::READERS REVIEWS::

Genius of a work. Mind-bending. - Was telling myself subconsciously (or so I'd like to imagine) that it couldn't have been *that person* who committed the murder (when Poirot was in the midst of his exposition and the facts pointed to just one remaining suspect), but the mind really has a great capacity for denial...so I was really still surprised by the truth. (If you weren't and consider me an inutile...erm...well...Keep it to yourself! Haha!)

This was heady rush of a whodunit. Enjoyed it immensely. Recommend it widely :)

Incredible Ending - A great read that will make you shake your head in admiration. With an incredible ending.

Not the Butler this time! - If you like detective stories and mysteries, this is as good as it gets. Only Dame Christie's other great work And Then There None (also known as 12 Little Indians) is comparable for unexpected plot twists, great complex characters, and a unique approach to a worn out genre.

This Hercule Poirot mystery starts out like all the others. The Lord of the manor is murdered in his home, with several guests nearby, after a long day in which he learns something terrible about the woman he had planned to marry. The usual suspects appear, including the step-son, the widowed sister-in-law, her daughter, the butler, a drug-addled stranger with an American accent. Fortunately for us, Poirot has moved to this English village in his retirement to grow vegetables and is quickly enlisted to the cause.

The story is told from the perspective of the town doctor, who is also among the last to see the victim, and a potential suspect himself. The doctor has a gossipy sister who makes his life unbearable; Dame Christie has said she was a precursor to our other favorite detective Miss Marple.

Of course, Poirot takes control. He digs up clues including telegrams, furniture out of place, drug paraphanalia, lost engagement rings, patients in lunatic asylums, traveling salesmen, and various boots. Per the formula, we then have the big showdown scene where Poirot presents evidence but does not reveal the criminal, only telling him that the jig is up. No one is whom we expect and the one telling us what is happening is also showing some reticence with parts of the story.

At the end, Poirot shows a ruthless streak, letting the criminal know that there are alternative endings, but none involve freedom at least in this world.

Great read, very ingenious structure and ending - This is definitely one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels, on the level of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. There's no exotic locale for this novel, but there is Christie's trademark use of red herrings. There are definitely lots of red herrings, with the usual characters who all have secrets they refuse to divulge, a murder in a closed room, and of course Hercule Poirot. The ending was definitely very shocking, even though I had guessed who the murderer was about 2/3 of the way through the book. It left me with chills down my spine and was definitely one that had me thinking about the story for days. I have to say that modern mystery writers have nothing on Christie. I use to love reading Mary Higgins Clark's books, and after reading Christie's novel I just cannot bring myself to read Clark and James Patterson's books again. Agatha Christie is definitely without peers in her ingenious plots and her crisp, yet suspenseful style of writing. Read this book--you will enjoy it.

Blindsided - Agatha Christie is known for the unusual twists she threw into her mysteries to make solving them especially difficult and gratifying. I have read many of Christie's mysteries and have been able to solve some, but "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" left me completely in the dark. It is a thorougly mystifying and pleasant puzzle featuring her famed detective Hercule Poirot.

The novel is narrated by Dr. Sheppard, doctor of the small village of King's Abbot. Mrs. Ferrars, a wealthy widow, has just died due to an overdose of poison. Before her death, however, she sent a letter to her fiance, Roger Ackroyd, confessing that she had been blackmailed about her husband's death and wished him to make the blackmailer pay. But before Ackroyd can follow her wishes, he is stabbed to death and almost every member of his household had a motive for killing him. The list of suspects includes his adopted son, who had incured a great deal of debt that Ackroyd refused to pay and who has not been seen since the murder, and his young niece who had money problems herself due to the extravagance of her and her mother's lifestyle. Dr. Sheppard allies himself with Hercule Poirot, who is meant to be retired in anonymity, and together they take on the case. Poirot immediately employs his little "grey cells" to solve the puzzling intricacies of the mystery at hand, while Dr. Sheppard functions in the Captain Hastings role of earlier mysteries.

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" is a fast-paced delightful read. The solution is entirely fitting but completely baffling to the reader as well. There are a few places where this work shows its age, particularly the chapter dealing with a game of Mah Jong, but otherwise it stands the test of time. This novel would serve as a fine introduction to Christie's work for anyone who is not familiar with her wonderful mysteries.

One Of The Best Detective Novels Ever Written - In my opinion the detective novel "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" by Agatha Christie is one of the best detective novels ever written. The first time, I read this book when I was 13 years old, and I was already fascinated by it. I have always refrained from reading it a second time for a long time, but now, 33 years later, I could not refrain from doing so.

And I must confess I did not regret it. To the contrary, when you already know the end of the story you read it from a different point of view. You are not concentrated on the "who done it" question and, hence, you may come to following interesting conclusions:

(1) The story fits perfectly. You do not discover errors, even after the second reading. The reader is not misguided by mysterious events, which lead him into wrong paths and which are lost at the end of the story.

