Poirot: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1990) Reviews

Agatha Christie introduced one of her most famous characters, idiosyncratic Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, in her novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and David Suchet, who has played Poirot in a number of films produced for British television, takes the character back to his beginnings in this screen adaptation. Poirot, newly arrived in England, is introduced to John Cavendish (David Rintoul), a close friend of Poirot's old comrade-in-arms, Arthur Hastings (Hugh Fraser). There's been recent controversy in the Cavendish household; John's widowed mother has recently remarried, and her new husband has made more than a few enemies among her family and friends. When Mrs. Cavendish is found murdered, police inspector Japp (Philip Jackson) is brought in to investigate, and the gifted Poirot is soon lending his much-needed skills in ferreting out the identity of the killer. Poirot: The Mysterious Affair at Styles first aired in the United States as part of the PBS anthology series Mystery! ~ Mark Deming, Rovi