the murder of roger ackroyd a hercule poirot mystery

Ferrars' blackmailer, and he murdered Ackroyd to stop him learning the truth from Mrs. Sheppard, who has not only been Poirot's assistant, but the story's narrator. He then lays out a completely reasoned case that the murderer is in fact Dr. Poirot exonerates all of the original suspects. The book ends with a then-unprecedented plot twist. The ending and the identity of the murderer Poirot, who has just moved to the town, begins to investigate at Flora's behest. Several critical pieces of evidence seem to point to Ralph. Sheppard, who is engaged to Flora and stands to inherit his stepfather's fortune. The initial suspect is Ralph the old friend of Dr. Sheppard's spinster sister Caroline is a favourite character among many and some say she could have been in another book. 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 parlour maid with an uncertain history who resigned her post the afternoon of the murder. Ferrars, reveals that she admitted to killing her husband and then committed suicide. Her death is initially believed to be an accident until Roger Ackroyd, a widower who had been expected to marry Mrs. Ferrars, a wealthy widow who is rumoured to have murdered her husband.

James Sheppard, who becomes Poirot's assistant (a role filled by Captain Hastings in several other Poirot novels). The book is set in the fictional village of King's Abbot in England. The character of Caroline Sheppard was later acknowledged by Christie as a possible precursor to her famous detective Miss Marple.

Howard Haycraft, in his seminal 1941 work, Murder for Pleasure, included the novel in his 'cornerstones' list of the most influential crime novels ever written.

The short biography of Christie which is included in the present UK printings of all of her books states that this novel is her masterpiece. It is one of Christie's best known and most controversial novels, its innovative twist ending having a significant impact on the genre. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. It features Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie which was first serialised in fifty-four parts in the London Evening News from 16 July 1925 to 16 September 1925, under the title, 'Who Killed Ackroyd? ' The first book publication was in the UK by William Collins & Sons in June 1926 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company on the 19th of the same month. Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition

The murder of roger ackroyd a hercule poirot mystery