With the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie wanted to write a mystery that the reader couldn't solve. When Roger Ackroyd is murdered following the suicide of his friend Mrs Ferrar, it seems everyone has something to gain from his death. Only the mustachioed Hercule Poirot is able to uncover the mystery. Agatha Christie is the original 'Queen of Crime' and this is absolutely first-rate stuff. Will you guess who the murderer is? I doubt it.
February 2010 Guest Editor Simon Kernick on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
A classic example of masterful plotting and the best of all her books, in my opinion. It has a huge twist that at the time was both brave and original, and which has been imitated many times since, both in film and literature. When I first read it, it knocked me for six.
A Mystery For the Ages! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the sixth novel by Agatha Christie and is considered her Magnum Opus; it was voted best crime novel of all time by the British Crime Writers' Association. Agatha Christie has sold more books than any other author in history. The book opens shortly after the widow Mrs. Ferrars unexpectedly commits suicide. It is suspected that she committed suicide because she was being blackmailed over the manner in which her mean abusive alcoholic husband died.
Her last action before killing herself was to send a letter to her fiancé Roger Ackroyd a letter explaining why she could no longer live in her current situation and who is to blame for it. Shortly after receiving the letter Ackroyd is murdered presumably by Mrs. Ferrars' mysterious blackmailer. Enter Hercule Poirot retired investigator and neighbor.
