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A review by genteelblackhole
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
5.0
(This review contains heavy spoilers.)
When I first read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I felt cheated by the ending. The revelation that Dr Sheppard, the narrator of the book, was the killer struck me as unfair: How did I have a chance to guess the solution when the narrator himself had been lying to me the whole time?
The experience of rereading it is quite different. I knew to keep a close eye on Sheppard and question every line he wrote. It became very satisfying to spot the scrupulously ‘accurate’ but absolutely dishonest use of language: “Beyond making certain that life was extinct - an easy matter - I have not disturbed the body in any way.”
Rereading the book, it becomes akin to an episode of Columbo. My curiosity is not in who the killer is, but in how Poirot uncovers the truth and how Dr Sheppard behaves during the investigation. A book that was disappointing on first read has become one of my favourite Christie mysteries. Excellent.
When I first read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I felt cheated by the ending. The revelation that Dr Sheppard, the narrator of the book, was the killer struck me as unfair: How did I have a chance to guess the solution when the narrator himself had been lying to me the whole time?
The experience of rereading it is quite different. I knew to keep a close eye on Sheppard and question every line he wrote. It became very satisfying to spot the scrupulously ‘accurate’ but absolutely dishonest use of language: “Beyond making certain that life was extinct - an easy matter - I have not disturbed the body in any way.”
Rereading the book, it becomes akin to an episode of Columbo. My curiosity is not in who the killer is, but in how Poirot uncovers the truth and how Dr Sheppard behaves during the investigation. A book that was disappointing on first read has become one of my favourite Christie mysteries. Excellent.