The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

This was the third novel to feature Poirot and was published first as a serialisation in a newspaper and then shortly afterwards in June 1925 as a novel.

The story is narrated by Dr Sheppard replacing Hastings as Poirot's sidekick. Hastings has gone to the Argentine to try his hand at ranching. For his part Poirot has retired from London and is living next door to Sheppard in King's Abbot.

The plot that unfolds begins with the death of Mrs Ferrars who was engaged to be married to Roger Ackroyd. It appears that she has committed suicide. A grief stricken Roger Ackroyd summons the Dr to a an evening meeting where he reveals that Mrs Ferrars had admitted to having murdered her abusive husband a year or so before but that she was subsequently being blackmailed by someone who had discovered the secret. As the two sit in Ackroyd's study, the butler brings in the evening post amongst which is a letter from Mrs Ferrar in which she sets out her intention to reveal the name of the blackmailer. Ackroyd insists upon reading the letter alone and sends the Dr away. Barely has he returned home before he gets a phone call apparently from the butler saying that his master had been killed and the Dr needs to return immediately. He duly does so but it is revealed that the butler had made no such call. The door to Roger Ackroyd's study is broken down and he is found dead in his chair having been stabbed.

The book has a superb plot twist right at the end and the book was rightly lauded as one of Agatha Chrisite's greatest works.

Agatha Christie's knowledge on certain topics shines through in this book. Not only is she well versed in poisons but she also seems to be very well informed about recreational drug taking. In this era one might be forgiven for thinking that taking cocaine was strictly limited to the upper classes but Agatha seems to indicate otherwise that in fact already there was a problem lower down in society. She also seems to know about drug taking in the United States. In fact one of the clues in the book is a "quill" which we discover is how drugs were easily transported and from which they were snorted up the nose.

For those searching for more information about Poirot himself there is a tantalising moment when we are informed about his "imbecile" nephew. In a more enlightened age we would consider the person to have learning difficulties perhaps. However, this turns out to be untrue and at the end of the book we are unsure whether Poirot will give up the retired life he had at the start of the book or be lured back into crime solving.

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