Book Club

Poirot Stories

Poirot is Agatha Christie's most famous and popular detective.  No doubt he would agree that he deserves that accolade!

Here is the place to discuss all of his stories in detail with other fans.  The most insightful comments will be added to the Stories pages.  But remember to beware spoilers!

If you can't find your favourite Poirot story here, don't worry - we'll be adding them all soon.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Jemma 05 Sep 09 at 10:59 a.m. GMT

With this book Christie broke all the rules. But it ensured her place at the front rank of British crime writers. Is it an unfair trick on the reader?

The backdrop is an English village, a country house, the murder scene, with everyone under suspicion – even the butler. Does the conventional setting make the unexpected even more surprising?

Is the surprise twist at the end the most controversial plot device in all crime writing?

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42 replies

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ac3011 10 May 12 at 3:05 p.m. GMT

I definitely do not agree that the plot was unfair.If u go through the novel for a second time u realise that the murderer is actually the only one who could have done it all along.Most of the theories are based initially on his inputs only.So he cud easily have turned the case on his fancies.Also  christie does drop several hints (sheppard's reactions and activities and his class act narration).The killer is actually the only one with the brains,resources and motive and above all OPPORTUNITY in both Mrs Ferrars' and Ackryod's case.

Well ,well whatever i may say i couldn't guess it at the time AND ALMOST FELL OFF MY CHAIR when i read who actually had done it .

This is obviously one of its type but hats off to christie for creating this masterpiece.

BrigidM 13 Feb 12 at 7:39 a.m. GMT

I really liked this book and I do know the twist was a bit controversial but that was what really made it intresting. I had really never guessed but the fact that Sheppard was on the magazine's list of suspects did make me wonder, and I think, like someone else said, it might have been a potential spoiler. I liked the country house setting because you would think something classic like, "The butler did it!" but it was a completly different ending.

I think this book definetly should be more famous than it is because I think it is much better then some of Agatha Christie's more famous ones. I like the overdose of veronal at the end, and I can understand why he did it, but I think Caroline would have guessed soon enough, especially as he was her brother, which is a shame, because she was definetly my favourite character.

enessee 04 Feb 12 at 4:33 p.m. GMT

I have just finished reading this in the new partwork edition. After having started the book I looked at the magazine.  I was curious to notice that Dr Shepherd was in the illustration of suspects, and very sinister he looked too. That got me thinking. I still did not believe the author could possibly pull that off, but she did. I'm not sure it was a good idea to include the doctor in the illustration - potential spoiler. Also strange that Mrs Ackroyd was left out, despite appearing on the cover, looking very guilty,  with her hands in Mr Ackroyds drawers;-)

treplag 24 Jan 12 at 1:05 p.m. GMT

Fyi, it was called The Detection Club.

mumbojumbo 24 Jan 12 at 12:59 p.m. GMT

@ knottyceltic: The edition that  I read contained some background information on the book. Apparently there was some book writers club to which AC belonged along with other contemporary authors including Sayers. There were some rules members were supposed to adher to in order to ensure fair play, such as not resorting to exotic untracable poisons or identical twins. Some critics/ writers thought that the device used by AC in Accroyd breaking the  "fair play" rules and she was cheating her readers. Others disagreed, arguying that although the narration of the book is not done from an objective viewpoint, we still receive only facts (though not all of them).

You have to remember that although nowadays every other  book or movie has a twist ending, so we are hardly surprised by them any more, at the time the book was written this was pretty uncommon. I guess that today's readers (especially those that are aware of the fact that the book contains a twist) are quite likely to predict the ending.In the end, the ultimate test for a story with a twist ending is whether it is still enjoyable when you know/predict the twist. Roger Acroyd definitely is in my opinion. In fact someone had spoilt the ending for me beforehand (we were discussing AC books and he said have you read the one where...) but the plot was so well constrtucted that I was still fascinated by it. Naturally I would have enjoyed it more if I had not known the ending, so I am still mad at the person who spoilt it for me!

vespervent 15 Jan 12 at 7:39 p.m. GMT

Well... after consistent reading, and weaving around exams, I've finished it! What a read. I can't believe how interesting, twisting and exciting the novel was! Cannot wait to read the next one, Murder On The Orient Express!

kierancglandregan 13 Jan 12 at 6:49 p.m. GMT

'The Agatha Christie Book Collection' is truly a wonderful way to come across Christie. I was in my newsagents only the other day, and saw the magazine selling for £1.99. Admittedly I had heard of her, but never read her novels. I have begun to read this book and am extremely intrigued already, and I am only on chapter 3. She creates a pleasantly creepy feeling of impending disaster quite successfully. Contrary to belief amongst conceited and jealous critics, she is not another rubbish commercial writer like Jilly Cooper, but is a wonderful observer. I am 14 and am growing amongst stupid apes, so to have found her ingenious novels really is an escape. Can't wait for the next issue!

