The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
General
This year I decided to jump into the world of Agatha Christie. As a fan of mystery genre, it is a literary sin to not to have read any of her books yet. There are many classic authors that I have not read yet, that I look forward to reading this year. I have known her name, her influence on pop culture(both literary and cinematic) and her characters. As the Queen of Mystery, people have been analyzing and her works for a century. However, like my reviews for the Ian Fleming James Bond series, my reviews are just my thoughts about the books I read and enjoy.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd(1926) is the 4th Poirot mystery in the series and finds Poirot, retired in the English countryside, pulled into solving a friend’s murder. I am always hesitant to start a series with a long history. Do you read them in chronological order or by order of release? Will I be spoiled if I don't read them a particular way? The back of the edition I read, there is the “Hercule Poirot Reading List” where they list the books and short stories in timeline chronological order(in terms of Poirot’s lifetime). To great relief, at the top of the page it states, “It is possible to read the Poirot stories in any order.” That made my little completist heart relax. I can just focus on the story without fear that I am missing out on something.
I loved this book. It is such a tightly written narrative full of twists and fully realized characters. See the Trajectory and Character sections below where I go into more detail. This type of mystery is the epitome of the ‘cozy mystery’. My wife and I have an inside joke whenever we read classic literature that we enjoy…"Boy,(insert author here) sure can write!" and we laugh. I understand why Christie has endured for so long and has set the standard for the genre. I am excited to dive into this world more and explore what Poirot and Ms. Marple offer.
5 out of 5
Trajectory
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 an apparent drug overdose. However, the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information, but before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to death. Luckily one of Roger's friends and the newest resident to retire to this normally quiet village takes over--none other than Monsieur Hercule Poirot .
Discussing mysteries always presents a challenge. You want to give folks enough information to encourage them to read but not give too much away. Without a doubt, this book demands re-reading in the best way possible. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is told in first person by the Doctor of the Kings Abbot who, because of his expertise, working side by side with Poirot in solving the mystery. Christie uses the structure of her novel as a device to further the story. By having the story told from a singular perspective, you are along the journey with Dr. Sheppard as he is trying to figure out what happened. But there is a twist that makes you really think about what you read and what information it gave to you. It’s brilliant and fun. When the killer is revealed at the end, it is so shocking that you want to go flip back in the book and review certain scenes. Throughout my reading, I used book darts to mark certain scenes that I thought would be important, but boy was I wrong haha. This was a great novel to read first because throughout the story Poirot educates Dr. Sheppard(and the reader) about his method and how to be a good detective.
Character
Since this is my first Poirot book, you would think that I would dedicate this section to the man himself, but I want to highlight another character that was equally interesting. Caroline Sheppard is the sister of Dr. Sheppard, the lead of our story. She is an upper-class woman who spends her time gossiping and figuring out what people are up to in town. She uses her servants to gain information and pesters her brother about his patients. Caroline is a delight. She is heavily invested in the mystery. She has a typical, slightly antagonistic but loving relationship with her brother. Dr. Sheppard knows of her ways and has to make a considerable effort in what information he tells so that she doesn’t misconstrue information. She gets so involved with the mystery, that Poirot sends her on a couple of missions to find out some information. He is able to use her keen investigative skills and knowledge of the town to his advantage. Caroline plays a small but important role in this story. When reading Ackroyd, I was reminded of the Hulu show “Only Murders in the Building” in which three neighbors(Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez) who live together in a historic apartment building bond over their love of true crime podcasts, end up becoming part of a mystery themselves. If you are a fan of the show like I am, you will certainly find a kinship with Caroline.
References
“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58931805-the-murder-of-roger-ackroyd. Accessed 26 Jan. 2023.
“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) | IndieBound.Org.” IndieBound.Org, https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780063221086. Accessed 26 Jan. 2023.
