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Hercule Poirot #4
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
'Key in the lock all right, sir. On the inside. Mr Ackroyd must have locked himself in,'
Poor Roger Ackroyd. He knew that the woman he loved had been harbouring a guilty secret - she poisoned her first husband. And yesterday she killed herself.
But guilty secrets rarely stay secret. Who had been blackmailing her before her death? Had it really driven her to suicide? And would it all be revealed in the letter that arrived in the evening post? Sadly Roger Ackroyd wasn't going to live long enough to find out...
Poor Roger Ackroyd. He knew that the woman he loved had been harbouring a guilty secret - she poisoned her first husband. And yesterday she killed herself.
But guilty secrets rarely stay secret. Who had been blackmailing her before her death? Had it really driven her to suicide? And would it all be revealed in the letter that arrived in the evening post? Sadly Roger Ackroyd wasn't going to live long enough to find out...
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 1926
About the author
Agatha Christie
4,595 books68.5k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 24,814 reviews
August 3, 2016
I went into this book with a bit of an attitude. Roger Ackroyd is the only Agatha Christie book featured on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, and I was skeptical about the List's claim that this was the only Christie book worth reading. But, as much as it pains me to say this, I think the List is right on this one. At least a little - I'm definitely not suggesting that you should read this book and then never pick up a Christie novel ever again, but if you find yourself in a situation where you're going to spend a month on a desert island and can only bring one book, and the only books you've been offered are from the Agatha Christie canon, you should pick this one.
The ending (which I will not discuss in explicit detail for fear of spoilers) is what makes this a 5-star book. Let me assure you: you will not guess who the murderer is. Never ever ever. When the murderer is revealed, you will not believe. When the murderer goes on to explain his/her actions, you will continue to not believe it. Only by rereading certain important passages will you start to realize that the answer was in front of you all the time, and you couldn't see it. It's a testament to Christie's skill as a writer that this is accomplished.
And, having now read a Miss Marple mystery, I'm going to choose a side: I'm officially Team Hercule. He is silly and self-centered and ridiculous and funny and all I want to do is pinch his cheeks and then go sit in a cafe with him and eat croissants. My favorite part of the book is when Poirot makes his grand entrance. The narrator, Dr. Sheppard, is in his garden when someone throws a vegetable marrow over the wall. A second later, the doctor's new neighbor pokes his "egg-shaped head, partially covered with suspiciously black hair, two immense mustaches, and a pair of watchful eyes" over the garden wall and attempts to explain himself:
"I demand of you a thousand pardons, monsieur. I am without defense. For some months now I cultivate the marrows. This morning suddenly I enrage myself with the marrows. I send them to promenade themselves - alas! not only mentally but physically. I seize the biggest. I hurl him over the wall. Monsieur, I am ashamed. I prostrate myself."
The ending (which I will not discuss in explicit detail for fear of spoilers) is what makes this a 5-star book. Let me assure you: you will not guess who the murderer is. Never ever ever. When the murderer is revealed, you will not believe. When the murderer goes on to explain his/her actions, you will continue to not believe it. Only by rereading certain important passages will you start to realize that the answer was in front of you all the time, and you couldn't see it. It's a testament to Christie's skill as a writer that this is accomplished.
And, having now read a Miss Marple mystery, I'm going to choose a side: I'm officially Team Hercule. He is silly and self-centered and ridiculous and funny and all I want to do is pinch his cheeks and then go sit in a cafe with him and eat croissants. My favorite part of the book is when Poirot makes his grand entrance. The narrator, Dr. Sheppard, is in his garden when someone throws a vegetable marrow over the wall. A second later, the doctor's new neighbor pokes his "egg-shaped head, partially covered with suspiciously black hair, two immense mustaches, and a pair of watchful eyes" over the garden wall and attempts to explain himself:
"I demand of you a thousand pardons, monsieur. I am without defense. For some months now I cultivate the marrows. This morning suddenly I enrage myself with the marrows. I send them to promenade themselves - alas! not only mentally but physically. I seize the biggest. I hurl him over the wall. Monsieur, I am ashamed. I prostrate myself."
May 28, 2022
Even among Agatha Christie's amazing murder mysteries, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd stands out as one of the most extraordinary.
I first read this more than 20 years ago in high school, and was so stunned by the ending that I remembered it through all these years. Recently, I wanted to reread it and see if I still love it just as much, even though I already know the ending going in. And sure enough, it's just as brilliant as I remembered.
This story has all the characteristics that make an Agatha Christie whodunnit remarkable: a confounding murder, a small but seemingly unlikely list of suspects, an abundance of clues and red herrings everywhere, and an ending that will leave you amazed. It was really fun to revisit this story that has stood out in my memory for so long.
In many ways, Agatha Christie was a pioneer in her genre, and this story is one example where you can see her influence in the books that have come since then. For me, she remains the undisputed queen of mystery. I only wish I can scrub my memory so I can enjoy this story over and over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I first read this more than 20 years ago in high school, and was so stunned by the ending that I remembered it through all these years. Recently, I wanted to reread it and see if I still love it just as much, even though I already know the ending going in. And sure enough, it's just as brilliant as I remembered.
This story has all the characteristics that make an Agatha Christie whodunnit remarkable: a confounding murder, a small but seemingly unlikely list of suspects, an abundance of clues and red herrings everywhere, and an ending that will leave you amazed. It was really fun to revisit this story that has stood out in my memory for so long.
In many ways, Agatha Christie was a pioneer in her genre, and this story is one example where you can see her influence in the books that have come since then. For me, she remains the undisputed queen of mystery. I only wish I can scrub my memory so I can enjoy this story over and over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Murder on the Orient Express
Death on the Nile
~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 14, 2018
The Murder or Roger Ackroyd is one of the most well-known mysteries written by Agatha Christie and the only one to be featured in the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list. After having read it I understand why it is so well praised.
As with all her mysteries, it leaves you guessing until the end who the killers is and in this particular case, the way the murderer was unraveled was particularly interesting. Sadly for me, I already knew who the killer was as I accidently found out from an audio course on Crime and mystery novels. Because of that, a large part of the book’s appeal was lost for me. However, I can still appreciate the unique way this novel was thought out. I don’t want to say anymore so I do not spoil anything for the ones that still haven’t read it.
If you enjoy Agatha Christie’s novels this one is a must.
As with all her mysteries, it leaves you guessing until the end who the killers is and in this particular case, the way the murderer was unraveled was particularly interesting. Sadly for me, I already knew who the killer was as I accidently found out from an audio course on Crime and mystery novels. Because of that, a large part of the book’s appeal was lost for me. However, I can still appreciate the unique way this novel was thought out. I don’t want to say anymore so I do not spoil anything for the ones that still haven’t read it.
If you enjoy Agatha Christie’s novels this one is a must.
March 5, 2017
I read mysteries in between denser reads and Dame Christie never disappoints me. As in all of her cases involving Inspector Hercule Poirot, Christie unearths layer upon layer of the case, leaving her readers guessing until the very end. Just when you think whodunit, she throws in a twist by revealing a key clue that only Poirot could have thought of. Occasionally, I guess the criminal, but other times I am left stumped. This time, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Christie leaves me hanging until her final paragraphs, creating a thrilling case.
In this particular case Dr James Sheppard meets his old friend Roger Ackroyd for supper and minutes later Ackroyd is found murdered. To solve this particular crime involving blackmail, drugs, and forced marriages, Ackroyd's niece Flora turns to Hercule Poirot to get to the bottom of the murder. As in the other of his cases that I have read, Poirot just happens to be in the area because he is either retired or on a holiday. Here, he claims to be doing Miss Ackroyd a favor and states that this is his last case, which, of course, it is not. Just as in the other Poirot tales I have read, he uses his little gray cells, stumps the local police, irks the local populace who are happy to be rid of the little Belgian man, yet solves each case in ways that most detectives are not capable of achieving.
I am attempting to read primarily women authors during March, Women's History Month. This month would not be complete without an Agatha Christie mystery because she remains the standard that many modern mystery writers strive to attain. Roger Ackroyd was definitely a captivating Christie case but not quite at the level for me as Orient Express was. I am enthralled by Poirot's manner of solving cases, but I must space them out so that his mannerisms and humor do not stale for me. Yet, Christie is still Christie, and this case rates a sparkling 4 stars.
In this particular case Dr James Sheppard meets his old friend Roger Ackroyd for supper and minutes later Ackroyd is found murdered. To solve this particular crime involving blackmail, drugs, and forced marriages, Ackroyd's niece Flora turns to Hercule Poirot to get to the bottom of the murder. As in the other of his cases that I have read, Poirot just happens to be in the area because he is either retired or on a holiday. Here, he claims to be doing Miss Ackroyd a favor and states that this is his last case, which, of course, it is not. Just as in the other Poirot tales I have read, he uses his little gray cells, stumps the local police, irks the local populace who are happy to be rid of the little Belgian man, yet solves each case in ways that most detectives are not capable of achieving.
I am attempting to read primarily women authors during March, Women's History Month. This month would not be complete without an Agatha Christie mystery because she remains the standard that many modern mystery writers strive to attain. Roger Ackroyd was definitely a captivating Christie case but not quite at the level for me as Orient Express was. I am enthralled by Poirot's manner of solving cases, but I must space them out so that his mannerisms and humor do not stale for me. Yet, Christie is still Christie, and this case rates a sparkling 4 stars.
April 7, 2023
To będzie moja ulubiona Christie. Przebiła nawet „Dom zbrodni”!
Wiedziałam kto był zabójcą, bo zaspoilerowala mi to inna książka tj. „Niewinny” Grahama Moora, a i tak byłam pod ogromnym wrażeniem.
ŚWIETNA
Wiedziałam kto był zabójcą, bo zaspoilerowala mi to inna książka tj. „Niewinny” Grahama Moora, a i tak byłam pod ogromnym wrażeniem.