(2) The story is thoroughly designed. There are many side events which play a significant role in the whole plot, which contribute to the whole confusion during the investigation of the crime and which unravel themselves one by one with the help of Poirot's perfect analytic mind.

(3) The I narrator tells the story with much wit and humour which is due to the position in which he finds himself during the developement of the whole story.

(4) There are many hints which might lead you, the reader, directly to the murderer if you only concentrated on your subconcious common sense and read the text carefully.

With my knowledge of at least 20 Agatha Christie novels I must say that she has never written a second book like this. But of course, you only write a masterpiece once in your life.

Classic Christie, with a too-famous twist - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the definitive Agatha Christie works. The book with a twist ending that was originally so controversial that the backlash from the twist almost caused it's creator to be kicked out of the 'Detection Club': a group of famous mystery writers, because of the allegation she didn't play fair.

Dr. Sheppard, the narrator of the book, lives with his gossipy sister Caroline (the precursor to Ms. Marple, according to Christie) in the small English town of King's Abbott. However, the small town quickly becomes victim to a sinister crime- somebody has murdered wealthy socialite Roger Ackroyd. Hercule Poirot (in his 3rd appearance in a Christie work), who has retired from private detecting, is a resident in King's Abbott, growing vegetable marrows. The Belgian sleuth is pulled into the case by a relative of the victim. With Dr. Sheppard by his side, Poirot works to unravel the tangled web of deceit that lurks within the household, in order to uncover the truth.


Now, the first problem that plagues this book is that it can seem to drag. A good chunk of the story is devoted to wrapping up several loose ends, which only tangentially pertain to who committed the murder. In addition, this is an incredibly tame murder mystery, with the only death occurring early in the novel, and there never really being a looming threat of any more victims. Ergo, it is easy for a reader to be enthralled by the beginning, but lose interest halfway through, if they aren't interested enough in the characters that are trapped in this drama.

The other main problem is that due to the controversy surrounding the novel, and the fact that it's twist was the first of it's kind, makes it so that it's difficult to avoid being spoiled before you read it. Even if the identity of the murderer isn't revealed to you, the mere fact that the story is so controversial, and it's twist so bold for its time, could give the astute reader a big clue where the story is heading, far before Christie wants them to.

Those flaws aside, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd does succeed on several levels. Christie manages to create several extremely interesting and sympathetic characters, which managed to keep the reader (or at least me), extremely curious as to what twist was going to sprung next. Also, despite the fact that there isn't that much action in the book, there isn't too much dead air per se either- there is always some kind of investigation occurring in the novel, and even the portions of the book that seem the least significant will probably prove vital by the end. Christie manages to keep the story flowing, piling twist after twist (although some of them are rather transparent); proving that you don't need a large body count to keep the reader entertained.

Also, this is truly the book that shows Christie's prowess as a writer. The fact that the end manages to be powerfully hinted at, yet still able to be easily missed by the casual reader, is solely due to the very careful writing and wordplay of the author. That she manages to pull off Hercule Poirot's final deduction, without it coming across as a cheat in almost any respect, is a credit to Dame Agatha as an author.

It is best to go into The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as a blank slate; totally ignoring the hype. Even if you can't do this however, you should still find an entertaining and vibrant mystery that has survived the test of time.

Shocking ending! - I have read several of Agatha Christie's novels including: Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There were None and Murder on the Nile. Anyone who has ever read a Christie novel knows they are in for quite a treat when the book's mystery is finally solved. This ending was almost as shocking as Murder on the Orient Express!

In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Hercule Poirot is called out from retirement after a man named Roger Ackroyd is found murdered in his own home. As in all the other books, there are numerous suspects including Captain Ralph Paton, a stepson who stood to inherit quite a bit of money. Paton's disappearance after the murder makes him the most obvious suspect in most people's eyes, but not Hercule Poirot! He is convinced the murderer was in the home at the time of the murder. An open window, the sound of the victim arguing and the last time he was seen alive by all the suspects staying in the house give Poirot all he needs to work out the identity of the killer.

There are many clues guiding the reader to the murderer, but beware! Many are misleading! Almost everyone in the house could have a reason for murdering Roger Ackroyd. Yet, most clues seem to point to Ralph Paton. This was a really fun read with a SHOCKING ending. Many times I thought I had figured out the identity of the murderer, in fact, at one point I was convinced I knew who did it. I was wrong! If you have never read an Agatha Christie novel, I would start with Murder on the Orient Express, which is her best novel in my opinion. However, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has an ending just as shocking as the latter. Fabulous mystery!

A classic Christie novel, with a too-famous twist - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the definitive Agatha Christie works. Aside from "Murder on the Orient Express", it is probably her most famous work, most likely because, like with Orient Express, it had a twist ending that was at the time extremely unique. However, for the author, this ended being a twin-edged sword- the novel was originally so controversial that the backlash from the twist almost caused it's creator to be kicked out of the 'Detection Club': a group of famous mystery writers, because of the allegation she didn't play fair.

