Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

87 reviews

startjpw23's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This story is set in a small English village in the mid 1920's. It is told in the first person by a local doctor. Famed detective Hercule Poirot is retired and living in the house next to the doctor. A wealthy man is murdered. Poirot, the doctor, and local law enforcement attempt to solve the murder. Poirot is his typical vain, condescending, fastidious self that we know and love. The other characters were interesting. The solution to the mystery is clever. I enjoyed reading things as they unfolded. I hadn't enjoyed the last 2 or 3 Poirot books I read. This book showed me that Poirot mysteries are still for me. I recommend it for anyone interested in a really good mystery with a clever solution. My only proviso is that it is set in the 1920's so the book has the social mores of the time. If you have issues with that (I often do in classic books), this book may not be for you.

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its_kievan's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Deeply underwhelming. Lacks the character depth of Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express - let alone the masterpiece that is And Then There Were None - and without that there wasn’t really anything to carry me through to the ending. An ending which was unexpected, sure, but felt redundant and anticlimactic. Christie’s writing is still good, and there’s something I find so fascinating about the little slice of mid century English country life that she portrays, but this might be the last one of her books I try for a while. At least Poirot wasn’t too annoying in this one.

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mcollier1's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

4.0

I enjoyed this one more than I had expected to based on the opening. (I think part of that was getting used to Doctor Sheppard as narrator, and meeting a new cast of side characters.) As it turns out, though, I liked it probably as much as another other Poirot story I've read so far. There were a lot of distractions and misdirections, and many of the supporting characters grew on me over the course of the story. I feel like I should have seen the denouement coming, but I must confess that it took me by surprise.

One side note: there is the usual minor racism that I have come to expect in books of this era, but for some reason the Mahjong scene really rubbed me the wrong way.

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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

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4.25

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peasandpancakes's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I get why people say this is the best Agata Christie book. It was so clever! Only until the last couple of pages did I deduce who it might be.

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bookishevy's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

🎧 AUDIOBOOK REVIEW 🎧

I made a note to read this book after it was mentioned in an episode of Lessons In Chemistry. I'm so glad I finally came around to it, because this is ridiculously good.

Shock rolls through the sleepy English village of King's Abbot when the widow Ferrars is found dead of an overdose of Veronal. Less than 24 hours later, the man she's supposed to marry, Roger Ackroyd, is found murdered in his study. Unfortunately for the killer, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who recently settled in King's Abbot, is intrigued enough to come out of retirement. With the help of village physician, Dr.James Sheppard, the mystery comes to a startling conclusion.

Dr. Sheppard is also the story's narrator and Peirot relies on him to gather facts. It seems like everyone in that town has a secret, so there are quite a few suspects. I even suspected the narrator, despite his closeness to Poirot and the case. The first thing out of my mouth when Poirot reveals who he thinks is the killer was "Holy shit!"

Richard Armitage does an amazing job with every character. I especially enjoyed his portrayal of Mrs. Ackroyd, Roger's sister-in-law. She's so dramatic and gives the impression that she's about to faint from shock at any moment. I hope he narrates Christie's other books. They're both brilliant.

If you're a mystery lover like me, and haven't read this yet, I highly recommend. I see why it's considered one of the greatest crime novels of all time. To me, the hype around it is justified. This case involving blackmail, along with other Christie stories, is free on Audible.

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