ŚWIETNA
January 24, 2018
Arabic/English Review
في 15 سبتمبر/عيد ميلاد ملكة الجريمة، ذات أعلي مبيعات لمؤلفة في التاريخ، والتي جعلت أجيال "حرفيا; تذكر ما ذكرته بريفيو سابق عن أنها مؤلفة والدتي المفضلة" تخمن دائما من الفاعل
في 16 سبتمبر/جودريدز يرشح لي تلك الرواية كأكبر مفاجأة بنهايتها
في 17 سبتمبر/تم العثور علي السيد روجر أكرويد مقتولا
وفي 18 سبتمبر دخل المحقق بوارو، وأنضممت معه لمرافقة دكتور شيبارد وأخته الرائعة كارولين ببلدة كينجز أبوت الصغيرة
في قصة حزينة..قاسية وقبيحة مشوقة وجميلة!؟
وتحليله الدقيق لمسرح الجريمة لا يقل عن تحليلة النفسي للشخصيات بشكل رهيب
أمامنا عشر شخصيات مشتبه فيهم.. وقد أصررت عن أن أجعلهم عشر شخصيات رغما عني بسبب تشغيل تلك الخلايا
عشر تفاصيل صغيرة محيرة
عرفت القاتل بعد منتصف الرواية بقليل.. وتأكدت في الربع الأخير من الرواية بخطبة هيركيول بوارو القاسية عن الضعف البشري
ولكن كيف كيف كيف...كيف كيف كيف..عشرة كيف
فحتي إن خمنت القاتل لن تعرف أبدا كيف كل تلك التفاصيل تجمعت
مهما دربت خلايا مخك الرمادية ... إن هيركيول بوارو لرجل مخضرم بحق
مهما خمنت فلن تصل بالحل النهائي المقنع الذي جاء بأخر عشر صفحات
لتجد كل لغز وسر تم كشفه وحله..كل شئ تم ربطه
مهما حليت بعض العُقد فلن تصل لدرجة ملكة الجريمة في ربط كل التفاصيل الصغيرة
ولمقولة بوارو السابقة، شعرت بأعجاب شديد بأخت الراوي ، دكتور شيبارد، الفضولية عاشقة النميمة ، الذكية اللمّاحة ذات الحدس والحاسة السادسة ; كارولين
وأعتقد أنها لتكون مساعد ممتاز للمحقق بوارو إن ما استمر في بقاءه بكينجز أبوت
تلك القرية الصغيرة العاشقة للنميمة والتي مرت بخمس أيام عاصفة والتي بدأت بوفاة شابها الكثير من النميمة للسيدة فيرارز في 16 سبتمبر
ولكن يكفي النميمة إلي هنا..فأي نميمة أخري ستؤدي لحرق الأحداث .. وأعتقد ان متعة روايات أجاثا تكمن في تشغيل الخلايا الرمادية الصغيرة بمخك.. أليس كذلك؟
--------------------
** أسلوب الرواية **
هي أول رواية أقرأها لتحقيقات بوارو ، ولكني فوجئت بأن الراوي هو الطبيب الطيب "شيبارد" والذي راق لي أسلوبه الرائع في الوصف والدقة والتحفظ بل والتشويق
حواراته مع أخته المثيرة -أقصد شخصيتها فحسب بالطبع- كارولين كانت ممتازة ، ذكرتني كثيرا ببتونيا دارسلي الفضولية في سلسلة هاري بوتر
كسر الحائط الرابع
وأكثر ماراق لي بحق هو أن الدكتور شيبارد يحكي لنا أنه هو من يكتب الرواية فعلا..وبالفصل الحادي والعشرون يعطي للمحقق بوارو الفصول العشرون السابقة التي كتبها
كانوا ثلاثي ممتاز وعجيب ، دكتور شيبارد وكارولين وبوارو..وحوارات بوارو حول أفتقاده صديقه وشريكه بالتحريات السابق جعلني أشعر حقا بحزن شديد بالنهاية لأن الحياة ستمضي وسيذهب بوارو لمكان أخر
لن يمكن أن يستكمل حياته بكينجز ابوت
وأعتقد أن هذا يكفي كي لا أحرق لك متعة البحث عن الحقيقة التي مهما كانت قبيحة، فإنه البحث وراءها جميل دائما ومثير للفضول
صدقني لن تملك أن ت��بط كل تلك التفاصيل الصغيرة.. وستفاجأ بكل قصة من قصص الشخصيات المشتبه بها العشرة
لن أقل لك لن تخمن من القاتل فبتشغيل خلاياك الرمادية الصغيرة بمخك ستصل له كما وصلت ، ربما بمنتصف الرواية او بعدها بقليل
ولكن كيف عرف بوارو من الجاني من العشر مشتبهين
وكيف قام بذلك التحليل النفسي القاسي الرهيب
وكيف عرف بوارو براءة التسعة الباقين
هذه هي العبقرية بحق
كما قلت بريفيو سابق -اول قراءة لي لأجاثا-مقولة "لابد أن الخادم هو من فعلها كقصص أجاثا كريستي" جعلتني متشككا أن الحل دائما نمطيا.. حسنا، حتي إن كان -إن كان- الخادم هو من فعلها.. فكيف ولماذا هو أمرا لن يخطر لك علي بال
محمد العربي
في كينجز أبوت من 17 سبتمبر 2016
إلي 20 سبتمبر 2016
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A Brief English Review
Sep. 15, The Queen of Crime, and Mystery... Agatha Christie's Birthday.
Sep. 16, Goodreads recommending this to us as 'one of' the best Twist/Reveal in her novels.
So, I went to the nearest book store to celebrate the the best-selling novelist of all time who 'literally, she was my mom's favorite author' kept generations of readers guessing..
Sep. 17 Mr. Roger Ackroyd found murdered at his office.
Sep. 18 Me, Mr. Hercule Poirot start a hell of time in King's abbott with Dr. Sheppard and his ingenious sister, Caroline, trying with all our brain's little grey cells finding out Who Murdered Mr. Roger Ackroyd.
10 Suspects.. I forced to include all, even the narrator Dr. Shepparad, as Mr. Ackroyd's friend..
10 little things, clues unplaced and appears unrelated at all that found by Poirot from a goose quill to a unplaced chair..
and even I suspected the killer strongly after half of the novel.. You'll never know why..
Why, 10 Big Questions of Why, told one by one till the last 10 pages to know why every thing.. to connect everything brilliantly and perfectly..
Women are really great in this.. that's why The Crime has a Queen , her name is Agatha Christie..
I loved the minor -yet important- character ,Caroline so much.
I loved also the way of Breaking the fourth wall by the brilliant, smart, vigilant, discreet yet detailed and thrilling narrating (writing) of Dr. Shepparad and how in Chapter 21 he gave the written previous 20 chapters we already read.
And I loved this brief partnership between them..
And may be that's why I felt it's really A Very Sad Story cause I wished they keep partners, but alas, Poirot must go on and leave 'King's abbott' eventually.
---------------
Well, even I suspected the killer by the half of it, even if we say "It must be the butler, like in Agatha Christie novels", well... even if it was the butler... trust me you'll never see how and why and place the little pieces together.. unless you really can use Brain's little grey cells as perfectly asAgatha Christie Mr. Poitot.
Mohammed Arabey
from 17 Sep. 2016
to 20 sep. 2016
في 15 سبتمبر/عيد ميلاد ملكة الجريمة، ذات أعلي مبيعات لمؤلفة في التاريخ، والتي جعلت أجيال "حرفيا; تذكر ما ذكرته بريفيو سابق عن أنها مؤلفة والدتي المفضلة" تخمن دائما من الفاعل
في 16 سبتمبر/جودريدز يرشح لي تلك الرواية كأكبر مفاجأة بنهايتها
في 17 سبتمبر/تم العثور علي السيد روجر أكرويد مقتولا
وفي 18 سبتمبر دخل المحقق بوارو، وأنضممت معه لمرافقة دكتور شيبارد وأخته الرائعة كارولين ببلدة كينجز أبوت الصغيرة
في قصة حزينة..قاسية وقبيحة مشوقة وجميلة!؟
“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.”لا يسعني سوي القول أن حتي منتصف الرواية نجح هيركيول بوارو في تشغيل الخلايا الرمادية بمخي
"الحقيقة مهما كانت قبيحة، فإنه البحث وراءها جميل دائما ومثير للفضول"
وتحليله الدقيق لمسرح الجريمة لا يقل عن تحليلة النفسي للشخصيات بشكل رهيب
أمامنا عشر شخصيات مشتبه فيهم.. وقد أصررت عن أن أجعلهم عشر شخصيات رغما عني بسبب تشغيل تلك الخلايا
أرملة أخيه ، ابنتها ، ابن زوجته الراحلة ، سكرتيره ، صديقه الصياد ، صديقه الدكتور ، الخادم ، مديرة المنزل ، خادمة الأستقبال ، الزائر الغريب
عشر تفاصيل صغيرة محيرة
رسالة الأبتزاز من سيدة منتحرة ، الخنجر من درج الانتيكات ، الشباك المغلق ، الكرسي ، ريشة الأوزة ، منديل ابيض ، نعل الحذاء ، مكالمة تليفونية ، خاتم زواج من ر ، فلوس مسروقة
عرفت القاتل بعد منتصف الرواية بقليل.. وتأكدت في الربع الأخير من الرواية بخطبة هيركيول بوارو القاسية عن الضعف البشري
ولكن كيف كيف كيف...كيف كيف كيف..عشرة كيف
فحتي إن خمنت القاتل لن تعرف أبدا كيف كل تلك التفاصيل تجمعت
مهما دربت خلايا مخك الرمادية ... إن هيركيول بوارو لرجل مخضرم بحق
مهما خمنت فلن تصل بالحل النهائي المقنع الذي جاء بأخر عشر صفحات
لتجد كل لغز وسر تم كشفه وحله..كل شئ تم ربطه
مهما حليت بعض العُقد فلن تصل لدرجة ملكة الجريمة في ربط كل التفاصيل الصغيرة
“Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together—and they call the result intuition.”
"النساء تلاحظ لاشعوريا ألاف التفاصيل الدقيقة، دون علمهن بفعلتهن تلك. عقلهن الباطن يُجمّع تلك الأشياء الصغيرة معا- وتكون النتيجة هي الحدس 'الحاسة السادسة'"
ولمقولة بوارو السابقة، شعرت بأعجاب شديد بأخت الراوي ، دكتور شيبارد، الفضولية عاشقة النميمة ، الذكية اللمّاحة ذات الحدس والحاسة السادسة ; كارولين
وأعتقد أنها لتكون مساعد ممتاز للمحقق بوارو إن ما استمر في بقاءه بكينجز أبوت
تلك القرية الصغيرة العاشقة للنميمة والتي مرت بخمس أيام عاصفة والتي بدأت بوفاة شابها الكثير من النميمة للسيدة فيرارز في 16 سبتمبر
ولكن يكفي النميمة إلي هنا..فأي نميمة أخري ستؤدي لحرق الأحداث .. وأعتقد ان متعة روايات أجاثا تكمن في تشغيل الخلايا الرمادية الصغيرة بمخك.. أليس كذلك؟
--------------------
** أسلوب الرواية **
هي أول رواية أقرأها لتحقيقات بوارو ، ولكني فوجئت بأن الراوي هو الطبيب الطيب "شيبارد" والذي راق لي أسلوبه الرائع في الوصف والدقة والتحفظ بل والتشويق
حواراته مع أخته المثيرة -أقصد شخصيتها فحسب بالطبع- كارولين كانت ممتازة ، ذكرتني كثيرا ببتونيا دارسلي الفضولية في سلسلة هاري بوتر
كسر الحائط الرابع
وأكثر ماراق لي بحق هو أن الدكتور شيبارد يحكي لنا أنه هو من يكتب الرواية فعلا..وبالفصل الحادي والعشرون يعطي للمحقق بوارو الفصول العشرون السابقة التي كتبها
كانوا ثلاثي ممتاز وعجيب ، دكتور شيبارد وكارولين وبوارو..وحوارات بوارو حول أفتقاده صديقه وشريكه بالتحريات السابق جعلني أشعر حقا بحزن شديد بالنهاية لأن الحياة ستمضي وسيذهب بوارو لمكان أخر
لن يمكن أن يستكمل حياته بكينجز ابوت
وأعتقد أن هذا يكفي كي لا أحرق لك متعة البحث عن الحقيقة التي مهما كانت قبيحة، فإنه البحث وراءها جميل دائما ومثير للفضول
صدقني لن تملك أن ت��بط كل تلك التفاصيل الصغيرة.. وستفاجأ بكل قصة من قصص الشخصيات المشتبه بها العشرة
لن أقل لك لن تخمن من القاتل فبتشغيل خلاياك الرمادية الصغيرة بمخك ستصل له كما وصلت ، ربما بمنتصف الرواية او بعدها بقليل
ولكن كيف عرف بوارو من الجاني من العشر مشتبهين
وكيف قام بذلك التحليل النفسي القاسي الرهيب
وكيف عرف بوارو براءة التسعة الباقين
هذه هي العبقرية بحق
كما قلت بريفيو سابق -اول قراءة لي لأجاثا-مقولة "لابد أن الخادم هو من فعلها كقصص أجاثا كريستي" جعلتني متشككا أن الحل دائما نمطيا.. حسنا، حتي إن كان -إن كان- الخادم هو من فعلها.. فكيف ولماذا هو أمرا لن يخطر لك علي بال
محمد العربي
في كينجز أبوت من 17 سبتمبر 2016
إلي 20 سبتمبر 2016
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A Brief English Review
Sep. 15, The Queen of Crime, and Mystery... Agatha Christie's Birthday.
