The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Rating:
Summary: The Best!!
Review: This book is considered by many people to be one of the best mysteries ever published. In my opinion it ranks right up there with Conan-Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles, as a mystery. Agatha Christie relied on the convolutions of unraveling a mystery to motivate and pull a plot, along with a great many red-herrings.

In this Mystery she employes one of the cleverest and rather subtle red-herring ever in a mystery.

I warmly recomend this mystery. Its well written, well paced and exceptionally clever.

The ending will shock you.

Rating:
Summary: Anything but a predictable mystery novel!!
Review: Agatha Christie is recognized throughout the world as being the "Queen of Crime". It is undoubtable that this holds true, especially in her ingeniously written, classic mystery novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The story is told through the 1st person point of view, so the narrator, James Sheppard ( the local doctor ), is one of the main characters. He introduces all the characters in the small English town of King's Abbot, where the story is set: Mrs. Ferrars, Flora, Ralph Paton, Ursula Bourne, Hector Blunt, Colonel Carter, the formidable Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, and many more.
The story begins with the suicide of Mrs. Ferrars, which stirrs confusion; Rumors say that she poisoned her first husband, that someone was blackmailing her, and that she had a secret liaison with Roger Ackroyd. The mystery surrounding her death appalls everyone even more when Roger Ackroyd is brutally stabbed to death a few days later. Hercule Poirot, accompanied by Dr. Sheppard, set out to trace the tracks of a very sharp and devious killer.
I found it extremely captivating up to the very end, which I found was the best part of the novel. There are so many twists in the plot, red herrings, clues, and foreshadowing, yet the solution to the crime completely eludes the reader until told. All the characters and their different possible motives, which Agatha Christie carefully presents, are subject to questioning; therefore, at one point or another, I suspected almost everyone to have committed the murder.
What I loved most is that I was caught off-guard many times while reading. I have a vague idea in my head and then when I turn the next page, I'm proved wrong. Agatha Christie has an unbelievable imagination and talent that she is able to make such a simple detail become the turning point in the mystery. You are always expecting the opposite of what truly happens,and I think that is what is brilliant about her writing, and especially this novel.
In the end, when you are told the conclusion to the story, the shock is so tremendous that it creates a smile on the reader's face. Automatically, you realize how obvious the answer was and how from the very beginning, the cards were layed out on the table face-up, yet you are still incredibly decieved.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants to have an insightful and captivating time trying to unravel the mystery of the death of Roger Ackroyd!

Rating:
Summary: When I discovered whodunit I yelled out, "What!??"
Review: Possible the best mystery ever written. Need I say more?

Rating:
Summary: One of Her Best!!!!!
Review: Agatha Christie is not the greatest writer on the face of the earth. Her prose is adequate (at least fast moving, though). However, her imagination and plotting abilities are unbelievable. There are so many surprise plot twists and turns that we see day after day in modern movies and such that she invented.

Her THE ABC MURDERS really introduced the serial killer to a wide audience, for example. As did A PALE HORSE. She also spent much time with her archeologist husband in Egypt and the ancient middle-east, and many of her books are full of lovely detail and settings from this part of the world. You'd be hard pressed to find a more delightful writer, who decade after decade came up with one whopper of a surprise ending after another. I've read ALL of her books, and probably only guessed the murderer correctly maybe 10% of the time.

THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, a fairly early novel of hers, gave us perhaps THE classic surprise ending to a whodunnit EVER. It's been done since, but never better, except perhaps in Christie's own haunting novel ENDLESS NIGHT. I read this novel twenty years ago, having heard it had a great ending, and I tried like heck to figure it out. But I never dreamed the solution that was presented could be it. WOW! Unless you're a totally jaded reader of whodunnits, this is a must read.

Now remember, Christie was practically from the Victorian age. Her books are chaste and not terribly violent or action packed. Lots of talking and looking for clues. Not much chasing or fighting or shooting!! These are sedate, rainy-day reads. But don't think her books are just for fuddy-duddies or "old folks." I think they are a fascinating slice of social history, and a darn fine brain-teaser. And THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD would be a GREAT introduction to Christie.

(Other books of hers I especially recommend, THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES [her very first book], ENDLESS NIGHT, DEATH COMES AS THE END [set in ancient Egypty!!], THE ABC MURDERS & MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA [set at an archelogical dig and just dripping with authenticity])

Rating:
Summary: Clever plot
Review: After reading "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", I can see why Agatha Christie is one of the greatest mystery writers to have ever lived. This book is written through the eyes of Dr. James Sheppard, who has been called when his patient, Roger Ackroyd, is murdered. Dr. Sheppard has recently lost a patient named Mrs. Ferrars who was engaged to the deceased. Before her death,
she confided some personal information to Dr. Sheppard which gave him an inside track on the identity of the murderer. The victim's adopted son Roger, seems like a likely suspect, so his fiance Flora hires a retired detective, Hercule Poirot, to find the real killer. In his precise and logical way, Poirot does just that, uncovering the truth bit by bit as he interviews the possible suspects. They are all present--the family members who stand to gain financially from Ackroyd's death, the butler, the efficient private secretary, the housekeeper, the parlor maid, and a mysterious stranger. Only one of them is guilty and Poirot works his magic in this cleverly convoluted story. It is amazing to see that this book was written in 1926 and it is just as interesting today as it was almost 80 years ago.

