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A review by karteabooks
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
4.0
This was May’s book choice for the #curiousaboutchristie22 book challenge. This is another Hercule Poirot murder mystery and this time, it is not set on a train but in the village of Kings Abbot, where Poirot is fortuitously staying on a short holiday.
This is the fourth instalment of the Hercule Poirot series, but even though I have tried, I haven’t read them in any order at all. Having previously read Murder on the Orient Express, The Mystery of the Blue Train and The ABC murders, I thought I ‘knew’ Poirot’s way of solving the conundrums that he faces when he ‘stumbles’ across each murder. Well, as this was one of his earlier inquiries, his way of working was different to what I have read already
Only after reading this book did I discover that ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ is the only Agatha Christie book featured on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, and I was sceptical about the List's claim that this was the only Christie book worth reading. But, as much as it pains me to say this, I think the List is right on this one. At least a little - I'm definitely not suggesting that you should read this book and then never pick up a Christie novel ever again, but if you find yourself in a situation where you're going to spend a month on a desert island and can only bring one book, and the only books you've been offered are from the Agatha Christie canon, you should pick this one.
The ending (which I will not discuss in explicit detail for fear of spoilers) is what makes this a 5-star book. Let me assure you: you will not guess who the murderer is. Never ever ever. When the murderer is revealed, you will not believe. When the murderer goes on to explain his/her actions, you will continue to not believe it. Only by rereading certain important passages will you start to realize that the answer was in front of you all the time, and you couldn't see it. It's a testament to Christie's skill as a writer that this is accomplished.
The ending (which I will not discuss in explicit detail for fear of spoilers) is what makes this a 5-star book. Let me assure you: you will not guess who the murderer is. Never ever ever. When the murderer is revealed, you will not believe. When the murderer goes on to explain his/her actions, you will continue to not believe it. Only by rereading certain important passages will you start to realize that the answer was in front of you all the time, and you couldn't see it. It's a testament to Christie's skill as a writer that this is accomplished.
But, as I am beginning to learn, this is classic Christie and exactly why she wrote so many books, and exactly why so many people are still reading and re-reading her books nearly a century after she wrote her novels. I am really looking forward to reading next month’s book and hopefully finding time to squeeze in some more Agatha Christie novels really soon too.