Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Posted October 4, 2012 by shooting in Uncategorized / 16 Comments

 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

A Hercule Poirot Mystery

Review by Lauren

Copy from – I bought this

Official Summary:





Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her
brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her.
Then, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with a drug
overdose.



But the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information.
Unfortunately, before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to
death.




Review: If you’ve been reading my most recent reviews, you know I’ve been on a bit of a mystery fiction kick. I’ve also mentioned being in a detective fiction class at school… so I figured why not review the books I read in class? I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile now, actually, but this seems like a great time to start.

Back in school, I read Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None (both of which I loved, especially the latter since I’ve read it twice now) by Agatha Christie…yet never anything else. I’m pretty sure that needs to change now, though, since I highly enjoyed Roger Ackroyd and I’m becoming quite interested in various detective novels. Why not read more by the Queen of Mystery herself?

As for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I highly enjoyed the large cast of characters (this particular book is narrated by Dr. Sheppard, a good friend of Ackroyd), though with not too many as to become confusing. The deceased, Roger Ackroyd, was murdered in his study, so naturally all the inhabitants of the house are suspects and they all have something to hide. The mystery surrounding all these characters is what makes it even more interesting, since you know various facts will come to light that somehow shed new evidence on the case at large.

The detective in this novel- and other Christie stories- is Hercule Poirot, who genuinely wants to learn the truth, yet seems quite fond of his own intelligence, very much like Sherlock Holmes. I will admit I find Holmes a bit more agreeable, but maybe that’s because the stories I’ve read feature him to be pretty level-headed and Poirot likes to use emotion in getting particular reactions out of people. For example, he has all the suspects in a room and he’s angrily telling them he will learn the truth, so they better come forward. It’s an effective method in many ways, to be sure, but it’s not always my favorite.

However, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has one incredible ending! I love mystery novels because it’s fun to wonder who the “bad guy” is and why they did what they did…but I don’t usually guess the right person. For this book, I did. That didn’t ruin anything at all, though, because I still got to see why and learn about some of the various clues throughout the book that I never even picked up on. The big reveal might be a bit of a detective fiction gimmick, but it’s still one of my favorite parts! I’m definitely planning on having a friend of mine read this book soon because she loves mystery novels as well and yet, unlike me, she tends to figure out who the culprit is, so I’m curious if she can crack this one too!

If you’ve read the book, please don’t give away the ending in the comments, but feel free to email me if you want to discuss the book!

Also, what other Agatha Christie books should I read?

16 responses to “Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

  1. You should read all the Christies! I prefer Miss Marple to Poirot, personally; I think he's too arrogant while she's just a sweetheart. I wish I hadn't known who had done it before reading this book as it would have made for a sweeter read.

  2. Sam

    I've read a few Agatha Christie book, but not many! I haven't read this one yet but I definitely want to one day. Lovely review! 🙂

  3. I read a Halloween Hercule Poirot mystery years ago and absolutely adored it. I really want to read 'And Then There Were None'. 🙂

  4. OOH I am v. curious esp about the ending! I've been meaning to read Agatha Christie and this sounds like a book to try out, for sure. 🙂

  5. Is it a terrible thing that I've never read any Agatha Christie books? I never really got into the whole mystery genre, but I HAVE been looking for something new to sink my teeth (eyes, I guess?) into…

    I know so many people who love her, so maybe I shoud give her a whirl…

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