Sep. 16, Goodreads recommending this to us as 'one of' the best Twist/Reveal in her novels.
So, I went to the nearest book store to celebrate the the best-selling novelist of all time who 'literally, she was my mom's favorite author' kept generations of readers guessing..
Sep. 17 Mr. Roger Ackroyd found murdered at his office.
Sep. 18 Me, Mr. Hercule Poirot start a hell of time in King's abbott with Dr. Sheppard and his ingenious sister, Caroline, trying with all our brain's little grey cells finding out Who Murdered Mr. Roger Ackroyd.
10 Suspects.. I forced to include all, even the narrator Dr. Shepparad, as Mr. Ackroyd's friend..
10 little things, clues unplaced and appears unrelated at all that found by Poirot from a goose quill to a unplaced chair..
and even I suspected the killer strongly after half of the novel.. You'll never know why..
Why, 10 Big Questions of Why, told one by one till the last 10 pages to know why every thing.. to connect everything brilliantly and perfectly..
“Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together—and they call the result intuition.”
Women are really great in this.. that's why The Crime has a Queen , her name is Agatha Christie..
I loved the minor -yet important- character ,Caroline so much.
I loved also the way of Breaking the fourth wall by the brilliant, smart, vigilant, discreet yet detailed and thrilling narrating (writing) of Dr. Shepparad and how in Chapter 21 he gave the written previous 20 chapters we already read.
And I loved this brief partnership between them..
And may be that's why I felt it's really A Very Sad Story cause I wished they keep partners, but alas, Poirot must go on and leave 'King's abbott' eventually.
---------------
Well, even I suspected the killer by the half of it, even if we say "It must be the butler, like in Agatha Christie novels", well... even if it was the butler... trust me you'll never see how and why and place the little pieces together.. unless you really can use Brain's little grey cells as perfectly as
Mohammed Arabey
from 17 Sep. 2016
to 20 sep. 2016
October 14, 2024
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd first published in 1926, is a very audacious novel. Why? Ah, but that would be telling!
Is it for its complexity of plot? No, although that is a regular feature we are coming to expect of Agatha Christie, and this novel has a goodly share of red herrings. Is it for its blood and gore? Decidedly not! Is it perhaps, that it broke new ground in some way? Yes. You’ve got it!
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is perhaps the most controversial of Agatha Christie’s novels, and some consider it to to be her masterpiece. In 2013, fully 87 years after it was first published, the “British Crime Writers’ Association” voted it as the best crime novel ever. Although it seems to be a conventional orderly and analytical puzzle for the reader, the clever device she employs had such a big impact on the genre, that it has been considered one of the most influential crime novels ever written, with many ensuing imitations.
Moreover, it stars Hercule Poirot, who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. And it was the first of Agatha Christie’s novels to be dramatised, as “Alibi”, and to have a successful run in the West End of London, years before “The Mousetrap”.
“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.”
The plot has a typical Agatha Christie setting, taking place in a small English village, King’s Abbot, with a community largely made up of its inhabitants. It is the third novel to feature Hercule Poirot, the Belgian investigator we all love, but this time he is not assisted by his friend Captain Hastings, because Captain Hastings is now married, and has settled in the Argentine. Instead we have a treat of a narrator, the local doctor, James Sheppard, who delivers the tale with a dry sense of humour.
When Captain Hastings is involved, much of his humour is deadpan, coming about from his self-assurance, and tolerance of what he sees as Poirot’s flighty methods, whereas the reader can see all along that it is Poirot who is the genius. In fact Captain Hastings can seem a little dense at times. Here, refreshingly, we see that Dr. Sheppard is intelligent and droll, and quite conscious of the humour of his tale:
“He talked a lot about the little grey cells of the brain, and of their functions. His own, he says, are of the first quality.’
‘He would say so,’ I remarked bitterly. ‘Modesty is certainly not his middle name.”
The fact that Dr. Sheppard is regularly irritated, and almost driven to distraction, by his tenacious nosy gossip of a sister, Caroline Sheppard, with her constant random theorising, is most entertaining. And as Hercule Poirot observes, with typical “modesty”:
“Les femmes,” generalized Poirot. “They are marvellous! They invent haphazard—and by miracle they are right. Not that it is that, really. Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together—and they call the result intuition. Me, I am very skilled in psychology. I know these things.”
The two, bachelor and spinster, are chalk and cheese. They share a house, tolerating each other. Dr Sheppard is so confident that his is the objective “normal” view, and Caroline equally confident, with her “sharp beady eye”, is the one who stays informed about all the activities in the village:
“The motto of the mongoose family, so Mr Kipling tells us, is: ‘Go and find out.’ If Caroline ever adopts a crest, I should certainly suggest a mongoose rampant. One might omit the first part of the motto. Caroline can do any amount of finding out by sitting placidly at home.”
And the activities seem to be all the conventional ones of a small village in timeless Agatha Christie-land, until a murder occurs. The title tells the reader who it is to be, so the beginning of the novel seems a little surprising. Roger Ackroyd is alive and well (so far!) and hosting an evening dinner at his home, Fernly Park. He is a widower:
“The history of the marriage was short and painful. To put it bluntly, Mrs Ackroyd was a dipsomaniac. She succeeded in drinking herself into her grave four years after her marriage.”
Yet he is currently once more engaged to be married. His guests include his sister-in-law Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd and her daughter Flora; a big-game hunter Major Hector Blunt; and Roger Ackroyd’s own personal secretary Geoffrey Raymond. Dr. James Sheppard, who narrates the story, had also been invited earlier that day. The dinner is marred by the fact that Roger Ackroyd’s fiancée, the wealthy widow Mrs. Ferrars, has unexpectedly committed suicide.
After the meal, Roger Ackroyd is keen to confide in Dr Sheppard, and takes him into his study.
When he arrives at his own home, Dr. Sheppard receives a call from John Parker, Ackroyd’s butler, claiming that Roger Ackroyd is dead. Dr. Sheppard rushes back to Fernly Park, yet unaccountably, when he arrives Parker denies having such a call. Both men check the study, along with Major Blunt … and here we have the commencement of an intriguing closed room murder mystery.
Of course this the cue for our favourite private detective to enter the scene. Hercule Poirot has fortuitously retired to the village of King’s Abbot. Nobody knows his earlier status and reputation, except his friend, Roger Ackroyd, who had agreed to keep his identity anonymous. To all appearances, Hercule Poirot is an eccentric, pursuing his chosen retirement project of perfecting vegetable marrows. Dr. Sheppard is dismissive of him, and Caroline, the doctor’s sister, is inquisitive, so Dr. Sheppard teases her by suggesting:
“There’s no doubt at all what the man’s profession has been. He’s a retired hairdresser. Look at that moustache of his.”
Except … is this poking fun, or does the doctor himself believe this? He is perhaps a little too aware of his own cleverness. Consider this exchange:
“My sister continued: ‘What did she die of? Heart failure?’
‘Didn’t the milkman tell you that?’ I inquired sarcastically.
Sarcasm is wasted on Caroline. She takes it seriously and answers accordingly.
‘He didn’t know,’ she explained.”
Agatha Christie’s skilful writing leaves us wondering. Dr Sheppard can certainly seem a pompous fellow on occasion. Our own first encounter with Poirot in the book is an hilarious scene, involving the afore-mentioned vegetable:
“I was busily exterminating dandelion roots when a shout of warning sounded from close by and a heavy body whizzed by my ears, and fell at my feet with a repellant squelch. It was a vegetable marrow!”
Frustrated by the slowness of his new hobby, Poirot had tossed a marrow over the garden wall, where it narrowly missed hitting Dr. Sheppard:
“I demand of you a thousand pardons monsieur. I am without defence. For some months now I cultivate the marrows. This morning I enrage myself with these marrows. I send them to promenade themselves - alas! not only mentally but physically. I seize the biggest. I hurl him over the wall … Monsieur, I am ashamed. I prostrate myself.”
At this point, I recognised that Agatha Christie had almost certainly recently been reading the works of Charles Dickens. Unless there is an old tradition unknown to me, of using vegetable marrows as projectile missiles in suburban English gardens, the episode is lifted almost entirely from one of his novels (whether intentionally or not!). In “Nicholas Nickelby” a neighbour is enamoured with Nicholas’s widowed mother, and shows his feelings in an unusual courtship routine:
“But when he began to throw his cucumbers over our wall — ’
‘To throw his cucumbers over our wall!’ repeated Nicholas, in great astonishment.
‘Yes, Nicholas, my dear,’ replied Mrs Nickleby in a very serious tone; ‘his cucumbers over our wall. And vegetable marrows likewise.’
‘Confound his impudence!’ said Nicholas, firing immediately. ‘What does he mean by that?’
‘I don’t think he means it impertinently at all,’ replied Mrs Nickleby.
‘What!’ said Nicholas, ‘cucumbers and vegetable marrows flying at the heads of the family as they walk in their own garden, and not meant impertinently! Why, mother — ’…
… there are the presents which come pouring over the wall every day, and very fine they certainly are, very fine; we had one of the cucumbers at dinner yesterday, and think of pickling the rest for next winter. And last evening,’ added Mrs Nickleby, with increased confusion, ‘he called gently over the wall, as I was walking in the garden, and proposed marriage, and an elopement.
… upon my word, I think there’s another large vegetable marrow sticking, at this moment, on the broken glass bottles at the top of the wall!’”
And this is not an isolated instance of Charles Dickens’s overt influence on Agatha Christie in this novel. Consider this statement by Dr Sheppard:
“I am sorry to say I detest Mrs Ackroyd. She is all chains and teeth and bones. A most unpleasant woman. She has small pale flinty eyes, and however gushing her words may be, those eyes of hers always remain coldly speculative.
I went across to her, leaving Flora by the window. She gave me a handful of assorted knuckles and rings to squeeze.”
Instantly with this thumbnail sketch, in my mind’s eye I saw the abominable Jane Murdstone, sister to David’s cold-blooded and heartlessly “firm” new father in “David Copperfield”. She of the “numerous little steel fetters and rivets, with which Miss Murdstone embellished herself when she was dressed…”
When first introduced:
“She brought with her two uncompromising hard black boxes, with her initials on the lids in hard brass nails. When she paid the coachman she took her money out of a hard steel purse, and she kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time, seen such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.”
It seems a clear influence to me! And the humour in these early Poirot novels is refreshing, as some of the popular later ones have a far less lively tone. Clever convoluted plots they may certainly have, but increasingly the writing tends to be pedestrian, even leaden in places. This one is a treat by comparison.
However, the involvement of Poirot is not automatic, and once more we are delighted to find that his involvement in the case is not welcomed by the police. There are three: the investigating officer, Inspector Davis; an inspector from the nearby larger town of Cranchester, Inspector Raglan; and the Chief constable for the local area around King’s Abbot, Colonel Melrose. It is par for the course, in cosy crime novels, that professionals tend to view the private consulting detectives as bumbling amateurs, and naturally the reader can barely wait until they are made to eat their words. Then, bursting out resentfully, will come something like:
“You seem to know a hell of a lot about everything, you little foreign cock duck.”
to amuse us all.
There are plenty of suspects in this one, each one an enjoyably distinct type:
“in King’s Abbot we permit people to indulge their little idiosyncrasies freely.”
