The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered to be the best among all the crime thriller novel written by Agatha Christie in her Hercule Poirot series. My nerves were vibrating like a tuning fork throughout the novel and by the time climax was approaching my head was reeling by thinking who could be the murderer.

Majestic writing

Throughout the novel I was clueless about the real culprit. Though I managed to guess the murderer correctly, but it happened just before the revelation. Before that, suspicion was jumping from one character to another, till all of them were cleared off. It is then the probable culprit’s name strikes my mind and I was awestruck thinking that the real murderer and all the clues were right in front of me but I never managed to figure it out. Such is the prowess of her writing style.

Storyline

The story was set up in a small village where two notable people died, one after another. While Mrs Ferrars commit suicide, but Mr Roger Ackroyd was murdered. The author had interlaced a suicide and a murder together to weave a complex murder mystery tale.

My Thoughts

Like all her books, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was also slow to start, but I become alert like a deer, once the murder takes place. It was like rising from a slumber and then the race begins to unravel the mystery.

The build-up of suspense was great. The suspicion was on all the inmates yet you can’t pinpoint one to be the murderer. All were withholding some information, yet they were fully cooperating in the investigation. The clues were scattered. It was like Agatha was teasing me with all the clues challenging me to guess the culprit before she does reveals.

Poirot was especially at his best. His tactics and strategies to bring out the truth from each character was just fantastic to read. Characterization was great, but my personal favorite was Caroline who was the  gossip queen. Her character was closest to reality.

This is my third Poirot novel and not only Agatha, each time, comes up with a great storyline and plotting, but in this particular novel she does a remarkable job with the narrative style as well. The book had been written in First person which I personally think is very difficult when someone is writing a crime novel. It is only a seasoned and dextrous author like Agatha can pull it off not only convincingly but also brilliantly without any glitch.

The Verdict

It was a great read and a pacy book which is difficult to tear away and have to turn page after page out of curiosity.

She is no doubt the Queen of Crime Thriller.