By Well, it’s official. And Then There Were None is no longer my favorite Agatha Christie book.
I challenged myself this year to read all of the Hercule Poirot series, starting from the first book, and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was one my friends hyped up for me so much that I had been looking forward to reading it for a while. And it did NOT disappoint!
(Also… yes, I read this in January but I didn’t post the review until now. Like I said, I need to get my life together.)
About the Book
Title: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Author: Agatha Christie
Published: 1926
Genre: classics, mystery/detective fiction, thriller
Rating: 5/5 stars
Book Review
First, the widowed Mrs. Ferrars dies of a Veronal overdose. The next day, the eponymous Roger Ackroyd, whom Ferrars had planned to marry, is found stabbed to death in his office.
Though these unsavory events baffle the small town of King’s Abbot, Hercule Poirot is on the case, and he never leaves a crime unsolved.
But this case is perplexing, even for him, and nothing seems to add up.
“An opened window…. A locked door. A chair that apparently moved itself. To all three I say ‘Why?’ and I find no answer.”
I almost didn’t want to write this review for fear of somehow accidentally spoiling it. Thus, I’m not going to elaborate any further about the plot. And please, please, please never spoil this book for yourself. I’m serious. Don’t look up anything about it!
The first good thing about this installment of the Poirot series is that Hastings– the world’s most annoying narrator– is away in Argentina for all of it. That definitely improved the reading experience for me. (I’m a Hastings hater)
The second good thing is the characterization. Like most of Christie’s books, we’re introduced to an entirely fresh cast of red herrings characters with their own personality quirks and shady behavior.
The most obvious good thing about this book, however, was the PLOT. The mystery was incredible! I’ll admit, the beginning of the book was a bit slow, and it is pretty long, but it was 100% worth it.
I ended up staying up until 2 AM finishing the end after reading nonstop all afternoon, and when I finished I immediately spam-texted my friends because it was amazing. Amazing! I will never stop being impressed by all of the clues hidden in plain sight.
One of the things I don’t like about Agatha Christie novels is the withholding of information until the last chapter and the sometimes awfully stretched plot solutions, but The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had none of these pitfalls.
Okay, it really is difficult to review this book without spoilers (the struggle of reviewing mystery books) so this will have to suffice as my review. Just go read the book!
Book Recommendation
I would recommend this book to anyone who’s in the mood for a good old-fashioned cozy mystery with a great plot.
Frappes and Fiction 
Great review! I’ve only read Murder on the Orient Express, but you might have convinced me to read some of the other Hercule Poirot books 🙂
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Oh, I read that one a few years ago and don’t remember much about it, but I liked it. My favorite Agatha Christie books are The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None which coincidentally are the two most famous. I hope you get a chance to read them. Thanks for commenting!
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I love Agatha Christie books, but haven’t read this one yet. I’ll definitely check it out soon!
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I definitely recommend it!
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Great Review! I read this book a few years back and it was really nice. Although, I must say that And Then There Were None is still the best Agatha Christie book.😅
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True, And Then There Were None is really good!
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Great review! I still like And The There Were None more, but I do agree that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is pretty great 😊 And I’m pretty proud of myself because I actually guessed the ending correctly! Which never happens with Agatha Christie 🤣 But then again, I did read a book of hers with a similar twist before this one – I won’t say which in case you ever read it 😉 – so this way of resolving things already seemed plausible to me.
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I sort of predicted the ending, but I was super impressed by its execution and so it still felt shocking!
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Love your blog’s name! 😀
I have never enjoyed Agatha’s books – I really don’t know why. Maybe I should give her books another try
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You should!
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Great review, Emily!
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Great review, Emily! I now feel that I really ought to give Christie a try. 🙂
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Yes, you definitely should! I’ve only read 5 of her books because they’re hard to get at my library, but I am officially a fan
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I’ve never read any Poirot, but you make them sound so good!
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thank you, I hope you pick one up!
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I will! Do you recommend starting with this one, or another?
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hm, this is my favorite of the ones I’ve read so far, but The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first book and introduces Poirot. Another Agatha Christie book I love but that isn’t part of the series is And Then There Were None https://frappesandfiction.wordpress.com/2020/05/20/book-review-and-then-there-were-none-by-agatha-christie/
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I’ll put both on hold at the library!
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Hey, And Then There Were None is my favourite Christie novel too!! As for Roger Ackroyd, many people have recommended it to me, but I am quite reluctant to read it. The synopsis doesn’t look particularly appealing to me. But if you’re saying it is even better than ATTWN, you *might* have changed my mind about reading it!! Lovely review😊
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haha, I hope you do get around to it one day! It depends on what you like about Agatha Christie. Compared to ATTWN, Roger Ackroyd is much less of a thriller/horror type book and much closer to a cozy mystery/puzzle book. It has a slow-ish start, but I loved the ending. One caveat though, make sure you don’t get spoiled because it will ruin the book and you probably won’t like it as much
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