vespervent 08 Jan 12 at 3:37 p.m. GMT

Well.... I am reading this book, as I got is as part of 'The Agatha Christie Book Collection', and I am rather enjoying it. Only being a few chapters in, I shall not read the thread for fear of spoilers. However, I particularly enjoy the idea that, even though there has been a death, I am reading the tale of Roger Ackroyd with the expectancy of knowing him to die. This creates an iconic image for the reader, in the sense that it makes the reader question... 'when'.

roberrrrto 19 Dec 11 at 9:59 a.m. GMT

Though I didn't completely get my head around how he did it, I believed right from the beginning that Dr Sheppard was the blackmailer and murderer. I had heard numerous people aswell as reviews saying it was amazing and that the last few chapters were 'mind-boggling' because of how old this book is, and because it has a high reputation it made me question things even more then I usually do within an Agatha Christie book. Even though I had this firm belief in my mind from very early on I still thourougly enjoyed the book and I liked how everyone had something to hide. Even if I did suspect Sheppard I couldn't figure out why the chair had moved or what had happened with the phone call. 

I'm now going to shut off most of the world untill I have read her completed works... this may take a while.

Ponsonby 06 Dec 11 at 7:03 p.m. GMT

Christie deserves credit--that I don't believe she receives--for her role in advancing the art of narrative. Stories told over the centuries have for the most part been linear and straightforward; Christie played with those conventions, and did so not as dry experimentation, but with great popular success. "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" may be the prime example of her flair for breaking with tired old traditions (but it's far from being the only example!)

carlotta_adams 23 Nov 11 at 5:32 p.m. GMT

WE need to suspect everyone, not just Poirot doin all the work! Love the mentions of Hastings, and Poirot asking Sheppard if he likes girls with auburn hair!

LauraPoirot 12 Nov 11 at 6:28 a.m. GMT

I think so, too. There's nothing unfair at it since I re-read it a few times and while knowing who the murderer is, every little detail pointed in that direction. It's just the thing that noone could believe that the narrator (and furthermore such a cool one) can be the murderer. But as I read the comments which said "it's unfair he was free of suspicion" and what all else I thought hey listen to Poirot! He says always he suspects everyone and this is what the reader should do too if he sereously wants to guess correctly. At this I absolutely agree with  Dorothy L. Sayers who was mentioned so kindly in GKCfans post. =)

carlotta_adams 12 Nov 11 at 4:01 a.m. GMT

i think is was an awesome trick to play on us, the readers. we still had the means to figure out the murderer, like facts and stuff, but we were all caught completely off-guard. we just had to use the little grey cells!

carlotta_adams 12 Nov 11 at 3:59 a.m. GMT

I nearly had a heart attack when i found out it was Sheppard (aka ME). Laughed a lot at the vegetable marrow incedent in chapter 3!

bfmlk 22 Jul 11 at 2:15 a.m. GMT

I just finished this one today and I had NO idea who the murder was going to  be. Most of the time I have a thought as to who it might be...not this time. Great story! I did get a kick out of Dr Sheppard's sister Caroline!

ErkutSoyer 15 Jul 11 at 8:17 a.m. GMT

I knew the murderer before but I can't believe.When I finished book I say ''Christie broke all the rules.She trick us.''.Everbody can be murderer.Everybody is suspicious.Ralph Paton,Charles Kent...Think like a murder.The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in 3rd best book of Poirot.But 4th book of Agatha Christie.Also it is my 4rd book.I recommend to everybody!

Quin90 15 Jul 11 at 6:22 a.m. GMT

I sooooooo loved Dr.Sheppard!?To think that he was behind it all along really shocked and hurt me.I can't really say who I was expecting the murderer to be but he was definitely not on my list of suspects.I thought he was definitely sort of similar to Capt.Hastings and thought it was going to end that way,with him narrating the end of the story.

There was disappointment of course but this was surely a Poirot story worthy of being one of the best!!?

Hercuel_Poirot_7 29 Jun 11 at 6:20 p.m. GMT

No. I think the one at "One, two Buckle my Shoe".

Mr_west 06 Jan 11 at 8:02 p.m. GMT

one of my favorite christie's and one of my favorite book!

perferct, that's the word. 

character, AMAZING

plot, BRILLIANT

murderer, THE BIGGEST TWIST EVER.

i thought it was Mrs. Ackroyd, she look to wierd.

yet, the only thing i hated about this book and will always hate, is  Caroline poor ending.

i hope she will never guess what happen, but i afraid she will, she will discover that her brother was the killer, maybe she even know it before Poirot tell him he know that, remember wht she said to him: that without her he could get into troubles.

if you sak me, she know, maybe right after the murder.

