Publisher: William Collins & Sons
Country: UK
Publication Date: 1926
Page Count: 312
My rating
Blurb
Roger Ackroyd was a man who knew too much.
He knew the woman he loved had poisoned her first husband. He knew someone was blackmailing her - and now he knew she had taken her own life with a drug overdose.
Soon the evening post would let him know who the mystery blackmailer was. But Ackroyd was dead before he'd finished reading it - stabbed through the neck where he sat in his study...
My thought
Agatha Christie mysteries seem quaint today, relics of a bygone day. But when her books were new, she was a trailblazer, and never more so than in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Her twist ending shocked and even angered her readers -- I won't tell you why -- and even today may still have the power to startle.
Roger Ackroyd, the well-to-do owner of the Fernly estate, has been found slumped in a desk chair in his study with a silver dagger protruding from his neck. The suspects are many as everyone has a secret they are sure will finger them as the culprit. Ralph, the stepson with a gambling habit; Flora, the penniless niece with a shopping habit; Flora's mother, the widow of Roger's brother and now dependent upon Roger's good will; Parker, butler with a shadowy past; Mr. Gregory, the personal assistant with a bit too much inside knowledge of Roger's accounts; Ursula, the parlor maid with questionable references; Colonel Blunt, a big game hunter with an obvious eye for the beautiful Flora who has recently become engaged to Ralph; all of these people come under the scrutiny of recently retired Hercule Poirot. Along with the narrator of the story, Doctor Sheppard, Poirot will challenge his 'little gray cells' to ferret out the murderer. The local doctor takes the place of usual loyal sidekick Hastings, helping Poirot investigate and recording all the facts of the case, like Dr. Watson recording Holmes' adventures. The mystery winds through estranged stepsons, secret marriages, and blackmailers, and even now still has a whiff of controversy over the resolution.
Christie has proven that even though simply written, her use of plot and character accounts is well developed. This woman knew what she was doing!!I truly enjoyed this Christie novel and, wow, I never saw that ending coming! What a great mystery with lots of red herrings and changing stories. Whenever I read Agatha Christie I always feel as if I am attending a play - lots of dialogue and few setting changes. It's just a very comfortable read for me.
){kind=link}