Many people tried to be smart. Many people tried to guess who the murderer was. But, who really captured this before Agatha Cristie revealed the murderer?
This book is my first Agatha Cristie book in English version. It is the book where I met Hercule Poirot. Many people said The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of Christie's best known books
The story
The story was narrated by Dr. James Sheppard, one of the main characters in this book. The location of this murder was King's Abbott in England. The story began with the death of Mrs. Ferrars, a wealthy widow. In King's Abbott, people rumored that Mrs. Ferrars had murdered her husband. Her death was initially believed to be suicide. However, some doubts about her death were raised due to another death occurred. This second death, Roger Ackroyd's death, drew a lot of attention due to many reason. First of all, Roger was incredibly rich. Secondly, he was murdered. Thirdly, people rumored Roger had been expected to marry Mrs. Ferrars. The rumored love affair complexed these deaths.
Main characters included,
- Roger Ackroyd, country gentleman, distressed about the recent death of his mistress
- Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, his widowed sister-in-law
- Flora Ackroyd, Mr. Ackroyd's niece and Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd's daughter
- Ralph Paton, Mr. Ackroyd's ne'er-do-well stepson
- Ursula Bourne, Mr. Ackroyd's parlourmaid, recently quit
- Major Hector Blunt, big game hunter and Roger Ackroyd's friend
- Geoffrey Raymond, Mr. Ackroyd's secretary
- Parker, Mr. Ackroyd's butler
- Elizabeth Russell, Mr. Ackroyd's housekeeper
- Charles Kent, Elizabeth Russell's son and marginal drug addict
- Dr. James Sheppard, the doctor
- Caroline Sheppard, Dr. Sheppard's spinster sister
The first suspects was Ralph, Roger's step sun. Ralph was engaged to Flora and meant to inherit his stepfather's fortune. The second suspect was Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd who had accumulated personal debts through extravagant spending. The third suspect was Flora who also had had personal debts through luxurious good purchases. The fourth suspect was Major Blunt. Geoffrey Raymond was the fifth suspect. The butler, Parker, was also a suspect. Ursula Bourne, a girl with an unknown history, was also suspected because she resigned her post the afternoon of the murder. The timing looked suspicious.The Murder of Roger Ackroyd progressed with many unpredictable plot twists. The second half of the book was fantastic. You would be amazed by Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. The way he link every small and irrelevant piece together was entertaining.
