The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
by Agatha Christie
Book Review by Mahathi Kattamuri - Grade 8


Of all genres, crime fiction is probably the most complex and riveting. I myself used to be amongst those unlucky few who stayed as far away from crime fiction as possible. Those books used to occupy a long-forgotten place on my bookshelf. For people like this, only one person could bring them out of this disillusionment—and here I speak of the Queen of Crime herself, Agatha Christie, and her all-time classic, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

This book features one of Christie’s most famous detectives, Hercule Poirot. It is an understatement to say that Poirot is larger than life. His awe-commanding mustache is his most  prominent feature, and his rather ridiculous vanity and pride make him much more relatable to than, say, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, whose extreme powers of ‘deduction’ leave a lot to the imagination. Poirot’s clear and concise methods and succinct logic make perfect sense and always leave you marveling at how simple, yet incredibly complex, the solution really was. And at the end of every book we find a lengthy yet memorable explanation provided by this legendary detective which then dispels any further doubt in the blink of an eye.
The unreliable narrator of this story, Dr. James Sheppard, is also a man worth mentioning. He becomes Poirot’s unofficial assistant throughout the investigation, looking for clues and discussing suspects and motives. He keeps a written account of the proceedings (which is what we are reading) in the hopes that he will one day publish it as the great Hercule Poirot’s greatest failure. Although he is a blackmailer and worse, he ends his story with an act of love for his darling sister Caroline.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is simply Poirot at his best. Set in the village of Kings Abbott, the book follows the murder of the rich widower Roger Ackroydand Poirot’s attempts to unmask the very cleverly concealed truth. Everyone in the household is a suspect, which means that everyone is a potential murderer. As the case progresses, clues emerge from the most improbable and unexpected sources and they all point towards one person—Ralph Paton, Ackroyd’s stepson. But as any avid mystery reader should know, the first suspect is usually innocent, and the same holds true for this novel as well.
What makes this novel such a masterpiece of the genre is its stunning conclusion. Suffice it to say that this is one of the most cleverly crafted literary masterpieces of all time, and without revealing Poirot’s final revelation, I will add that the identity of the murderer is quite hard to digest. To find out what happens in the book, you’ll just have to read it yourself!

I would recommend this book to everyone above the age of eleven, because until you have read it you don’t know what you are missing!

Writing a crime-based fiction is always a daunting task—to create a realistic murder, slowly piece it together, and then unravel it with a flourish is a challenge that not everyone can take up. There is a reason Agatha Christie is called the Queen of Crime and after reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd I fully believe she deserves to wear that crown. This book provides and explanation as to why people reserve the best spots on their bookshelves for Christie’s masterpieces—there is simply no other place worthy enough! I just couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

I will conclude this review by saying that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is Christie’s most outstanding novel and will forever remain both at the top of the crime-fiction genre and cherished in the hearts of millions, including mine. Read it, and I’m sure it will be imprinted in yours as well.