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

This is a interesting little whodunnit which I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in mystery books. It was a breeze to read. Christie writes very pleasant prose and I am actually curious to pick up other fiction by her now. I do low-key wish I had read this under different circumstances so that

the plot twist would have hit harder.

nevertheless I can’t say that I guessed every little detail.

Also... Poirot straight up made that guy kilk himself??

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jess_tries2read's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Mysteries are only as good as the characters that are met along the path to the truth. Hercule Poirot is such a funny detective character: his lines always make me smile. This book also has rich side characters with unique qualities and eccentricities. The reveal is satisfying, but honestly the best part of this book was hanging out in the small town King's Abbott with a bunch of nosy British townfolk. This qualifies as a cozy murder mystery for sure.

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startjpw23's review against another edition

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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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