There is an entire scene at Mrs Inglethorp's funeral in the adaptation, whereas the novel only has one sentence mentioning the funeral day.Later Poirot is shown advising the post office/shop of a better way to organize their products by country of origin. Poirot laments his fellow Belgians' tendency to always disappear into a pub for a drink. Wilkins has joined a territorial unit as a cavalry officer andhas returned from some drills. The introduction of Poirot is greatly extended in the adaptation, including scenes of Poirot interrupting a military exercise (in which Dr Wilkins is participating, although in the novel he is not in the military), singing It's a Long Way to Tipperary with the Belgian refugees.The novel instead has a storyline where Mary Cavendish puts sleeping powder in the drinks of Emily and Cynthia, to make sure they don't wake up while she's examining the letter in Emily's desk.

In the adaptation, the bromide added to the medicine is itself sleeping powder, explaining the delayed reaction.

John comes to find Hastings, who is watching military films at a hospital at the the time.

The meeting between John and Hastings in London is extended in the adaptation.

Due to this, no mention is made of the witnessing of Emily's new will.

The two gardeners (Manning and William) are entirely omitted, along with their scenes.

No mention of the discrepancy in the number of coffee cups, or the search for the missing cup.

No mention of the attempts by Emily to write 'I am possessed' on blotting paper, or Hastings' (incorrect) theory that this may be something to do with demonic possession.

There is no mention of the idea that the murder was originally intended to occur earlier, and the arrangements for that day (the bell being cut and Cynthia being out), and the final letter from Alfred to Evie is re-worded to remove this concept.

There is no visit to the dispensary where Cynthia works, or mention of Lawrence's fingerprints on the poison bottle there.

No mention is made of Poirot's 'experiment' to test whether Hastings could hear the table falling over.

The false beard is merely found in the attic by Poirot and Hastings with no indication of its origin.

No mention of the letter written to order the fake beard, or the letter written by the costumiers in response.

The court scenes are much abbreviated and comprise mainly the prosecution.

The character of Sir Ernest Heavyweather is probably present in the court scenes but he has no speaking part.The character of Mary Cavendish's friend Dr Bauerstein is entirely omitted, along with any mention of Mary's affair with him.A number of omissions in the adaptation, presumably to cut down the length of the story:.Spoiler warning: A spoiler is announced! The following section contains details about the plot of The Mysterious Affair at Styles and its adaptation.

The mysterious affair at styles