As well as those described already, the “Flora” mentioned in the quotation is Flora Ackroyd, Roger Ackroyd’s niece. She had announced her engagement to Captain Ralph Paton, Roger Ackroyd’s stepson from his late wife’s previous marriage, during the dinner at the beginning of the novel. Flora herself is the daughter of Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, the widow of Roger’s brother, Cecil. Both mother and daughter are financially dependent on Roger Ackroyd, and have been living at Fernly Park for the past two years. When Ralph was nowhere to be found after the murder, Flora pleaded with Hercule Poirot to help the investigation, and prove him innocent. There is Mr. Hammond, Roger Ackroyd’s lawyer. Plus there are also two other servants, Elizabeth Russell, Roger Ackroyd’s attractive housekeeper, and Ursula Bourne, his parlourmaid, who seems a little haughty. And finally there is one more relation, who is to enter the action later.
However, although I have described the situation and relationships as they are conveyed to us at the start of the novel, we can be sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, is as it seems:
“always bear in mind that the person who speaks may be lying”.
Agatha Christie is widely acknowledged as the “Queen of Crime”, with eighty crime novels and short story collections, nineteen plays, and six novels written as Mary Westmacott to her credit. In my opinion, some are far better than others. If you haven’t read this one, then I recommend you give it a try:
“Now there has been a rearrangement of the kaleidoscope.”
And when you have finished reading this novel, please don’t be too surprised if the “rearrangement” makes you want to reassess everything; to start at the beginning, and read it all over again. I suspect that only at that point, may you agree with Hercule Poirot’s assertion:
“Everything is simple, if you arrange the facts methodically.”
Did she cheat? Only you, the reader, can decide that.
****
Here are some of the accolades:
“The most brilliant of deceptions.” – Julian Symons
“Very few [detective stories] provide greater analytical stimulation.” – The New York Times
“No one is more adroit than Miss Christie in the manipulation of false clues and irrelevances and red herrings; and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd makes breathless reading from first to the unexpected last” – The Observer
“The truly startling denouement … will restore a thrill to the most jaded reader of detective stories” – New York Herald Tribune
Is it for its complexity of plot? No, although that is a regular feature we are coming to expect of Agatha Christie, and this novel has a goodly share of red herrings. Is it for its blood and gore? Decidedly not! Is it perhaps, that it broke new ground in some way? Yes. You’ve got it!
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is perhaps the most controversial of Agatha Christie’s novels, and some consider it to to be her masterpiece. In 2013, fully 87 years after it was first published, the “British Crime Writers’ Association” voted it as the best crime novel ever. Although it seems to be a conventional orderly and analytical puzzle for the reader, the clever device she employs had such a big impact on the genre, that it has been considered one of the most influential crime novels ever written, with many ensuing imitations.
Moreover, it stars Hercule Poirot, who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. And it was the first of Agatha Christie’s novels to be dramatised, as “Alibi”, and to have a successful run in the West End of London, years before “The Mousetrap”.
“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.”
The plot has a typical Agatha Christie setting, taking place in a small English village, King’s Abbot, with a community largely made up of its inhabitants. It is the third novel to feature Hercule Poirot, the Belgian investigator we all love, but this time he is not assisted by his friend Captain Hastings, because Captain Hastings is now married, and has settled in the Argentine. Instead we have a treat of a narrator, the local doctor, James Sheppard, who delivers the tale with a dry sense of humour.
When Captain Hastings is involved, much of his humour is deadpan, coming about from his self-assurance, and tolerance of what he sees as Poirot’s flighty methods, whereas the reader can see all along that it is Poirot who is the genius. In fact Captain Hastings can seem a little dense at times. Here, refreshingly, we see that Dr. Sheppard is intelligent and droll, and quite conscious of the humour of his tale:
“He talked a lot about the little grey cells of the brain, and of their functions. His own, he says, are of the first quality.’
‘He would say so,’ I remarked bitterly. ‘Modesty is certainly not his middle name.”
The fact that Dr. Sheppard is regularly irritated, and almost driven to distraction, by his tenacious nosy gossip of a sister, Caroline Sheppard, with her constant random theorising, is most entertaining. And as Hercule Poirot observes, with typical “modesty”:
“Les femmes,” generalized Poirot. “They are marvellous! They invent haphazard—and by miracle they are right. Not that it is that, really. Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together—and they call the result intuition. Me, I am very skilled in psychology. I know these things.”
The two, bachelor and spinster, are chalk and cheese. They share a house, tolerating each other. Dr Sheppard is so confident that his is the objective “normal” view, and Caroline equally confident, with her “sharp beady eye”, is the one who stays informed about all the activities in the village:
“The motto of the mongoose family, so Mr Kipling tells us, is: ‘Go and find out.’ If Caroline ever adopts a crest, I should certainly suggest a mongoose rampant. One might omit the first part of the motto. Caroline can do any amount of finding out by sitting placidly at home.”
And the activities seem to be all the conventional ones of a small village in timeless Agatha Christie-land, until a murder occurs. The title tells the reader who it is to be, so the beginning of the novel seems a little surprising. Roger Ackroyd is alive and well (so far!) and hosting an evening dinner at his home, Fernly Park. He is a widower:
“The history of the marriage was short and painful. To put it bluntly, Mrs Ackroyd was a dipsomaniac. She succeeded in drinking herself into her grave four years after her marriage.”
Yet he is currently once more engaged to be married. His guests include his sister-in-law Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd and her daughter Flora; a big-game hunter Major Hector Blunt; and Roger Ackroyd’s own personal secretary Geoffrey Raymond. Dr. James Sheppard, who narrates the story, had also been invited earlier that day. The dinner is marred by the fact that Roger Ackroyd’s fiancée, the wealthy widow Mrs. Ferrars, has unexpectedly committed suicide.
After the meal, Roger Ackroyd is keen to confide in Dr Sheppard, and takes him into his study.
When he arrives at his own home, Dr. Sheppard receives a call from John Parker, Ackroyd’s butler, claiming that Roger Ackroyd is dead. Dr. Sheppard rushes back to Fernly Park, yet unaccountably, when he arrives Parker denies having such a call. Both men check the study, along with Major Blunt … and here we have the commencement of an intriguing closed room murder mystery.
Of course this the cue for our favourite private detective to enter the scene. Hercule Poirot has fortuitously retired to the village of King’s Abbot. Nobody knows his earlier status and reputation, except his friend, Roger Ackroyd, who had agreed to keep his identity anonymous. To all appearances, Hercule Poirot is an eccentric, pursuing his chosen retirement project of perfecting vegetable marrows. Dr. Sheppard is dismissive of him, and Caroline, the doctor’s sister, is inquisitive, so Dr. Sheppard teases her by suggesting:
“There’s no doubt at all what the man’s profession has been. He’s a retired hairdresser. Look at that moustache of his.”
Except … is this poking fun, or does the doctor himself believe this? He is perhaps a little too aware of his own cleverness. Consider this exchange:
“My sister continued: ‘What did she die of? Heart failure?’
‘Didn’t the milkman tell you that?’ I inquired sarcastically.
Sarcasm is wasted on Caroline. She takes it seriously and answers accordingly.
‘He didn’t know,’ she explained.”
Agatha Christie’s skilful writing leaves us wondering. Dr Sheppard can certainly seem a pompous fellow on occasion. Our own first encounter with Poirot in the book is an hilarious scene, involving the afore-mentioned vegetable:
“I was busily exterminating dandelion roots when a shout of warning sounded from close by and a heavy body whizzed by my ears, and fell at my feet with a repellant squelch. It was a vegetable marrow!”
Frustrated by the slowness of his new hobby, Poirot had tossed a marrow over the garden wall, where it narrowly missed hitting Dr. Sheppard:
“I demand of you a thousand pardons monsieur. I am without defence. For some months now I cultivate the marrows. This morning I enrage myself with these marrows. I send them to promenade themselves - alas! not only mentally but physically. I seize the biggest. I hurl him over the wall … Monsieur, I am ashamed. I prostrate myself.”
At this point, I recognised that Agatha Christie had almost certainly recently been reading the works of Charles Dickens. Unless there is an old tradition unknown to me, of using vegetable marrows as projectile missiles in suburban English gardens, the episode is lifted almost entirely from one of his novels (whether intentionally or not!). In “Nicholas Nickelby” a neighbour is enamoured with Nicholas’s widowed mother, and shows his feelings in an unusual courtship routine:
“But when he began to throw his cucumbers over our wall — ’
‘To throw his cucumbers over our wall!’ repeated Nicholas, in great astonishment.
‘Yes, Nicholas, my dear,’ replied Mrs Nickleby in a very serious tone; ‘his cucumbers over our wall. And vegetable marrows likewise.’
‘Confound his impudence!’ said Nicholas, firing immediately. ‘What does he mean by that?’
‘I don’t think he means it impertinently at all,’ replied Mrs Nickleby.
‘What!’ said Nicholas, ‘cucumbers and vegetable marrows flying at the heads of the family as they walk in their own garden, and not meant impertinently! Why, mother — ’…
… there are the presents which come pouring over the wall every day, and very fine they certainly are, very fine; we had one of the cucumbers at dinner yesterday, and think of pickling the rest for next winter. And last evening,’ added Mrs Nickleby, with increased confusion, ‘he called gently over the wall, as I was walking in the garden, and proposed marriage, and an elopement.
… upon my word, I think there’s another large vegetable marrow sticking, at this moment, on the broken glass bottles at the top of the wall!’”
And this is not an isolated instance of Charles Dickens’s overt influence on Agatha Christie in this novel. Consider this statement by Dr Sheppard:
“I am sorry to say I detest Mrs Ackroyd. She is all chains and teeth and bones. A most unpleasant woman. She has small pale flinty eyes, and however gushing her words may be, those eyes of hers always remain coldly speculative.
I went across to her, leaving Flora by the window. She gave me a handful of assorted knuckles and rings to squeeze.”
Instantly with this thumbnail sketch, in my mind’s eye I saw the abominable Jane Murdstone, sister to David’s cold-blooded and heartlessly “firm” new father in “David Copperfield”. She of the “numerous little steel fetters and rivets, with which Miss Murdstone embellished herself when she was dressed…”
When first introduced:
“She brought with her two uncompromising hard black boxes, with her initials on the lids in hard brass nails. When she paid the coachman she took her money out of a hard steel purse, and she kept the purse in a very jail of a bag which hung upon her arm by a heavy chain, and shut up like a bite. I had never, at that time, seen such a metallic lady altogether as Miss Murdstone was.”
It seems a clear influence to me! And the humour in these early Poirot novels is refreshing, as some of the popular later ones have a far less lively tone. Clever convoluted plots they may certainly have, but increasingly the writing tends to be pedestrian, even leaden in places. This one is a treat by comparison.
However, the involvement of Poirot is not automatic, and once more we are delighted to find that his involvement in the case is not welcomed by the police. There are three: the investigating officer, Inspector Davis; an inspector from the nearby larger town of Cranchester, Inspector Raglan; and the Chief constable for the local area around King’s Abbot, Colonel Melrose. It is par for the course, in cosy crime novels, that professionals tend to view the private consulting detectives as bumbling amateurs, and naturally the reader can barely wait until they are made to eat their words. Then, bursting out resentfully, will come something like:
“You seem to know a hell of a lot about everything, you little foreign cock duck.”
to amuse us all.
There are plenty of suspects in this one, each one an enjoyably distinct type:
“in King’s Abbot we permit people to indulge their little idiosyncrasies freely.”
As well as those described already, the “Flora” mentioned in the quotation is Flora Ackroyd, Roger Ackroyd’s niece. She had announced her engagement to Captain Ralph Paton, Roger Ackroyd’s stepson from his late wife’s previous marriage, during the dinner at the beginning of the novel. Flora herself is the daughter of Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, the widow of Roger’s brother, Cecil. Both mother and daughter are financially dependent on Roger Ackroyd, and have been living at Fernly Park for the past two years. When Ralph was nowhere to be found after the murder, Flora pleaded with Hercule Poirot to help the investigation, and prove him innocent. There is Mr. Hammond, Roger Ackroyd’s lawyer. Plus there are also two other servants, Elizabeth Russell, Roger Ackroyd’s attractive housekeeper, and Ursula Bourne, his parlourmaid, who seems a little haughty. And finally there is one more relation, who is to enter the action later.