Tommy_A_Jones 28 Dec 10 at 3:25 p.m. GMT

I have never liked this book because of the ending which I thought was unfair when I read it, It was one of the first I read but I am sure it wasn't the first or I wouldn't have persevered with Agatha Christie books, I will re-read it to see if |I like it regardless of the ending, I think the Adaptation is brilliant but after reading that people think it needn't have been done that way I wish it had been done more like the book but having said that Selina Cadell, Oliver Ford Davies and others were excellent.

A_N_Omynous 28 Dec 10 at 1:04 a.m. GMT

I thought this book was very well written, and I really liked the ending. This was probably the second or third AC book I read so I now read all her books suspecting everybody. 

I do agree that the surprise ending does seem to be the center of the book, with the plot built around this ending. However, this does not change my very high opinion of this book, as one of the best AC books I have read so far.

I may reread this as I am very interested to find all the little clues that point towards the murderer, because reading it, I was baffled until the end.

knottyceltic 04 Nov 10 at 9:17 p.m. GMT

Thank you Lone Wolf. 

Lone_Wolf 04 Nov 10 at 6:14 p.m. GMT

While antagonist narrators were nothing new by the time Christie wrote the book, having the narrator be the murderer in a detective novel, consioniously hiding stuff from the reader, was quite a shock at the time.

I do not like the character of Caroline.  She is just a rediculous old-maid busy-body who doesn't have anything better to do than interfere in other people's business!

So is Miss Marple

knottyceltic 04 Nov 10 at 5:33 p.m. GMT

I don't know anything at all about "writing".  Can someone kindly explain to me why it was considered almost scandalous for AC to have made her narrator, the murderer?  I don't know about vintage literature but certainly in modern literature AND film, the narrator is often times the murderer or at least the antagonist.  What golden rule of literature did she supposedly break?

Cicely 03 Oct 10 at 9:58 p.m. GMT

I thought it became more and more obvious who the killer was the closer you got to the end of the book.  I think the killer was leading Poirot to conclude that he was the killer in a very daring, bold way.  He would point out obvious facts to Poirot!  Poirot is not stupid!  He is cunning and keeps his conclusions to himself, even though the killer is trying to lure him into revealing what his little grey cells have deduced.  I do not like the character of Caroline.  She is just a rediculous old-maid busy-body who doesn't have anything better to do than interfere in other people's business!  Real people like her are very annoying and unlikeable.  I really stayed interested throughout the book and didn't want to put it down!  After finishing the book, I watched the DVD.  You should, too!

GKCfan 11 Sep 10 at 12:31 a.m. GMT

It was controversial because some readers thought that Christie didn't play fair.  They argued that vital clues were withheld and they also felt that Christie had violated an unspoken rule about picking a killer who was supposed to be above suspicion.  Furthermore, they thought that dishonest or unreliable narration led to cheating.  All of these charges are unfair.  Christie provided plenty of clues and the narration provides plenty of instances where the astute reader can realize that something is wrong.  As Dorothy L. Sayers wrote when the book first came out, "Fair!  And fooled you– it is the reader's job to suspect everybody."

216816 10 Sep 10 at 10:13 p.m. GMT

What I want to know is how this book can even be considered "controversial"; I mean, it was definately a surprise and also a bit unorthodox, it was still a great book and I didn't see anything wrong with it.

Mr_Graves 20 Jun 10 at 2:25 a.m. GMT

Unfortunately for me, I had already read AC's Autobiography before starting this one, so I already knew who did it. Had I not already known, it would have such a puzzle! I also do not believe that it is unfair. Readers should read it through again, and then they will see that AC was extremely clever about how she omitted and censored and reworded it all to place the doctor above suspicion. A very nifty piece of detective fiction there, Ms Christie!. I also thought the characters were memorable, the narrative was wonderfully natural, and with AC's classic subtle humor. I loved it all! Plus I now want to learn to play Mah Jong... How does it work?!

MissQuin 05 Jun 10 at 12:02 p.m. GMT

Actually the spoiler thing is playing up. I put spoilers one mine and it's not showing.

MissQuin 05 Jun 10 at 10:27 a.m. GMT

Dont forget spoilers! I personally don't think that Caroline had any idea about her brother being the killer. But it's intersting to think about. In the Suchet adapt, Caroline found out and then tried to help her brother escape. I don't think the real Caroline would have done that.

She was shrewd, but James fooled everyone. I always wondered what happened when she found out the truth.

anonymoose_au 05 Jun 10 at 9:13 a.m. GMT

I've always been ridiculously proud of myself for figuring out whodunnit. Although as usual I couldn't figure out WHY, I did figure out when. So it wasn't entirely a process of elimination (we all know what Poirot thinks of people who do that).

I thought this was a great literary device making the narrator the murderer because a person tends to automatically sympathise with the narrator so when he turns out to be a killer it's a shock!

