Editing The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Book

This classic tale of murder, jealousy, and greed was developed by Agatha Christie. When an aging heir is found fatally poisoned, the amazing Detective Poirot, brilliant Belgian criminal investigator, is brought out of retirement to solve the case.

Agatha Christie is known for her sixty-six detective novels, fourteen short story collections and play. 

This was her first book. Her sister Madge dared her to write a story, and she created something special that launched her career!

The Philosophy

Even today, people who study English Literature learn about the genius and works of Agatha Christie.

And yet, she had to apply her incredible intellect to develop stories that celebrated the intelligence of a man (Hercule Poirot). It seems she thought this was the only feasible option.

She clearly wasn't satisfied by this because, in 1927, Agatha Christie became brave enough to tentatively start publishing stories featuring a woman as the ingenious protagonist investigator (Miss Marple). 

Another indication of her disatisfaction with that status quo was her choice of name. 

Agatha Christie needed a male name for her Detective. She decided upon 'Hercule Poirot'. The word "hercule" means "the glory of Hera", from the name of the Greek Goddess 'Hera' combined with the Greek word κλέος (kleos) meaning 'glory'. 

So, the name Agatha chose provided a connection to a powerful woman!

Nowadays, women are leading investigations across the world. Strong, clever women like Detective Jane Mugo feature in the news.

It's time to celebrate the true intellect behind Poirot - the intellect of the woman Agatha Christie. 

It's time to give women a place in one of the most significant works of literary history. 

It's time to edit this book!

Editing Method

I started with the Detective's first name: Hercule 

The word "hercule" means "the glory of Hera", from the name of the Greek Goddess 'Hera' combined with the Greek word κλέος (kleos) meaning 'glory'. 

And so, I've simply switched the Detective's name to Detective Hera Poirot.

As per Editing History style, I've also swapped the gender of characters throughout the book. These are very small changes, but they bring a refreshing change and new points of interest in the otherwise original text!

This has required some changes to other first names, but I've used the female or gender neutral version of the original name wherever possible.

I've also found and switched some racist words and phrases.

First Publication

This book has now been published. You can buy your copy via The Mysterious Affair at Styles book by Agatha Christie via Amazon Kindle.

I'll update this post to add the links as the book's pages go live.

Watch this space. 😸

 xox Penelope