However, although I have described the situation and relationships as they are conveyed to us at the start of the novel, we can be sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, is as it seems:
“always bear in mind that the person who speaks may be lying”.
Agatha Christie is widely acknowledged as the “Queen of Crime”, with eighty crime novels and short story collections, nineteen plays, and six novels written as Mary Westmacott to her credit. In my opinion, some are far better than others. If you haven’t read this one, then I recommend you give it a try:
“Now there has been a rearrangement of the kaleidoscope.”
And when you have finished reading this novel, please don’t be too surprised if the “rearrangement” makes you want to reassess everything; to start at the beginning, and read it all over again. I suspect that only at that point, may you agree with Hercule Poirot’s assertion:
“Everything is simple, if you arrange the facts methodically.”
Did she cheat? Only you, the reader, can decide that.
****
Here are some of the accolades:
“The most brilliant of deceptions.” – Julian Symons
“Very few [detective stories] provide greater analytical stimulation.” – The New York Times
“No one is more adroit than Miss Christie in the manipulation of false clues and irrelevances and red herrings; and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd makes breathless reading from first to the unexpected last” – The Observer
“The truly startling denouement … will restore a thrill to the most jaded reader of detective stories” – New York Herald Tribune
July 20, 2019
This is one of the cleverest mysteries I have ever read. The plot is dazzling and its execution is flawless. I was drawn into the mystery so easily and, despite following all of Hercule Poirot’s “little ideas” (as he calls them), despite all the subtle clues to decipher, this story – and its ending – were a complete surprise.
No spoilers ahead (although there are a couple of very obscure clues): In this novel, Hercule Poirot has retired to a small village, and when a murder is committed coupled with the possible blackmail of another person close to the murder victim, one of the family requests Hercule Poirot’s help in discovering the truth behind the mystery. Hastings (Poirot’s chronicler and helper in past mysteries) is in Argentina, so Poirot asks the local doctor if he would be willing to assist him. Dr. Shepherd is thrilled to be asked as the life of a country doctor is tedious at times and he sees it as an opportunity.
There are several household members, all of whom are suspects; there are also a few of the household staff in the suspect category.
Despite the large cast of characters and the various clues attached to certain people, I found it very easy to keep track of everyone, including the clues, motives, and where everyone was at the crucial times. Dr. Shepherd is very good at keeping notes and then transcribing them for our benefit afterward.
What am I saying? Of course it was Agatha Christie behind it all – and what a brilliant little masterpiece she created with this novel. I am only 4 books along in her Hercule Poirot series and I can see very clearly why she is in the upper echelons of the best mystery writers of all time.
No spoilers ahead (although there are a couple of very obscure clues): In this novel, Hercule Poirot has retired to a small village, and when a murder is committed coupled with the possible blackmail of another person close to the murder victim, one of the family requests Hercule Poirot’s help in discovering the truth behind the mystery. Hastings (Poirot’s chronicler and helper in past mysteries) is in Argentina, so Poirot asks the local doctor if he would be willing to assist him. Dr. Shepherd is thrilled to be asked as the life of a country doctor is tedious at times and he sees it as an opportunity.
There are several household members, all of whom are suspects; there are also a few of the household staff in the suspect category.
Despite the large cast of characters and the various clues attached to certain people, I found it very easy to keep track of everyone, including the clues, motives, and where everyone was at the crucial times. Dr. Shepherd is very good at keeping notes and then transcribing them for our benefit afterward.
What am I saying? Of course it was Agatha Christie behind it all – and what a brilliant little masterpiece she created with this novel. I am only 4 books along in her Hercule Poirot series and I can see very clearly why she is in the upper echelons of the best mystery writers of all time.
August 7, 2024
It starts with the suicide of Ackroyd's girlfriend.
When the widowed Mrs. Ferrars admits that she not only killed her awful husband but is being blackmailed by someone in the village to keep it a secret, Roger Ackroyd is understandably upset and backs away quickly.
When she kills herself and mails a letter naming her blackmailer, though, he feels it is his duty to avenge her.
However, before he can do so, he's stabbed to death in his study.
Poirot, who has retired to this sleepy town to garden and enjoy the simple life, comes out of retirement to solve the case.
Oddly enough, he's not as happy with his vegetable marrows and their growth as he thought he would be when he was planning his retirement, so this case provides a welcome break from taking it easy.
With the town doctor, James Sheppard, acting in the role of Hastings, Poirot goes over the evidence with a fine-tooth comb, finds out what everyone is hiding, and comes up with the solution.
I know I say this quite a bit, but...
This mystery goes down as one of Agatha Christie's best.
I've also heard that Dr. Sheppard's gossipy sister, Caroline, who knows the skinny on everyone in town, was an early incarnation of her famous Miss Marple.
Which, hey. That's mighty damn cool!
I don't want to give anything away in case someone hasn't read this one yet, so I'll just say this: TRUST NO ONE.
Recommended.
For anyone who loves the book, you should check out BBC Audio Crime's radio play of this book.
When the widowed Mrs. Ferrars admits that she not only killed her awful husband but is being blackmailed by someone in the village to keep it a secret, Roger Ackroyd is understandably upset and backs away quickly.
When she kills herself and mails a letter naming her blackmailer, though, he feels it is his duty to avenge her.
However, before he can do so, he's stabbed to death in his study.
Poirot, who has retired to this sleepy town to garden and enjoy the simple life, comes out of retirement to solve the case.
Oddly enough, he's not as happy with his vegetable marrows and their growth as he thought he would be when he was planning his retirement, so this case provides a welcome break from taking it easy.
With the town doctor, James Sheppard, acting in the role of Hastings, Poirot goes over the evidence with a fine-tooth comb, finds out what everyone is hiding, and comes up with the solution.
I know I say this quite a bit, but...
This mystery goes down as one of Agatha Christie's best.
I've also heard that Dr. Sheppard's gossipy sister, Caroline, who knows the skinny on everyone in town, was an early incarnation of her famous Miss Marple.
Which, hey. That's mighty damn cool!
I don't want to give anything away in case someone hasn't read this one yet, so I'll just say this: TRUST NO ONE.
Recommended.
For anyone who loves the book, you should check out BBC Audio Crime's radio play of this book.
April 18, 2022
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot #4), Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in June 1926.
It is the fourth novel to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. In King's Abbot, wealthy widow Mrs Ferrars unexpectedly commits suicide, which distresses her fiancé, widower Roger Ackroyd. At dinner that evening in Ackroyd's home of Fernly Park, his guests include his sister-in-law Mrs Cecil Ackroyd and her daughter Flora, big-game hunter Major Blunt, Ackroyd's personal secretary Geoffrey Raymond, and Dr James Sheppard, whom Ackroyd invited earlier that day.
During dinner, Flora announces her engagement to Ackroyd's stepson, Ralph Paton. After dinner, Ackroyd reveals to Sheppard in his study that Mrs Ferrars had confided in him she was being blackmailed over her murder of her husband. He then asks Sheppard to leave, wishing to read a letter from Mrs Ferrars that arrives in the post, containing her suicide note. Once home, Sheppard receives a call from Parker, Ackroyd's butler, claiming that Ackroyd is dead. Upon returning to Fernly Park, Parker denies making such a call, yet he, Sheppard, Raymond and Blunt find Ackroyd dead in his study, stabbed to death with a weapon from his collection.
Hercule Poirot, living in the village, comes out of retirement at Flora's request. She does not believe Paton killed Ackroyd, despite him disappearing and police finding his footprints on the study's window. Poirot learns a few important facts on the case: all in the household, except parlourmaid Ursula Bourne, have alibis for the murder; while Raymond and Blunt heard Ackroyd talking to someone after Sheppard left, Flora was the last to see him that evening; Sheppard met a stranger on his way home, at Fernly Park's gates; Ackroyd met a representative of a dictaphone company a few days earlier; Parker recalls seeing a chair that had been in an odd position in the study when the body was found, that has since returned to its original position; the letter from Mrs Ferrars has disappeared since the murder. Poirot asks Sheppard for the exact time he met his stranger. He later finds a goose quill and a scrap of starched cambric in the summer house, and a ring with the inscription "From R" in the backyard. ...
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «مرگ راجر آکروید: و نقد و بررسی رمان پلیسی توسط بوآلو نارسژاک»؛ «وقتی وجدان بیدار میشود»؛ «قتل آقای راجر»؛ «قتل راجر آکروید»؛ «ماجرای قتل راجر آکروید»؛ نویسنده آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال1994میلادی
عنوان: مرگ راجر آکروید: و نقد و بررسی رمان پلیسی توسط بوآلو نارسژاک؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: خسرو سمیعی؛ تهران، نشر قطره، سال1372؛ در452ص؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده20م
عنوان: وقتی وجدان بیدار میشود؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: بهرام، افراسیابی؛ تهران: مهتاب، سال1373؛ در91ص؛ با عنان: پنج بامداد پایان پیام؛ تهران، مهرفام، سال1392؛ در256ص؛ شابک9789649915241؛
عنوان: قتل آقای راجر؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: امیرحسین سلیمی؛ تهران، ساحل، سال1373؛ در317ص؛
عنوان: قتل راجر آکروید؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: خسرو سمیعی؛ تهران: کتاب هرمس، کتابهای کارآگاه، سال1388؛ در297ص؛ شابک9789643635565؛ چاپ دوم سال1390؛ چاپ سوم سال1392؛ چاپ چهارم سال1393؛ چاپ پنجم سال1396؛ چاپ ششم سال1397؛
عنوان: ماجرای قتل راجر آکروید؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: سپیده حبیبی؛ ویراستار: بهاره میرزایی؛ نا جم، بازآرا: دنا جم؛ تهران: موسسه نگارش الکترونیک کتاب، سال1396؛ در53ص؛ شابک9786008299592��
قتل راجر آکروید، یک رمان جنایی اثر بانو «آگاتا کریستی» است، این کتاب نخستین بار در سال1926میلادی منتشر شده است؛ جنایت در یک روستای دورافتاده، و در محیطی نیمه اشرافی، رخ میدهد؛ «راجر آکروید» در اتاق کارش به قتل میرسد، و نویسنده، بنا بر سنت متداول «عصر طلایی»، نقشه ی منزل را در اختیار خوانشگران میگذارد، پرسوناژهای رایج رمانهای کلاسیک معمایی هم، همگی حضور دارند، از سرپیشخدمت عصا قورت داده، و مقرراتی (که رفتارش مشکوک است، ولی خوانشگر به او سوء ظن نمیبرد) گرفته، تا مستخدمه ها، و آشپز و سرآشپز، و سایر خدمه، که جزو ملزومات اینگونه آثار هستند؛
خواهر راوی داستان (دکتر دهکده که نقش دستیار کاوشگر را نیز ایفا میکند)، یکی از بامزه ترین شخصیتهای رمان است، زیرا این زن خوش نیت، و بی اندازه کنکاشگر، مدام شایعه های خنده دار و بی اساس را، که با پشتکاری کم نظیر، از اینجا و آنجا گرد آورده، بازگو میکند، و شادمانی خوانشگران را فراهم مینماید؛ کارآگاه ماجرا، جناب «هرکول پوآرو»، که در همسایگی دکتر منزل دارند، و راوی داستان، ایشان را «مرد کله تخم مرغی» مینامد، به شیوه ای «شرلوک هولمز»ی، پرسشهایی، ظاهراً بی ربط میکند، که در پایان معلوم میشود، تا چه اندازه مهم بوده اند!؛
همگی رمانهای معمایی پرخوانشگر این دوره، به نحوی به خوانشگر کلک میزنند، و ترفندی که بانو «آگاتا کریستی» در اینجا به کار بسته است، برای آن ایام بی اندازه تازه و کم همانند بوده، این شگرد اما مورد پذیرش بسیاری از اصولگرایان نیفتاد، چون یکی از قو��عد دهگانه را، که حکم میکند راوی هیچ مطلبی را از خوانشگر پنهان نکند، زیر پا میگذارد؛ اعضای «باشگاه پلیسی نویسان اصولگرا» ـ از جمله خود بانو «آگاتا کریستی» ـ سوگند خورده بودند، در روایت پردازی «روراست» باشند، حال آنکه در «مرگ راجر آکروید»، آشکارا، این پیمان نادیده انگاشته شده است
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/04/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 28/01/1401هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in June 1926.