I also enjoyed the character of Caroline (precursor to Miss Marple) a nosey woman to be sure, but then she's pretty much right in her conclusions. I wonder if she figured out Dr. Sheppard's guilt though...

Le_Professeur 12 May 10 at 9:05 p.m. GMT

Ya, I think its so weird.

I thought the murderer was going to be Parker

216816 12 May 10 at 2:30 a.m. GMT

Although I prefer the AC books told in the 3rd person, this one was very good. In comparison to AC's other popular books (Murder on the Orient Express and And Then Ther Were None) This one would be my favorite; it's not as "professionally" done as most Poirot books and I prefer that.

Mimiumidon 08 May 10 at 2:40 a.m. GMT

Well, I read it in less than one day.....so you can guess that I loved this book! It was awesome!

MissQuin 15 Feb 10 at 3:30 p.m. GMT

This is the first full length Poirot I read and it got me drawn in! I love everything, I don't think that AC was unfair or breaking the rules. If you re-read it after you know the solution, it all fits into place. Theres little hints here and there, I thought "why didn't I see?" I adore all the characters Caroline is a masterpiece. She is really funny and so different to her brother. She commented on the fact he could have gone bad as their childhood was a very unhappy one.. Theres a dramatic irony in this if the books re-read.

aquaflute 02 Feb 10 at 5:40 a.m. GMT

I was spoiled before reading this book. I read somewhere that AC has two books where the narrator turned out to be the murderer. So I just kept reading any book I can find that were written in a first person perspective. Although I had no idea it was this one, I saw signs and kind of guessed it. But in the end it still came to me as a bit of shock. I guess I just like the Caroline character so well that I like her brother as well. And I really don't want him to be the murderer... Having the narrator as the murderer has a very profound effect on the readers, as they often form a special connection with the first person prospective. And it almost felt like "so I am the one who commited the murder!" in the very end.

And I think AC plays with this idea in her later books, the sleuth often openly suspect the narrator although most of the time they really are innocent.

HeiseiHolmes 01 Feb 10 at 5:49 p.m. GMT

The mahjong scene is the best~

But I really think the book is fair. It doesn't hide anything, and I think the biggest clue was when "that person" left out their actions with the victim...

Which led me to guess it was him. Go me!

Puffinjill 29 Nov 09 at 8:23 a.m. GMT

It's certainly one of her most interesting ones and does indeed show what a brave and clever writer she is - all points you make miles7298. I know many have said the book isn't fair but I don't agree with this at all. AC plays completely fair with her readers - all the clues are there but as the reader has come to trust the narrator and see them as an onlooker, we never link them together and guess the truth.

However, my problem with the book is the the plot does feel rather forced with a few holes. Perhaps these are all forgivable, given such a startling and (in her day) unique ending, but once known, the book, for me, loses much of it appeal. Her plotting skills went on to greater heights in later works. Its a great book BECAUSE of it's twist and not as a whole.

rmiles7298 28 Nov 09 at 8:54 p.m. GMT

I have to diagree! I think the Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of AC most interesting books, as it shows her diversity in her writing. By breaking the conventional rules of crime writing, she throws the reader into the unknown. I think this is a excellent example of her skill as a writer which shows why, in my opinion, she is the best crime writer the world has ever seen.

Puffinjill 12 Oct 09 at 3:02 p.m. GMT

So did I, Lone Wolf. It's a book I admire rather that actually really like. And thats because I can appreciate how brave it was of AC to use such a device of narrator as murderer, but I find the plot full of holes and contrived. I think she (and her brother-in-law, who I beleive first proposed the idea) loved this twist and then tried to flesh out a novel to fit it and it feels very reliant on this one (albeit momentous) twist.

Written later in her career it may have become a text with more insight and psychology. As it is, I can almost hear the authors voice shouting "Ta Da!!" when all is revealed! I suppose you could argue that it doesn't need anything else, its brave and entertaining as it is.

I'm just being fussy, I know.

Lone_Wolf 02 Oct 09 at 3:28 p.m. GMT

Also, I found the fate of Dr. Sheppard - a good-ish, but a weak character gives up to his weakness and becomes a blackmailer, and, eventually, a murderer - an illustration of GKC's maxim of it being impossible to keep on one level of evil.

The dictaphone business I disliked, though.

Lone_Wolf 02 Oct 09 at 3:08 p.m. GMT

I've just read it. I liked it, although I was already spoilered. I can't understand why AC established the unreliablitily of the narrator before the big reveal, though, with the Ralph Palton business.

I found the character of Caroline the best in the book. With her using some deduction and village gossip to found out some hidden trivia, she seems to be a more young, scatterbrained, and a bit more annoying Miss Marple. Since Poirot and Marple universes are connected, maybe Caroline is Jane Marple's distant relative.