Since there isn't that much to see Dr. Sheppard, the narrator of the book, lives with his gossipy sister Caroline (the precursor to Ms. Marple, according to Christie) in the small English town of King's Abbott. However, the small town quickly becomes victim to a sinister crime- somebody has murdered wealthy socialite Roger Ackroyd. Hercule Poirot (in his 3rd appearance in a Christie work), has retired from private detecting, and is a resident in King's Abbott growing vegetable marrows. The Belgian sleuth is pulled into the case by a relative of the victim. With Dr. Sheppard by his side, Poirot works to unravel the tangled web of deceit that lurks within the victim's large household and associates, in order to uncover the truth.

Now, the first problem that plagues this book is that readers that want bloodshed and stimulation, the story is going to drag. A good chunk of the novel is devoted to wrapping up several loose ends and sideplots, which only tangentially pertain to who committed the murder. In addition, this is an incredibly tame murder mystery, with the only death that we read about (which, being the title of the book, is hardly a surprise) occurring early in the novel. Since the mystery is extremely insular (the motive is extremely private, and the other key players are already dead), the tension that is brought with the threat of more murders is never present. Ergo, it is easy for some readers to be rather enthralled by the beginning, but begin lose interest halfway through, if they aren't interested enough in the characters that are trapped in this drama.

The other main problem with the novel is that due to the controversy surrounding it, and the fact that its twist was the first of it's kind, makes it so that it's difficult to avoid being spoiled before you read it. Even if the identity of the murderer isn't revealed to you, the mere fact that the story is so controversial, and it's twist so bold for its time, could give the astute reader a big clue where the story is heading, far before our good author wants us to. And honestly, the twist is the only portion of the book that stands out. Christie handles most of the key plot points of "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (A wealthy family plagued with secrets, blackmail, a secret love affair, etc.) more effectively, and more cleverly, in her later works.

Those flaws aside, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd does succeed on several levels. Christie manages to create several extremely interesting and sympathetic characters (the gossipy sister of the narrator, the shadowy butler, the stoic hunter), which manage to keep the reader (or at least me), extremely curious as to how these characters would develop as the story progresses. Also, despite the fact that there isn't that much murdering in the book, there isn't too much dead air per se either- the book takes place over a rather short time frame (like most Agatha Christie works), so there is always some kind of investigating to be done by our protagonists, and even the portions of the book that seem the least significant will probably prove vital by the end. Christie manages to keep the narrative flowing, throwing twist after twist at the reader, (although some of them are rather transparent). If the book demonstrates nothing else, it proves that you don't need a large body count to keep readers entertained.

Also, this is truly the book that shows Christie's prowess as a writer. The fact that the end manages to be powerfully hinted at, yet still able to be easily missed by the casual reader, is solely due to the very careful storytelling and wordplay of the author. That she manages to pull off Hercule Poirot's final deduction, without it coming across as a cheat in almost any respect, is pretty remarkable.

It is best to go into The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as a blank slate; totally ignoring the hype. Even if you can't do this however, you should still find an entertaining and vibrant mystery that has survived the test of time.

Shocked there was no shock ending!!!! - I had high hopes for this book. I really expected to be knocked off my feet with the surprise ending everyone talked about. It seems I am the only one who WAS NOT shocked at the end. I think the "reveal" would have been much more effective if Christie would have told us the murderer's name first and then let Poirot give the evidence. It's not hard at all to figure out who the culprit is as Poirot says "the murderer has to be someone who is this, had this, and was here when.....". By the time Poirot finally revealed the name, I had no doubt who was guilty. I was totally let down. I wish I hadn't figured it out. This is in no way a bad book. It is as good as everyone says. Yet, so much rides on the "reveal" so if you don't figure it out, it will make all the difference in the world in your opinion of the book.

Murder with a delicious sense of fun - This review applies to the Audible unabridged edition. Robin Bailey reads this story with a hint of villianous egotism inside a sense of humor. As for AG's detection club claiming she didn't play fair with who she designated as the murderer, this is addressed in the film, "Murder by Death" by Neil Simon. In fact, she did play fair by allowing the reader (listener) to have almost every clue. Murder on the Orient Express is my favorite Christie film, but this audio version is my favorite.

Inside Job - As other readers note, the ending of this book is among the most clever endings to a work of mystery. Being that readers are often guessing throughout the book, the guessing will become dizzying. Though some of Christie's work now seems dated by today's standards, this book certainly stands the test of time.

Mrs. Ferrars takes her life after poisoning her husband. This happens before the story begins. Roger Ackroyd does not die until over fifty pages into the book. But who would have motive to kill him? At times, the reader may wonder if the book is even actually about Ackroyd's murder. Using his gray matter, Hercule Poirot leads readers though the investigation via Dr. Shepard's narration. The chain of death is linked and good suspects are easy to find. But as the suspect list dwindles, it seems as though there is nobody left.

Though the dialogue is a bit cumbersome at times, this is a short book. It is best read in as little time as possible. Going away from the book for a time may cause the reader to confuse characters. For the ending alone, this book is worth reading even for non-Christie fans.