by Lorie Lewis Ham

I have been an Agatha Christie fan since I was a teenager, but until recently had never read one of her most famous books, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. When I was asked to review a new release of the book I thought it would be a good push to finally read it. I must say though, it feels a bit odd to be reviewing something by the Queen of Crime, and a book that has been voted by the British Crime Writers’ Association as the Best Crime Novel of all Time.

While I enjoy the Miss Marple stories, I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie’s character Hercule Poirot, who is the detective in this book. At this point, Hercule has retired to a small English village, ready to tend his garden and take it easy (as if he could really do that). Roger Ackroyd lives in this village and is a friend of Poirot’s. Unfortunately, he is murdered, and Poirot is drawn out of retirement to find the killer and solve what appears to be a locked room mystery. The main suspects are Roger’s family who lived with him, his personal secretary, the house staff, and a friend who was visiting—and they all have secrets. Many of the motives involve money, as Roger was a successful businessman and owner of the Fernly Park Estate—though he tended to be a bit stingy with his family.

The narrator of this book is a local doctor who lives next door to Poirot, Dr. Sheppard. Sheppard lives with his sister, who is the town gossip. Sheppard not only acts as Poirot narrator in this book, but he also helps him investigate and drives him around to speak to different people.

Christie does a brilliant job of peppering in the clues to this very complex mystery—had I not already known who the killer was, I am not sure I would have guessed. One of the biggest reasons I had never read the book is that her twist in this book was so groundbreaking at the time that I knew who the killer was soon after I discovered her books, so I wasn’t sure how much fun it would be to read it knowing that already. However, it was actually a brilliant read and almost more fun knowing who the killer was and reading to see how she pulled it all off and what clues were there for Poirot to figure it out. I will refrain from saying anything more for those who are not yet familiar with this book.

I am also a big fan of David Suchet’s portrayal of Poirot, so after reading the book, I went back and rewatched the episode based on it, and honestly, I enjoyed the episode less this time around as I now see how her brilliance in this plot is lost in bringing this story to the screen—no fault of those who adapted it and it was still fun, but some things can only be done in a book. It was interesting to see how many characters were taken out of the story, and it was fun to see Poirot’s friend Inspector Jap brought into the story.

I highly recommend this book, whether you already know who the killer is or not. And I highly recommend Agatha Christie to any mystery fan. And if you are new to Agatha Christie and start thinking that she uses too many tropes that you see in modern mysteries—try to remember that she created these tropes so everyone else is copying her!

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Lorie Lewis Ham is our Editor-in-Chief and a contributor to various sections, coupling her journalism experience with her connection to the literary and entertainment worlds. Explore Lorie’s mystery writing at Mysteryrat’s Closet. Lorie’s latest mystery novel, One of Us, is set in the Tower District of Fresno and the world of community theatre!<

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.