Bibliophilic Friday: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (Review by Nancy L. Eady)

 

Agatha Christie is recognized as the grande dame of mystery writers, but I, unfortunately, have not read all that many of her books. One of her books that I have read, and recommend highly, is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Set in a small town in rural Britain, where Hercule Poirot has retired to raise vegetable marrows, the mystery is engaging and has an ending that I did not see coming yet is totally plausible. 

For those of you with inquiring minds, a vegetable marrow is “the mature fruit of certain Cucurbita pepo cultivars used as a vegetable. … The immature fruit of the same or similar cultivars is called …. Zucchini (in North America, Japan, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, and Austria.)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrow_(vegetable)#Nutrition

Marrows in British Supermarket, Photo by Dbfirs, published under the following license:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Poirot does not make an immediate appearance in this book; rather, as is true of most Hercule Poirot books, the narrator is someone other than Poirot, in this case, Dr. James Sheppard. At the opening of the book, Dr. Sheppard only knows that he has a new neighbor that grows vegetable marrows whose name is something like “Mr. Porrott.” Shortly thereafter, Dr. Sheppard is almost hit by a vegetable marrow that Poirot throws over the fence in frustration. He meets Poirot then, but it is only after Roger Ackroyd, one of the leading figures in the village, is murdered, that Dr. Sheppard learns that his neighbor is, in fact. Hercule Poirot, the supposedly brilliant detective from London, who has retired. 

Dr. Sheppard accompanies Flora Ackroyd, the niece of Roger Ackroyd, to Poirot’s house, where Flora implores Poirot to solve her uncle’s mystery. As with most Christie novels I have read, there are a host of possible suspects: Roger Ackroyd’s stepson, Ralph Paton; his niece, Flora Ackroyd; her mother, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd; the housekeeper, Miss Russell; Raymond, Roger’s secretary; and Major Hector Blunt, a friend of Roger’s. We meet the suspects before we meet Hercule Poirot again through Dr. Sheppard, who is invited to supper by Roger Ackroyd to meet with him privately over a matter of some concern following the death of his former fiancée, Mrs. Ferrars. It is after that supper and the meeting, after the doctor has returned home, that we learn that Roger Ackroyd has been murdered. 

The story winds through the host of suspects, all of whom have secrets they do not wish exposed, to a more than satisfying conclusion that will cause you to sit up and take notice. If you have the time to add this book to your “to be read” list, I highly recommend doing so – and plan for a second reading even if you rarely do so. The book, and the solution to the mystery, are worth it.