Rating:
Summary: Classic Christie
Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the book that made Agatha Chries famous,not just for its superb storytelling and plotting but for its unique and very surprising conclusion. I've read this book many,many times and I have never ceased to be amazed at Christie's inventiveness and skill. The conclusion is often criticized as being unfair but if you carefully read the book you can see that Christie lays all the pieces of the puzzle on the table for her readers. A great, great mystery and absolute required reading for any mystery fan.

Rating:
Summary: Wow! My first Agatha Christie, and certainly not the last!
Review: Having to read this book for my Crime Stories class at my college, I knew that I should read it before it was assigned so as to actually enjoy it and not have the classic case of "assigned-book-equals-boring-book"-syndrome that too many students have to suffer. I read it about two weeks before it was assigned, and finished it today. Oh my god, that was amazing!

Written in a complex (not to mention dated) style, this book is narrated by one James Sheppard, a small-town doctor in Victorian England. He introduces us to the town and its characters (which, I might add, there are a LOT of), and the whole mystery itself. It also features the super detective Hercule Poirot, in his fourth adventure (yes, this is part of a series...fortunately it doesn't seem to involve any of the other books except through vague mentions).

As to the mystery, I won't get too into it, it involves the suicide and possible blackmail of a woman, a wealthy man's murder, and...okay, just read it and find out for yourself. It's just so interesting; it's a quick read, and once you put this book down...just...I can't begin to describe it. Let's just say that I could not believe how everything turned out in the end. Read it, and I hope you enjoy it as much.

Rating:
Summary: One of her best
Review: When a spinster friend of Roger Ackroyd commits suicide, she sends a letter to him revealing she was being blackmailed. He reveals this to his friend Dr James Sheppard, but not the identity of the blackmailer. After Ackroyd is murdered, his niece turns to Dr Sheppard and his neighbor Hercule Poirot to solve the murder and to find her fiancé who's the prime suspect. Poirot soon finds that everyone connected to the case has something to hide, which creates some confusion at first, but it's not enough to halt Poirot from solving the case. Dame Agatha Christie's remarkable storytelling and innovative structure make this one of her most memorable mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: Yet again, she managed to deceive me!
Review: Somehow, I've always been given the impression that Agatha Christie never fails to surprise you. "The champion deceiver of our time" is what she is described as, on the back of her book. I set out to find whether that truly was the case.

Agatha Christie wastes no time at all in the beginning. She is quick to introduce all the characters (which are quite a few), set up the story, and make you get a feel of what the novel is about. Later in the plot, she introduces interesting clues, and small details, which will constantly play with your thoughts on whom the murderer could possibly be.

The novel starts off with the death of an attractive widow Mrs. Ferrars. She is told to have died of an overdose of veronal (some kind of poison). The mystery surrounding her death baffles everyone. After all, who would want to kill her, a widow who meant no one any harm? Or did she? Or maybe she was not killed at all. How then, did she die?

The mystery surrounding Mrs. Ferrars is still fresh in everyone's mind, when suddenly Roger Ackroyd, the man she was said to be planning to marry, too is killed brutally. Stabbed with a knife from behind, Roger Ackroyd dies with secrets in his heart that no one knows of. Did he find out who the secret of Mrs. Ferrars death, or were there more secrets that he was hiding? (I won't answer those questions or it'll ruin your fun of reading the book).

The novel is written in first person, by one of the main characters in the story - Dr Sheppard. He is with Hercule Poirot as he undertakes the quest of finding the murderer. He accompanies Poirot in every endeavor that he takes to uncover clues and find possible suspects. Agatha Christie offers a very interesting insight into how someone who has nothing to do with crime and investigation arranges and rearranges the possible occurrence of events.

After having read most of the book, I was convinced that there wouldn't really be any surprises in this one. All the characters, their motives, and their actions were made evident through the clues the author meticulously provided. I had a somewhat rough idea of who would have committed the murder and why (after all, we all have brilliant imaginations). But Agatha Christie yet again, did not disappoint me. She caught me completely off-guard with an ending that only she could have thought up.

Christie's style of making something seem so simple, and yet be able to bring out something completely unforthcoming, is one of the best things about her writing. You're always expecting something to be different, for the story to reach some sort of anti-climax, yet you cannot put your finger on it. And when the truth is revealed, it is so obvious and yet so cleverly concealed. This is what sets her writing apart from others.

In many mystery novels, I get the feeling that the reader was not given enough clues to be able to figure out who the culprit really was. Such is not the case with Christie's novels. Though not readily apparent, she provides all the details necessary to find necessary clues right from the start. Only in the last chapter will you be able to see her clever use of words, and the way that she has been hiding nothing from the readers.

After reading this novel, I feel that I have achieved great value for the time and money that went into buying this book. It is indeed, an incredible find. I definitely recommend it to all you mystery lovers out there.

"The champion deceiver of our time" - Indeed, this statement does hold true.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: What can I say? Since this was the first Agatha Christie book that I had ever read, I was a bit skeptical as to whether or not I would enjoy it. To begin with, I knew nothing about Agatha Christie, and bought this book at the airport because I had a long flight ahead of me, and I needed something to read on the plane. However, as soon as I started reading, I realized that I just couldn't put it down. This book has everything: a widow's suicide, blackmail, deception, the murder of one of the town's most prominent men, mysterious strangers, a detective who claims to know everything, a likely suspect, and a very unlikely murderer. I was truly amazed at the ease with which Christie was able to bring all of the characters together - As it turns out, they all have a lot more to hide than you originally suspect. It's definitely a modern whodunit that will keep you guessing until the very end. For anyone who has never read an Agatha Christie novel before, I suggest that you start with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - you'll become an instant fan just like I did.