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.