Tonight, we’ll be reading from the detective novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", which is the very first published novel by Agatha Christie. She wrote it in the middle of World War I, and it was first published in 1920. The story features many of the elements that have become icons of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due to Christie's influence. “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” launched Agatha Christie's writing career. It is set in a large, isolated country manor. Christie and her husband subsequently named their house "Styles."