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Last week, I reviewed Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers. Tina read a lesser-known title from Daphne Du Maurier, Scapegoat.

Book: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery novel
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Publication date: 2022 (originally 1926)

Source: E-book borrowed from the library

Summary: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie is the fourth installment of the Hercule Poirot mystery novels after The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder on the Links, and Poirot Investigates. 2026 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

The first person narrator of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the doctor who was called to the scene of the crime by the butler, except that the butler denied all knowledge of the phone call upon arrival.

By the time the murder has been committed, we have already met the doctor’s new neighbor “Mr. Porrott.” As the man himself explained,

One prefers to remain incognito. I am not anxious for notoriety. I have not even troubled to correct the local version of my name.

Naturally, someone in the village finds out that the doctor’s neighbor is none other than the famous detective, Monsieur Hercule Poirot, and asks him to solve this puzzling case.

Thoughts: Given my passing interest in Agatha Christie, it’s not too surprising that the plot of this book, one of her most popular, has been spoiled for me, more than once. I promise that I won’t spoil it for anyone reading this post!

Since I’m very bad at solving the mystery in a mystery novel, it was kind of fun to go in knowing the result so I stood a decent chance of spotting the clues. I still didn’t do all that well — I seem to have no memory for keeping track of clues! I would have to keep a notebook to do this well.

I have enjoyed each Poirot novel more than the last. Partly, I think, that is me getting used to the language of novels from 100 years ago. Partly, that is because I’ve been encountering them in order and Christie improved her craft with each one.

If you’re new to Agatha Christie, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as the first of her novels to read. For one thing, that will reduce the chance of having the plot spoiled!