CHRISTIE, Agatha.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Mysterious Affair at Styles. First British edition of the author's first book. Printed on cheap, poor quality stock, and bound in thin cloth, copies are not usually found in such lovely and collectible condition.Christie embarked on a story featuring a detective named Poirot in 1914. Her inspirations were a challenge from her sister Madge, the refugees she saw in Torquay, and the poisons she encountered while working in the Voluntary Aid Detachment of a local hospital. The work was rejected by two publishers and left to languish a while with John Lane before he eventually published it in America in 1920 and in Britain in 1921.

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