train, Murder on the Orient Express, Death in the Clouds, and Sad Cypress: click on the titles to read my reviews...