It is the fourth novel to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. In King's Abbot, wealthy widow Mrs Ferrars unexpectedly commits suicide, which distresses her fiancé, widower Roger Ackroyd. At dinner that evening in Ackroyd's home of Fernly Park, his guests include his sister-in-law Mrs Cecil Ackroyd and her daughter Flora, big-game hunter Major Blunt, Ackroyd's personal secretary Geoffrey Raymond, and Dr James Sheppard, whom Ackroyd invited earlier that day.
During dinner, Flora announces her engagement to Ackroyd's stepson, Ralph Paton. After dinner, Ackroyd reveals to Sheppard in his study that Mrs Ferrars had confided in him she was being blackmailed over her murder of her husband. He then asks Sheppard to leave, wishing to read a letter from Mrs Ferrars that arrives in the post, containing her suicide note. Once home, Sheppard receives a call from Parker, Ackroyd's butler, claiming that Ackroyd is dead. Upon returning to Fernly Park, Parker denies making such a call, yet he, Sheppard, Raymond and Blunt find Ackroyd dead in his study, stabbed to death with a weapon from his collection.
Hercule Poirot, living in the village, comes out of retirement at Flora's request. She does not believe Paton killed Ackroyd, despite him disappearing and police finding his footprints on the study's window. Poirot learns a few important facts on the case: all in the household, except parlourmaid Ursula Bourne, have alibis for the murder; while Raymond and Blunt heard Ackroyd talking to someone after Sheppard left, Flora was the last to see him that evening; Sheppard met a stranger on his way home, at Fernly Park's gates; Ackroyd met a representative of a dictaphone company a few days earlier; Parker recalls seeing a chair that had been in an odd position in the study when the body was found, that has since returned to its original position; the letter from Mrs Ferrars has disappeared since the murder. Poirot asks Sheppard for the exact time he met his stranger. He later finds a goose quill and a scrap of starched cambric in the summer house, and a ring with the inscription "From R" in the backyard. ...
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «مرگ راجر آکروید: و نقد و بررسی رمان پلیسی توسط بوآلو نارسژاک»؛ «وقتی وجدان بیدار میشود»؛ «قتل آقای راجر»؛ «قتل راجر آکروید»؛ «ماجرای قتل راجر آکروید»؛ نویسنده آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال1994میلادی
عنوان: مرگ راجر آکروید: و نقد و بررسی رمان پلیسی توسط بوآلو نارسژاک؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: خسرو سمیعی؛ تهران، نشر قطره، سال1372؛ در452ص؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده20م
عنوان: وقتی وجدان بیدار میشود؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: بهرام، افراسیابی؛ تهران: مهتاب، سال1373؛ در91ص؛ با عنان: پنج بامداد پایان پیام؛ تهران، مهرفام، سال1392؛ در256ص؛ شابک9789649915241؛
عنوان: قتل آقای راجر؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: امیرحسین سلیمی؛ تهران، ساحل، سال1373؛ در317ص؛
عنوان: قتل راجر آکروید؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: خسرو سمیعی؛ تهران: کتاب هرمس، کتابهای کارآگاه، سال1388؛ در297ص؛ شابک9789643635565؛ چاپ دوم سال1390؛ چاپ سوم سال1392؛ چاپ چهارم سال1393؛ چاپ پنجم سال1396؛ چاپ ششم سال1397؛
عنوان: ماجرای قتل راجر آکروید؛ نویسنده: آگاتا کریستی (میلر)؛ مترجم: سپیده حبیبی؛ ویراستار: بهاره میرزایی؛ نا جم، بازآرا: دنا جم؛ تهران: موسسه نگارش الکترونیک کتاب، سال1396؛ در53ص؛ شابک9786008299592��
قتل راجر آکروید، یک رمان جنایی اثر بانو «آگاتا کریستی» است، این کتاب نخستین بار در سال1926میلادی منتشر شده است؛ جنایت در یک روستای دورافتاده، و در محیطی نیمه اشرافی، رخ میدهد؛ «راجر آکروید» در اتاق کارش به قتل میرسد، و نویسنده، بنا بر سنت متداول «عصر طلایی»، نقشه ی منزل را در اختیار خوانشگران میگذارد، پرسوناژهای رایج رمانهای کلاسیک معمایی هم، همگی حضور دارند، از سرپیشخدمت عصا قورت داده، و مقرراتی (که رفتارش مشکوک است، ولی خوانشگر به او سوء ظن نمیبرد) گرفته، تا مستخدمه ها، و آشپز و سرآشپز، و سایر خدمه، که جزو ملزومات اینگونه آثار هستند؛
خواهر راوی داستان (دکتر دهکده که نقش دستیار کاوشگر را نیز ایفا میکند)، یکی از بامزه ترین شخصیتهای رمان است، زیرا این زن خوش نیت، و بی اندازه کنکاشگر، مدام شایعه های خنده دار و بی اساس را، که با پشتکاری کم نظیر، از اینجا و آنجا گرد آورده، بازگو میکند، و شادمانی خوانشگران را فراهم مینماید؛ کارآگاه ماجرا، جناب «هرکول پوآرو»، که در همسایگی دکتر منزل دارند، و راوی داستان، ایشان را «مرد کله تخم مرغی» مینامد، به شیوه ای «شرلوک هولمز»ی، پرسشهایی، ظاهراً بی ربط میکند، که در پایان معلوم میشود، تا چه اندازه مهم بوده اند!؛
همگی رمانهای معمایی پرخوانشگر این دوره، به نحوی به خوانشگر کلک میزنند، و ترفندی که بانو «آگاتا کریستی» در اینجا به کار بسته است، برای آن ایام بی اندازه تازه و کم همانند بوده، این شگرد اما مورد پذیرش بسیاری از اصولگرایان نیفتاد، چون یکی از قو��عد دهگانه را، که حکم میکند راوی هیچ مطلبی را از خوانشگر پنهان نکند، زیر پا میگذارد؛ اعضای «باشگاه پلیسی نویسان اصولگرا» ـ از جمله خود بانو «آگاتا کریستی» ـ سوگند خورده بودند، در روایت پردازی «روراست» باشند، حال آنکه در «مرگ راجر آکروید»، آشکارا، این پیمان نادیده انگاشته شده است
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 20/04/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 28/01/1401هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
April 27, 2023
Una novela que me quitó el aliento al final y que no me dejó dormir.
El suspense que genera Agatha Christie es brutal. La manera como Poirot maneja la trama es impresionante. ¡Qué calma! Te das cuenta de que lo ha sabido todo desde siempre.
No le puse la quinta estrella porqué pienso personalmente que Christie hace trampa con el lector y no pienso decir nada más.
No dejéis el final para muy tarde porqué no podréis parar de leer.
A novel that took my breath away at the end and didn't let me sleep.
The suspense generated by Agatha Christie is brutal. The way poirot handles the plot is impressive. How calm! You realize that he has always known everything.
I didn't give it the fifth star because I personally think Christie cheats on the reader and I don't want to say anything else.
Do not leave the end until too late because you will not be able to stop reading.
El suspense que genera Agatha Christie es brutal. La manera como Poirot maneja la trama es impresionante. ¡Qué calma! Te das cuenta de que lo ha sabido todo desde siempre.
No le puse la quinta estrella porqué pienso personalmente que Christie hace trampa con el lector y no pienso decir nada más.
No dejéis el final para muy tarde porqué no podréis parar de leer.
A novel that took my breath away at the end and didn't let me sleep.
The suspense generated by Agatha Christie is brutal. The way poirot handles the plot is impressive. How calm! You realize that he has always known everything.
I didn't give it the fifth star because I personally think Christie cheats on the reader and I don't want to say anything else.
Do not leave the end until too late because you will not be able to stop reading.
August 9, 2019
It's been many years since this book was released, but it's still a cut above what's being published today. Iconic detective Hercule Poirot has retired to the country, but is drawn in to solve a murder. With an ingenious plot, wonderful characters, and an ending that you will never guess, we are again reminded why Agatha Christie is the master at plotting intricate mysteries that all others can only aspire to.
November 11, 2017
Agatha Christie offers her readers an invite, an invite to come and solve her tantalising murder mystery.
It was a real tricky one, though I did have my suspicions very early on. There was a certain emphasis on a tiny bit of information that we didn’t really need to know that gave the game away. It added little to the story and, for me, only had the purpose of giving her killer an excuse not to be the killer. So it was obviously that person. Most readers seem to have been utterly dumbfounded at the reveal but I spotted it a mile of, perhaps only because I have seen the same device used in a book by another author. I’m not going to mention the name of the book because it will give it all away.
Nevertheless, when it was finally confirmed it still brought me a great deal of delight. The actual murder event was ever so discreet, tucked in between two paragraphs in plain sight that will always be missed on an initial read. It was the editor afterward that drew my attention to the piece of text, and despite my suspicions I still missed it when I read it the first time. When I went back to read it though I noticed exactly how subtle Christie has been; it is exceedingly clever writing that’s for sure.
The real success of Christie’s writing is her narrative drive. It is impossible to read this in a slow leisurely manner. I found myself storming through pages and chapters at an alarming rate. I actually read the entire novel in one evening and pretty much in one sitting. Christie gives you just enough information to keep you second guessing yourself but not enough to finally confirm your suspicions, at least, until that memorable reveal: the grand unmasking of her killer. Poirot knew all along; he was just keeping the killer as close as possible for as long as possible, baiting him the entire time.
In the mode of modernism, Christie’s prose is deceptively simple. It pushes ever forward, picking up speed, as it heads towards the climax: a single line of dialogue that has, no doubt, dropped the jaw of many a reader. She also explores the psychological state of her characters and demonstrates awareness of Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis. It allowed her to get way with so much here and Poirot uses it too when he considers the possible murder motives his line of suspects could have.
Overall, a brilliant book. This will not be the last Agatha Christie novel I read.
It was a real tricky one, though I did have my suspicions very early on. There was a certain emphasis on a tiny bit of information that we didn’t really need to know that gave the game away. It added little to the story and, for me, only had the purpose of giving her killer an excuse not to be the killer. So it was obviously that person. Most readers seem to have been utterly dumbfounded at the reveal but I spotted it a mile of, perhaps only because I have seen the same device used in a book by another author. I’m not going to mention the name of the book because it will give it all away.
Nevertheless, when it was finally confirmed it still brought me a great deal of delight. The actual murder event was ever so discreet, tucked in between two paragraphs in plain sight that will always be missed on an initial read. It was the editor afterward that drew my attention to the piece of text, and despite my suspicions I still missed it when I read it the first time. When I went back to read it though I noticed exactly how subtle Christie has been; it is exceedingly clever writing that’s for sure.
