Monday, February 15, 2010

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd


By Agatha Christie.

I had so many people tell me I simply must read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie I thought I had better be an obedient wee Vanda and jolly well do so. I am so glad I listened!

As you can see by the picture my copy of the book is a rather well loved, liver spotted second hand (or many hands, as the case may be) find. I do love the Green Penguins. As an aside, I do wish Penguin had produced their new New Zealand Popular Penguins as black with orange writing, instead of the traditional orange with black writing.

Back to Roger Ackroyd. The narrator in this story is Dr James Sheppard, family physician and friend who is called back to the Ackroyd house when Roger Ackroyd is murdered by an ornate knife stabbed into his back. When M Poirot is called out of retirement to investigate the murder Dr Sheppard effectively becomes his Watson, commenting on the various characters in this cast, all of whom have something to hide and many of whom are delightful, including the good Doctor's sister Caroline who would put the SIS's snooping skills to shame. We also get to see the uncanny skills of M Poirot as he quietly, and inexorably goes about getting his man.

This was a captivating and very clever story with plenty of twists and turns and red-herrings and where, it seemed, almost everyone could be looked at with suspicion. No wonder everyone recommended it - it's a fabulous book.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Vanda - I'm so glad you liked The Murder of Roger Ackroyd! At the time it was published, Christie got a lot of criticism for it, but it has stood the test of time as one of her finest novels. Thanks for this review : )

PC said...

Yes I'm glad you liked it too! Now I wonder whether you could adapt the plot for a Sam Shephard novel? Teehee...

Just have to tell you the verification word: HAMPUD

Vanda Symon said...

HAMPUD - I like it. It's what you get at Christmas time when your mum can't think of any other ways to serve up the leftover ham!

The thought of an adaptation of the plot for Sam Shephard had crossed my mind...

I'm baffled as to why Christie would have been criticised for such a great and innovative novel, Margot. But then, she broke one of Stines rules for detective fiction, tsk, tsk.

Kerrie said...

Now you are going to submit this the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Blog Carnival aren't you Vanda?

Vanda Symon said...

Of course, Kerrie (-:

Dorte H said...

I am not very fond of Poirot, but I will try to find a second-hand copy of this one. I admit that some of them are extraordinary.

And my verification: ungesoct (must be German for something you have not been looking for).