The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - by Agatha Christie

    

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - by Agatha Christie 

 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the last book from the set of Agatha Christie's masterpieces that I bought at the beginning of this month. The set consists of Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd—classic Hercule Poirot mysteries. After finishing all three books, I can say that I am glad I bought this set, which I was so, so excited to read. I highly recommend these books to everyone—whether you are a crime-writing lover like me or not (because eventually, you will fall in love with the genre), a reader, or even someone who isn’t a reader. I can bet blindly that Christie can never fail to captivate her readers and make them fall in love with her writing. This might look like I am bragging too much, but hey! This is what you can expect from a Christie fan, isn't it?

 

Coming to the review of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I would say I loved it too, but not as much as I did And Then There Were None, which you can clearly understand from the review I posted before. Many people will love this more than And Then There Were None just like my brother did, which is quite normal as we all have our own opinions. While reading this book, the one thing that caught my attention was the intricate detailing in the plot. This book is a pioneer in crime fiction novels, and I can undoubtedly say that it is one of Agatha Christie’s finest crafted works.

 

Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, is extraordinarily brilliant. It is so hard to compete with him and solve the mystery before him. But this time, to my surprise, I tried to connect the dots and managed to get a hint about the culprit, which almost knocked all my little grey cells down. I was happy that I kept up with Poirot’s speed, while on the other hand, I never wanted to ruin the awe-struck twist at the end. However, even after that, the story ended with a little pretty surprise, which I would say was very clever of Agatha Christie.

 

About the story: it takes place in the small English village of King's Abbot, which is rocked by the sudden and queer suicide of a widow, Mrs. Ferrars. A few hours later, Roger Ackroyd, rumored to have had an affair with Mrs. Ferrars and supposed to be the wealthiest person in King's Abbot, is murdered. The local doctor, James Sheppard, was invited by Mr. Ackroyd for dinner the same night and was the one who found him dead in his room after receiving a suspicious phone call. Then, a chain of events commences, putting different characters under suspicion. Soon, famous detective Hercule Poirot enters the investigation to find the culprit. What follows is a very tricky mystery.

 

The whole story is narrated by Dr. Sheppard, who soon becomes a sidekick in Poirot's investigation. Despite having a large number of characters, each one is given space to grow. With each character having something to hide, secrets leak out slowly, giving opportunities for misdirection. Christie brilliantly weaves a web of lies, which is the very essence of this murder mystery. The book is written in old British English, which gives it a very realistic touch during reading. The pace of the story slows down a bit in the middle of the book, but it still holds the reader, thanks to the clever writing.
 

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