The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
This is one of the seminal texts from the golden age of the detective novel at the start of the twentieth century. It has an original, satisfying denouement and features an early appearance by one of Christie’s iconic detectives, as well as having an archetypical provincial English setting full of secrets and deceptions. The interesting thing for me is that unintentionally I had been made aware of the novel’s denouement when listening to one of the many excellent podcasts dedicated to this genre. All the way through the book, therefore, I knew what was coming and yet, as surprisingly to me as anyone, it did not spoil my enjoyment of the book – there was so much more to enjoy. More of that later, though, as it’s time to outline the crime and suspects.
Straightaway we are told by the town’s respected local doctor, James Sheppard, that this is his account of a murder in King’s Abbot. He explains that recently a wealthy widow, Mrs Ferrars, had committed suicide. This had surprised and shocked her fiancée the widower, Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy businessman living at Fernly Park, a lavish manor house and estate. Sheppard begins by recounting how Ackroyd invites him to dinner not long after Ferrars’ death, along with several other guests including Ackroyd’s niece, Flora, who announces at the meal that she and Ackroyd’s stepson, Ralph, have become engaged. We also learn from Sheppard that before he leaves, Ackroyd tells him that he has received an anonymous letter explaining that Mrs Ferrars had committed suicide because she was being blackmailed. Then, later that evening when Sheppard is at home with his sister, he receives a call from Fernly Park’s butler with the shocking news that Ackroyd has been discovered in his study stabbed to death.
As can be seen, there are several suspects and gradually we begin to understand that as well as dubious alibis they have secrets that throw suspicion their way. And the person throwing the suspicion is none other than Hercule Poirot. This is an elderly Poirot who has recently retired to King’s Abbot to tend his garden – this is rather surprising chronologically as this is only his third fictional appearance. At Flora’s request, he is tempted out of retirement. She wants him to prove Ralph’s innocence as he is, initially, the most obvious suspect because he has most to gain. Poirot enlists Sheppard to take on the usual Hastings support role because his profession means he is well acquainted with all the suspects. Sheppard is also one of the last people to have seen Ackroyd alive. In addition, when he was leaving Fernly Park on the night of the murder, he encountered a mysterious, rough-looking stranger who was also seen by several other witnesses.
As you can see, everything is in place for Christie’s special brand of murder mystery: a small community riddled with petty jealousies and secrets, several suspects providing scope for several red herrings and Poirot at his most relaxed, finding wry amusement in the way the different suspects try to influence him. In addition to this, though, Christie provides two pleasures that are often undervalued in my opinion.
The first is her perceptive exploration of a long-disappeared England. It’s an England of clear class distinctions and a conservative sense of superficially unchanging routines and values that in reality are undermined by the motivations Poirot gradually brings to the surface. I really enjoy Christie’s presentation of these provincial societies because as mentioned they seem so strange to modern sensibilities and yet the image of English life evoked still feeds into the image we have of ourselves in the 21st century – most obviously, our sense of exceptionalism. And linked to this, and my second pleasure in Christie’s novels, is her writing. The very thing she is most often criticised for seems to me a harsh judgement. She is clear and psychologically acute; and in this novel, she is also very funny. Aside from Poirot’s famous idiosyncracies, the doctor’s sister, Caroline, is a wonderful comic creation.
If you enjoy a traditional page turning, whodunit and haven’t read this novel, I recommend that you do so.