The real success of Christie’s writing is her narrative drive. It is impossible to read this in a slow leisurely manner. I found myself storming through pages and chapters at an alarming rate. I actually read the entire novel in one evening and pretty much in one sitting. Christie gives you just enough information to keep you second guessing yourself but not enough to finally confirm your suspicions, at least, until that memorable reveal: the grand unmasking of her killer. Poirot knew all along; he was just keeping the killer as close as possible for as long as possible, baiting him the entire time.
In the mode of modernism, Christie’s prose is deceptively simple. It pushes ever forward, picking up speed, as it heads towards the climax: a single line of dialogue that has, no doubt, dropped the jaw of many a reader. She also explores the psychological state of her characters and demonstrates awareness of Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis. It allowed her to get way with so much here and Poirot uses it too when he considers the possible murder motives his line of suspects could have.
Overall, a brilliant book. This will not be the last Agatha Christie novel I read.
August 16, 2016
Wow just Wow! Agatha Christie had me from the first page, hook line & sinker and she never lost my attention until the very end. No wonder this is considered to be one of her very best.
I do not want to say too much about this book, I mean the title pretty much tells you what it is about and to go too much further into any details runs the risk of spoilers. If there are others out there, like me, who are late in the game of reading this I do not want to spoil that experience for them in any way.
This is only the second Agatha Christie book I have read and my first Hercule Poirot. Know this, you will not be bored. I spent my time while reading trying to figure out who did the dastardly deed. Not! It wasn’t until right near the end that I thought “It can’t be”. I love when that happens.
I want to go back and read it again, just to see how many clues I missed along the way.
If you have not as yet taken the Agatha Christie plunge, look no further. This is the one.
Highly Recommended!!!
I do not want to say too much about this book, I mean the title pretty much tells you what it is about and to go too much further into any details runs the risk of spoilers. If there are others out there, like me, who are late in the game of reading this I do not want to spoil that experience for them in any way.
This is only the second Agatha Christie book I have read and my first Hercule Poirot. Know this, you will not be bored. I spent my time while reading trying to figure out who did the dastardly deed. Not! It wasn’t until right near the end that I thought “It can’t be”. I love when that happens.
I want to go back and read it again, just to see how many clues I missed along the way.
If you have not as yet taken the Agatha Christie plunge, look no further. This is the one.
Highly Recommended!!!
February 28, 2024
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christi is Hercule Poirot Mysteries, Book #4!
This is, by far, the best Agatha Christie Mystery I've read to date...
This murder mystery takes place in the village of King's Abbot where a wealthy widow, Mrs. Ferras, had taken her own life. The following day wealthy widower, Roger Ackroyd, is found in his study stabbed to death by his own dagger. There is a series of events before and after both deaths to be discovered as you read...
Dr. James Sheppard, the local physician is our narrator and a neighbor of the recently retired Hercule Poirot, whom Sheppard mistakes for a retired hairdresser based on his mustache. There's a fun and interesting exchange between these two men over the wall separating their adjacent vegetable gardens, where they first meet.
Roger Ackroyd's niece, Flora, requests Poirot to investigate her uncle's murder, and Dr. Sheppard agrees to be Poirot's assistant in place of Arthur Hastings, who is now married and residing in the Argentine.
There is a tangle of interesting characters and paying attention to who is related to or engaged to whom, is key to avoid missing anything crucial. There are plenty of suspects, one rising to the top fairly quickly, a series of clues, and lots of red herrings. Poirot continues diligently with his search until he, at last, states that he "knows everything".
The 7H 30M audiobook is expertly narrated by Richard Armitage whose narration and voicing are an experience. I could listen to this man's voice all day, every day. Seriously!
Now I know why this is one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels, and of course, it is Hercule Poirot who delivers The Queen of Mystery's most surprising twist. If you only read ONE Agatha Christie Mystery, I recommend you make this the ONE. Voilà!
5⭐
This is, by far, the best Agatha Christie Mystery I've read to date...
This murder mystery takes place in the village of King's Abbot where a wealthy widow, Mrs. Ferras, had taken her own life. The following day wealthy widower, Roger Ackroyd, is found in his study stabbed to death by his own dagger. There is a series of events before and after both deaths to be discovered as you read...
Dr. James Sheppard, the local physician is our narrator and a neighbor of the recently retired Hercule Poirot, whom Sheppard mistakes for a retired hairdresser based on his mustache. There's a fun and interesting exchange between these two men over the wall separating their adjacent vegetable gardens, where they first meet.
Roger Ackroyd's niece, Flora, requests Poirot to investigate her uncle's murder, and Dr. Sheppard agrees to be Poirot's assistant in place of Arthur Hastings, who is now married and residing in the Argentine.
There is a tangle of interesting characters and paying attention to who is related to or engaged to whom, is key to avoid missing anything crucial. There are plenty of suspects, one rising to the top fairly quickly, a series of clues, and lots of red herrings. Poirot continues diligently with his search until he, at last, states that he "knows everything".
The 7H 30M audiobook is expertly narrated by Richard Armitage whose narration and voicing are an experience. I could listen to this man's voice all day, every day. Seriously!
Now I know why this is one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels, and of course, it is Hercule Poirot who delivers The Queen of Mystery's most surprising twist. If you only read ONE Agatha Christie Mystery, I recommend you make this the ONE. Voilà!
5⭐
March 9, 2024
This one brought a lot of nostalgia...
Although I'm not a fan of murder mysteries, as a child I liked watching TV series based on English detective stories - most, of course, were adaptations of Agatha Christie works. From the first page I dived into a "murder in a small English town" atmosphere with a slowly-paced investigation based on unravelling dirty little secrets of snobbish and pretentious Englishmen.
This novel also demonstrates why Christie is "a mother/pioneer of genre". The characters, premises and classical revelation of a murderer seems to be used in practically every suchlike story. But even here author managed to surprise a reader in a way that is hard to describe if you want to avoid spoilers.
Although I'm not a fan of murder mysteries, as a child I liked watching TV series based on English detective stories - most, of course, were adaptations of Agatha Christie works. From the first page I dived into a "murder in a small English town" atmosphere with a slowly-paced investigation based on unravelling dirty little secrets of snobbish and pretentious Englishmen.
This novel also demonstrates why Christie is "a mother/pioneer of genre". The characters, premises and classical revelation of a murderer seems to be used in practically every suchlike story. But even here author managed to surprise a reader in a way that is hard to describe if you want to avoid spoilers.
January 21, 2019
Es Agatha Christie ¿qué más puedo decir? Una gran novela policiaca con un final impecable.
October 10, 2022
Hercule Poirot, book #4 sees Christie at her best. Poirot retires to rural Sussex and his invited to help solve the case of the murder of Roger Ackroyd. Hastings is replaced as the narrator by a Dr Shepherd who has an enigmatic and very nosy sister, Caroline. With a zillion twists, red herrings and false paths Christie convincingly and imperiously leads the reader through a dance to a stunning denouement. Superb! 8 out of 12.
2012 read
2012 read
November 28, 2023
AIUTO, POIROT!
Hercule Poirot interpretato da David Suchet nell’interminabile serie inglese andata in onda dal 1989 al 2013.
Qualsiasi descrizione del luogo dove si svolge questa storia porta alla medesima conclusione: tipico immutabile paesello della campagna inglese dove le risorse e i passatempi intellettuali si possono sintetizzare in una sola parola: il pettegolezzo.
E questo anche per esplicita asserzione dell’io narrante, che è la voce di una delle personalità di maggior spicco di King’s Abbot: il dottor Sheppard, medico del paese.
Il più recente Poirot, e anche uno dei più improbabili.
Noioso come solo una soap opera sa esserlo. Sbadigli smodati e senza ritegno.
E infatti, mi viene da dire che Agatha Christie sta a un giallo poliziesco come una soap sta a una serie HBO.
A parte l’arguzia della trama, che a me ricorda i rebus - gioco enigmistico che però mi ha sempre suscitato poco entusiasmo – e infatti, cos’altro è la Christie se non la Settimana Enigmistica del giallo poliziesco? – cosa resta? Zero psicologia, zero approfondimento sociologico, zero atmosfera – la famosa ambientazione, che per la lady del giallo bagnomaria è uno dei tre elementi portanti – insieme ai personaggi e alle idee - si riduce a una macchietta, nessuna possibilità di assaporarla.
Poirot o Miss Marple il brodino è lo stesso.
Hercule Poirot interpretato dal grandioso Peter Ustinov.
Non meraviglia l‘entusiasmo di Leonardo Sciascia, autore sia della breve intro che dell’altrettanto breve postfazione: Sciascia amava il giallo. E viaggiava spesso in treno: in quei treni siculi regionali, che come gli italici nazionali dell’epoca, avevano tempi di percorrenza tra l’infinito e l’eterno. Cosa c’è di più conciliante il sonno che un gialletto all’acqua di rose che dimostra tutto il suo tempo, quasi un secolo d’esistenza?
Il mio Poirot preferito: James Coco interpreta Milo Perrier, parodia del celebre detective belga, in uno dei film più divertenti della storia, “Murder By Death – Invito a cena con delitto” diretto da Robert Moore nel 1976.
Hercule Poirot interpretato da David Suchet nell’interminabile serie inglese andata in onda dal 1989 al 2013.
Qualsiasi descrizione del luogo dove si svolge questa storia porta alla medesima conclusione: tipico immutabile paesello della campagna inglese dove le risorse e i passatempi intellettuali si possono sintetizzare in una sola parola: il pettegolezzo.
E questo anche per esplicita asserzione dell’io narrante, che è la voce di una delle personalità di maggior spicco di King’s Abbot: il dottor Sheppard, medico del paese.
Il più recente Poirot, e anche uno dei più improbabili.
Noioso come solo una soap opera sa esserlo. Sbadigli smodati e senza ritegno.
E infatti, mi viene da dire che Agatha Christie sta a un giallo poliziesco come una soap sta a una serie HBO.
A parte l’arguzia della trama, che a me ricorda i rebus - gioco enigmistico che però mi ha sempre suscitato poco entusiasmo – e infatti, cos’altro è la Christie se non la Settimana Enigmistica del giallo poliziesco? – cosa resta? Zero psicologia, zero approfondimento sociologico, zero atmosfera – la famosa ambientazione, che per la lady del giallo bagnomaria è uno dei tre elementi portanti – insieme ai personaggi e alle idee - si riduce a una macchietta, nessuna possibilità di assaporarla.
Poirot o Miss Marple il brodino è lo stesso.
Hercule Poirot interpretato dal grandioso Peter Ustinov.
Non meraviglia l‘entusiasmo di Leonardo Sciascia, autore sia della breve intro che dell’altrettanto breve postfazione: Sciascia amava il giallo. E viaggiava spesso in treno: in quei treni siculi regionali, che come gli italici nazionali dell’epoca, avevano tempi di percorrenza tra l’infinito e l’eterno. Cosa c’è di più conciliante il sonno che un gialletto all’acqua di rose che dimostra tutto il suo tempo, quasi un secolo d’esistenza?
Il mio Poirot preferito: James Coco interpreta Milo Perrier, parodia del celebre detective belga, in uno dei film più divertenti della storia, “Murder By Death – Invito a cena con delitto” diretto da Robert Moore nel 1976.
September 22, 2019
This Hercule Poirot is a genuine tour de force, a classic of the genre, for a very good reason that you will understand perfectly as soon as you have finish reading it.
