Blog this item

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

By Agatha Christie

(136)

| Paperback | 9780425200476

Like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Book Description

A widow's suicide has stirred suspicion and dreadful rumors - of blackmail, and of a secret lover named Roger Ackroyd, who stabbed to death in his study. And there rumors that his neighbour, Hercule Poirot, doesn't have a clue who did it.

Setting up the traditional rules of mystery only to shatter Continue

Critics

An ingenious reissue

If all her mysteries were as ingenious as this usual country house Cluedo plot, I could understand why Christie is still Britain's most popular detective writer. HarperCollins is in the process of reissuing and repackaging all her books unabridged wi ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

7 Reviews

1 person find this helpful

A Must-read for Poirot fans

Is this helpful?

Gravitino said on May 15, 2008 | Add your feedback

One of Agatha Christie's masterpiece

This book is generally considered the Agatha Christie's masterpiece, as it has many peculiar features, such as the first person's narrator who tells the story by his own point of view, but it is not a so called omniscient narrator as it is generally used by the writer. Secondly, there happens to be ... (continue)

This book is generally considered the Agatha Christie's masterpiece, as it has many peculiar features, such as the first person's narrator who tells the story by his own point of view, but it is not a so called omniscient narrator as it is generally used by the writer. Secondly, there happens to be this meeting between Poirot, just 'landed' to a new life, such as that of an old retired private detective, and the doctor, who will be the narrator of the events and who resembles - as Poirot often puts it - in some cases to his old friend Hastings, who accompanied him in most cases he had to deal with. Apparently there are similarities between Hastings and doctor Shephard, the narrator of the story, because they seem to be quite intuitive, so occasionally and unconsciously providing Poirot with useful cues for solving the case, but at the end of the story it will be discovered the complete difference between the two men, especially from the moral point of view.
I've got to tell that I read this book the first time in italian some years ago, and was stroke by the profound intelligence of the writer at building a story like that. Right now that I am reading the novel for the second time, in the original language in that case, some further considerations come up to my mind. Firstly, this story reveals, maybe better than other Agatha's novels, her deep humanity and high consideration of ethics not only in the murderer himself, but also in the characters she depicts and analizes. Secondly, Poirot shows here, as it will be fully developed in all novels, a great ability of inquiry in and explore the real human nature of people, besides their bourgeois manners and habits. Thirdly, and this is what I think could be considered the unique feature of this story, there is the first-person narrative, that apparently could be undervalued, but it is actually of great importance. I am deeply convinced that this narrative is used by Agatha to make the case more complex for the reader to solve, because, differently from other novels, in which there is this impersonal way to narrating facts that takes into consideration different perspectives to the same fact but does not interfere with the general view of the events. Instead here, the perspective of the narrator coincides with that of Doctor Shephard, who looks at people and reality surrounding him in a particular and selective way, not allowing us to see every aspect of the case.
Finally, I love very much this book, not more than other Christie's books, but I appreciate it maybe a bit more because it analizes human nature and its ethics in a deeper and more complex manner.

Is this helpful?

Elisastrozzi said on Dec 21, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

Nel momento in cui un lettore avesse voglia di approcciare uno dei gialli con protagonista Poirot, nati dalla penna dell'impareggiabile Agatha Christie, la moltitudine di titoli creerebbe una certa difficoltà. Infatti oltre ai noti assasinii sull'Orient express o sul Nilo, gli altri titoli rimangono ... (continue)

Nel momento in cui un lettore avesse voglia di approcciare uno dei gialli con protagonista Poirot, nati dalla penna dell'impareggiabile Agatha Christie, la moltitudine di titoli creerebbe una certa difficoltà. Infatti oltre ai noti assasinii sull'Orient express o sul Nilo, gli altri titoli rimangono avvolti (e scusate il gioco di parole) da un alone di mistero. Per accendere una luce tra le tante ombre vi consiglio caldamente questo 'Assasinio di Roger Ackroyd'. In questo romanzo avrete un assaggio della potenza narrativa e creativa di una delle autrici più lette del genere. Infatti, questo giallo riesce nell'impresa di attrarre, coinvolgere, depistare, sorprendere il lettore che da ingenuo crede di essere il protagonista, al fianco di Poirot, nella conduzione delle indagini, ma che immancabilmente scopre di non reggere il confronto sino alla fine. In questo libro ci sono tutti gli elementi del giallo classico : ricatti, eredità, gelosia, invidia. Tuttavia l'equilibrio degli stessi è tale da rendere il risultato perfetto. Una vera perla nella bibliogfrafia che vede il piccolo belga come protagonista.

Is this helpful?

Elio said on Oct 8, 2011 | Add your feedback

It's a classic written in 1926. Where was I?

Is this helpful?

jelabino said on Apr 8, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Engaging read, even if I knew beforehand who the murderer was - but that doesn't spoil the book, it just gives the reader a different perspective.
But I was surprised to find some confusion in the narration: more than once Roger Ackroyd and Ralph Paton are described as uncle and nephew, while ... (continue)

Engaging read, even if I knew beforehand who the murderer was - but that doesn't spoil the book, it just gives the reader a different perspective.
But I was surprised to find some confusion in the narration: more than once Roger Ackroyd and Ralph Paton are described as uncle and nephew, while they are stepfather and adopted son.

Is this helpful?

ary29 said on Jun 2, 2009 | 1 feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

Enjoyable, but had it figured from chapter 1!

Is this helpful?

sid_rw said on Jul 3, 2008 | Add your feedback