[soul-of-life]

Agatha Christie


The Murder of Roger Ackroyd












Plot summary


The book is set in the fictional village of King's Abbott in England. It is narrated by Dr. James Sheppard* who becomes Poirot's assistant (a role filled by Captain Hastings in several other Poirot novels). The story begins with the death of Mrs. Ferrars* a wealthy widow who is rumoured to have murdered her husband. Her death is initially believed to be an accident until Roger Ackroyd* a widower who had been expected to marry Mrs. Ferrars* reveals that she admitted to killing her husband and then committed suicide. Shortly after this he is found murdered. The suspects include Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd* Roger's neurotic hypochondriac sister-in-law who has accumulated personal debts through extravagant spending; her daughter Flora; Major Blunt* a big-game hunter; Geoffrey Raymond* Ackroyd's personal secretary; Ralph Paton* Ackroyd's stepson and another person with heavy debts; Parker* a snooping butler; and Ursula Bourne* a parlourmaid with an uncertain history who resigned her post the afternoon of the murder.
The initial suspect is Ralph* who is engaged to Flora and stands to inherit his stepfather's fortune. Several critical pieces of evidence seem to point to Ralph. Poirot* who has just moved to the town* begins to investigate at Flora's behest.

Identity of the murderer

The book ends with a then-unprecedented plot twist. Poirot exonerates all of the original suspects. He then lays out a completely reasoned case that the murderer is in fact Dr. Sheppard* who has not only been Poirot's assistant* but the story's narrator. Dr. Sheppard was Mrs. Ferrars' blackmailer* and he murdered Ackroyd to stop him learning the truth from Mrs. Ferrars. In the final chapter of Sheppard's narrative (a sort of epilogue)* Sheppard admits his guilt and reveals that he had hoped to be the one to write the account of Poirot's great failure: not solving the murder of Roger Ackroyd. Thus* the last chapter acts as both Sheppard's confession and suicide note.



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