July 27, 2024
[5.0⭐] 𝙀𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙤 𝘼𝙘𝙠𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙙 es una novela de misterio escrita por Agatha Christie y publicada en 1926. En 2013 fue elegida como la mejor novela de crimen de todos los tiempos por la Asociación de Escritores de Crimen. La historia transcurre en King's Abbot, donde el millonario Rogelio Ackroyd es encontrado asesinado en su estudio. El detective Hércules Poirot, recién retirado a la vida tranquila del campo, se ve arrastrado nuevamente al mundo de la investigación. Con su ingenio, Poirot deberá desentrañar una red de secretos y mentiras que envuelven a los habitantes del pueblo.
Quiero decir que soy una GRAN amante de este género. He leído muchos thrillers, he visto muchas películas policíacas y he visto millones de series de misterio. Digo esto porque me siento con la autoridad necesaria para decir que este es el mejor thriller que he leído en toda mi vida, es una verdadera obra maestra. Esta novela presenta uno de los giros más sorprendentes y audaces en la literatura detectivesca, de verdad que no me lo veía venir. Sin duda, se ha convertido en mi novela de misterio favorita.
Christie destaca por su habilidad para crear personajes complejos y realistas, en especial en esta obra. Cada individuo en King's Abbot tiene sus propias motivaciones y secretos, lo que añade capas de complejidad a la trama. Además, esta es la primera obra de la saga en donde el narrador ya no es Hastings, sino que el Dr. Sheppard. Este individuo se convierte en un personaje esencial, ofreciendo una perspectiva íntima y detallada de los eventos ya que tiene conocimiento de la localidad y de sus habitantes.
El desarrollo de la trama, como siempre con Christie, es magistral. La autora maneja a la perfección la tensión, llegando a revelar poco a poco pistas y sembrando dudas en la mente del lector. Cada capítulo aporta nuevos elementos que enriquecen el misterio y la revelación final es tan inesperada que hasta he quedado completamente impactada con el/la culpable. La escritora desafía las convenciones del género policial con su desenlace, demostrando una vez más su genio creativo y el porqué la gente la ha llamado “la reina del misterio".
Finalmente, 𝙀𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙤 𝘼𝙘𝙠𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙙 es una obra imprescindible para cualquier amante del misterio ya que es una obra maestra. Agatha Christie ofrece una trama ingeniosa, personajes muy memorables y un final de alto impacto que ha dejado una huella imborrable en el género.
Quiero decir que soy una GRAN amante de este género. He leído muchos thrillers, he visto muchas películas policíacas y he visto millones de series de misterio. Digo esto porque me siento con la autoridad necesaria para decir que este es el mejor thriller que he leído en toda mi vida, es una verdadera obra maestra. Esta novela presenta uno de los giros más sorprendentes y audaces en la literatura detectivesca, de verdad que no me lo veía venir. Sin duda, se ha convertido en mi novela de misterio favorita.
Christie destaca por su habilidad para crear personajes complejos y realistas, en especial en esta obra. Cada individuo en King's Abbot tiene sus propias motivaciones y secretos, lo que añade capas de complejidad a la trama. Además, esta es la primera obra de la saga en donde el narrador ya no es Hastings, sino que el Dr. Sheppard. Este individuo se convierte en un personaje esencial, ofreciendo una perspectiva íntima y detallada de los eventos ya que tiene conocimiento de la localidad y de sus habitantes.
El desarrollo de la trama, como siempre con Christie, es magistral. La autora maneja a la perfección la tensión, llegando a revelar poco a poco pistas y sembrando dudas en la mente del lector. Cada capítulo aporta nuevos elementos que enriquecen el misterio y la revelación final es tan inesperada que hasta he quedado completamente impactada con el/la culpable. La escritora desafía las convenciones del género policial con su desenlace, demostrando una vez más su genio creativo y el porqué la gente la ha llamado “la reina del misterio".
Finalmente, 𝙀𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙤 𝘼𝙘𝙠𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙙 es una obra imprescindible para cualquier amante del misterio ya que es una obra maestra. Agatha Christie ofrece una trama ingeniosa, personajes muy memorables y un final de alto impacto que ha dejado una huella imborrable en el género.
August 8, 2021
Agatha Christie the Queen of Blood as I have humorously tried to christen the lady, a title well earned the name suits her because of the numerous killings in 73 novels you may have read , call her incorrectly this she despised carnage in real and fictional life. Still it was essential a little red appears in a few pages you can guess why...dough obviously , poisons she became an expert in while working in a British hospital during ww1...odd...a strange hobby to be sure. The book raised Mrs. Christie to heights never reached by rivals even though 95 years have expired she will remain as the ultimate in murder mysteries, the surprise ending is no longer that the impact today greatly lessened,"borrowing" is a common practice now and too much time has transpired , the numerous other writers soon had the exact idea, authors are like this. Enough background when a strange man arrives in the small village in England, things begin to roll downhill quickly not for the good as people vanish a little foreigner with a heavy accent French the suspicious local inhabitants believe... no make that Belgian, he seems quiet, calm person the kind country folks like , trust, no trouble maker he seems a nonthreatening little human rather to be honest, unattractive chap one of many from his devastated nation who escaped the enormous butchering in his pounded
wounded nation, retired he says...Still the conflict is nearly a decade ago facts are known so why is he here? They discover things these curious people, this man is a famous detective except here..in King's Abbot the world outside seems a distant, vague notion. Come to think about it there has been a few deaths unexplained lately tongues wag in villages were everyone knows all, boredom thrives and excitement lacking presence . The death of Roger Ackroyd the richest person in the neighborhood shocks the locals quiet atmosphere being a murder, stabbed in the back imagine in this place. As usual the bumbling police are ineffective and the reluctant Hercules Poirot steps on a few shoes in order to solve the crime, the dance continues but for some the music stops when the jolting conclusion occurs the deduction will not be the best or the worst that is you to judge. In my not very humble opinion I liked the material to a certain degree, writers like to fool the readers however in doing so lose sight of the consequences of their actions.
wounded nation, retired he says...Still the conflict is nearly a decade ago facts are known so why is he here? They discover things these curious people, this man is a famous detective except here..in King's Abbot the world outside seems a distant, vague notion. Come to think about it there has been a few deaths unexplained lately tongues wag in villages were everyone knows all, boredom thrives and excitement lacking presence . The death of Roger Ackroyd the richest person in the neighborhood shocks the locals quiet atmosphere being a murder, stabbed in the back imagine in this place. As usual the bumbling police are ineffective and the reluctant Hercules Poirot steps on a few shoes in order to solve the crime, the dance continues but for some the music stops when the jolting conclusion occurs the deduction will not be the best or the worst that is you to judge. In my not very humble opinion I liked the material to a certain degree, writers like to fool the readers however in doing so lose sight of the consequences of their actions.
January 22, 2013
She got me! That cheeky beeotch! She got me!
July 22, 2018
I saw a few reviews, before I read this book, saying it was the best Agatha Christie they had read and I think I agree! I raced through it in a few hours though still making sure I absorbed every fact and every clue.
Not that it did me any good. I had plenty of ideas as to who the murderer might be but in the end none of them were correct. Poirot kept his secrets right to the end and only then did things become clear. It was actually an amazing conclusion to a really excellent story.
Thoroughly enjoyable and yes, one of the best Christie novels I have read.
Not that it did me any good. I had plenty of ideas as to who the murderer might be but in the end none of them were correct. Poirot kept his secrets right to the end and only then did things become clear. It was actually an amazing conclusion to a really excellent story.
Thoroughly enjoyable and yes, one of the best Christie novels I have read.
February 8, 2021
The ending really got me!
My first Christie Poirot book and he is quite the quirky investigator. A who-dunnit with many suspects that seem reasonable. When Hercule Poirot and his "little ideas" comes to investigate, he narrows it down in a way that had my head spinning!
An entertaining mystery by the Queen of Mysteries and I really enjoyed playing detective along with the characters.
Thanks to my local library for this one. I'll continue reading some of the series and other Christie novels. Maybe I'll get better at following those clues!
July 25, 2024
goddamn it agatha you win this time
May 28, 2018
My 2018 Review ooh 4.5 stars
So as part of my Hercule Poirot challenge, courtesy of Jessica in "Reading the Detectives", I decided to read this book for the 2nd time in 13 months (why when I have so many books I want to read I don't know, but I did). Was I disappointed, oh no, if anything I'm seriously thinking of upping it to 5 stars. Despite a gap of only 13 months , I got so much from this re-read. In fact I've obviously read so much in that intervening time, that it took me over 3/4 of the book to guess who had done it.
I'm not going into any spoiler details but it is superbly written with so many red herrings and false clues. So so well done. Maybe a third time, but give me a few years.
My 2017 Review 4 stars
Where to start, well I saw a few other people wanted to read this as a Buddy read, so whilst on a Miss Marple kick (challenge) I thought why not. I cannot remember ever having read this or even seeing it as a TV adaptation and did not guess the ending until right at the very end.
The central characters of Dr Sheppard and his sister Caroline are excellent, with the Dr playing the Hastings role for Poirot.
I think the story is well constructed with many twists and turns, and overall generally good (i've given it 4 stars), I was just a little sad at the end. Read it and find out.
So as part of my Hercule Poirot challenge, courtesy of Jessica in "Reading the Detectives", I decided to read this book for the 2nd time in 13 months (why when I have so many books I want to read I don't know, but I did). Was I disappointed, oh no, if anything I'm seriously thinking of upping it to 5 stars. Despite a gap of only 13 months , I got so much from this re-read. In fact I've obviously read so much in that intervening time, that it took me over 3/4 of the book to guess who had done it.
I'm not going into any spoiler details but it is superbly written with so many red herrings and false clues. So so well done. Maybe a third time, but give me a few years.
My 2017 Review 4 stars
Where to start, well I saw a few other people wanted to read this as a Buddy read, so whilst on a Miss Marple kick (challenge) I thought why not. I cannot remember ever having read this or even seeing it as a TV adaptation and did not guess the ending until right at the very end.
The central characters of Dr Sheppard and his sister Caroline are excellent, with the Dr playing the Hastings role for Poirot.
I think the story is well constructed with many twists and turns, and overall generally good (i've given it 4 stars), I was just a little sad at the end. Read it and find out.
September 4, 2023
This is another brilliantly written murder mystery story by Agatha Christie. The plot is well structured with a mind-blowing twist at the end which will quite shock the readers. I'm truly impressed by the craftsmanship of Agatha Christie in this particular story. She has a great ability to lead the plot without giving any hint or clue as to the guilty party until the very end. In this case, it was quite a shocking revelation.
Poirot works alone in this case without Mr. Hastings, but a new acquaintance partly helps him with the investigation. This is one of the mysteries where the genius mind of Poirot is greatly tested and his "little grey cells" challenged. But Poirot comes out being the winner of the day apprehending the culprit and dazing the readers with his astonishing discovery. However, Poirot shows a sort of mercy towards the criminal from any exposure or humiliation revealing the considerate side of the great detective.
Overall, it was an intriguing and interesting read. I enjoyed the read very much. There is no doubt that this particular murder mystery is one of the best in the Poirot series.
Poirot works alone in this case without Mr. Hastings, but a new acquaintance partly helps him with the investigation. This is one of the mysteries where the genius mind of Poirot is greatly tested and his "little grey cells" challenged. But Poirot comes out being the winner of the day apprehending the culprit and dazing the readers with his astonishing discovery. However, Poirot shows a sort of mercy towards the criminal from any exposure or humiliation revealing the considerate side of the great detective.
Overall, it was an intriguing and interesting read. I enjoyed the read very much. There is no doubt that this particular murder mystery is one of the best in the Poirot series.
March 22, 2022
Four classic Agatha Christie novels, one amateur sleuth. Can I crack ANY of the Christie cases? Only one way to find out ... check out my reading vlog where I read four Agatha Christie mysteries in the hopes of solving at least one: https://youtu.be/iAAZB1ELe9Y
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