The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)

I have read only a couple of crime novels before. So I’m not very experienced, but most of the time I’m very good at predicting the ending or identifying the bad guy, but this book totally caught me by surprise. The ending was so unexpected. This story was so clever, you definitely feel like you are in the story and you are actually seeing all these details and clues firsthand. I was originally thinking this would be a three star book, but the ending was definitely the saving grace! So ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ By the way, if English is your second language, this book may be a bit challenging. I kept running into lots of words I wasn’t very familiar with, but considering it was written by a British writer back in 1926, it wasn’t that bad.

Agatha Christie at her best! I am an avid Marple & Poirot fan, but I had never gotten around to reading this particular Christie novel. There's a lot of hype around this novel and some say its the best, and I can't find a reason to argue that. Reads very nicely and the ending had me pop up out of bed. I think I paced around my bedroom reading the last few pages.
If you like Christie or are a fan of mystery, you must get this book. I especially like this particular publisher because of the good quality, attention to detail in editing, and that they organize the stories by Poirot, Marple, etc. in the top left corner.

What do you like about mysteries? Do you have a favorite Agatha Christie mystery?

I read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie in April as part of the Read Christie 2021 Challenge. It is a mystery set before World War II, which meets the prompt for the month. I knew nothing about this novel going in. I loved it and was completely surprised by the ending. How does Christie do this to me every time?

Hercule Poirot has retired to the countryside. Even in retirement, excitement finds him when a local wealthy man, Roger Ackroyd, is found murdered. This novel is narrated by the local Dr. Shepard who writes a narrative of the investigation like a Dr. Watson figure to Poirot. He is single and has a delightful sister Caroline who is in tune with all of the gossip in town. Who is the killer? Is it his stepson? The mysterious maid? His niece? The man servant? Poirot uses his little grey cells to solve the mystery.

I enjoyed this mystery and the small-town setting. The characters were great, and I loved the ending. I really want to talk about the ending, but don’t want to ruin it for others! Feel free to comment if you’d like to discuss the ending. I think Christie really turned the genre on its head when she wrote this mystery in 1926.

Favorite Quote:
“Our hobbies and recreations can be summed up in the one word, ‘gossip.’”

Overall, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is another superb mystery by Agatha Christie.

Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

Two stars because I found two good ideas in this mystery, perhaps worthy of a short story but never a novel. Biggest mystery of all in this tale is how it won the Crime Writers Association 2013 poll as Whodunnit Best Ever Novel of all time! Believe me, it is naive, unconvincing and implausible. Furthermore, a fatal flaw in the plot kills it stone dead as an acceptable whodunnit.
What is Agatha Christie's error? I'm not giving anything away (it's in the story) in pointing out . . . because the killer left the window open, the killer could have returned undetected to the murder scene at any time, making the whole complex mind-boggling schemozzle unnecessary.

Print so faint it is impossible to read!

Hard read,

The excessive twisting and complication of the plot, the byzantine exasperation of details, the incredible negativity of too many characters make the whole story completely unreal. Furtherly, it is totally unfair towards the reader, intentionally manipulated and and misguided from the beginning. Finally, the patronizing attitude of Mr Poirot is really difficult to stand. I would send him to hell after less than a minute.

There is a special pleasure, in the case of a really clever detective story, in rereading it even when you remember perfectly well who done it. And whatever her shortcomings on the literary front, Agatha Christie was unmatched as a mistress of plot. Among her novels and plays, there is just about every variant possible on the old whodunit: the butler did it, the detective did it, everybody did it, even the supposed victim did it. ROGER ACKROYD, published in 1926, may be the most extraordinary of the lot; it is certainly one of the most famous. I cannot say more here without giving away the secret, though I will go a little farther in the comments.

Not that it matters much, as I say. For even the ultimate "spoiler" of knowing the murderer does not spoil one's subsequent appreciation at all. The pleasure here is seeing how meticulously Christie keeps to the rules, putting in red herrings galore but never stating anything that is untrue, and inserting just enough little clues (or "clews" as she spells them) to prevent the reader feeling completely cheated by the final revelation. Knowing the ending even increases one's appreciation of Christie's technique.

This is an Hercule Poirot mystery, but not one of the usual sort. Captain Hastings, the detective's usual Watson, has gone to the Argentine, and Poirot himself has retired to the village of King's Abbot to grow marrows. But when the local squire, a wealthy industrialist, is found murdered, Poirot agrees to take on one further case. He is accompanied by James Sheppard, the local doctor, who serves as a source of local knowledge, a dispassionate eye on the case, and an accomplished chronicler. It is Sheppard's objectivity and intelligence (even though he can be as mystified as anybody else) that gives the book its special flavor.

Agatha Christie could only work her technical marvels because, to her, plot was everything. Despite Poirot's insistence on "the psychology," she seldom goes very deep. What happens is always more important in her books than why. You will not get the slow build of passion to the point where murder is inevitable, or the relentless gnawing of guilt afterwards. Motives are generally simple matters such as hidden love, secret marriages, unpayable debts, jealousy, and blackmail. The characters tend to stereotypes; the prose is flat. In terms of our modern expectations for a novel, this is only two stars, three at most. But for what it sets out to do, it is incomparable.

I agree with the reviewer who wrote that it may have been good in 1926, but not in 2014-15. I'm amazed that people still rave about it. I found it tedious, and as the Brits say: too clever by half.

Each of the items I ordered (except the Chanel No. 5) was a book or a record (CD, etc.) that I had owned in the past, but lost track of over the years. It's great to have them back.
I enjoyed the mysteries, all of which I had read many years ago, but I had forgotten the plots. I also enjoyed the one book I rememberd distinctly: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," even though it was the only book in the group to which I knew "Who did it." This was the story that made Agatha Christie an internationally known celebrity.

Even the perfume was special, as this used to be a Christmas tradition betwwen my wife and me, that I gave her a bottle of Chanel No. 5 each year. She appreciated it as always, but never had a chance to use it. She passed away rather shortly after Christmas.