The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

1926 mystery novel by Agatha Christie. This was the book that propelled Christie to fame, widely regarded as one of her finest, and certainly among her most notable. Even today the Twist Ending remains controversial.

Mrs. Ferrars, a wealthy widow in a quiet English village, has apparently taken her own life. Local industrialist Roger Ackroyd, who was romantically involved with Mrs. Ferrars, confesses in private that his lover had admitted to him that she murdered her bullying, abusive, drunken husband with poison... and that someone had found this out, ruthlessly blackmailing her and driving her to suicide. Now, a letter in the post from Mrs. Ferrars is about to reveal all -- but before Ackroyd can learn and expose the identity of the culprit, he is found dead in his study, stabbed viciously in the neck with his own ornamental dagger. An apparently open-and-shut case uncovers a likely suspect, but the village has by chance a new resident; Monsieur Hercule Poirot, the noted detective, who has retired to the countryside to grow vegetables. His legendary 'little grey cells' intrigued by the case, Poirot soon discovers that all is not as it seems...


 * The All-Concealing "I":.
 * Badass Boast: Hercule Poirot makes a point of warning the killer that the trick he pulled on Roger Ackroyd will be a lot more difficult to pull off on him.
 * Blackmail
 * Call to Agriculture: Poirot has retired from detective work at the beginning of the novel to grow marrows (a kind of squash).
 * Chekhov's Gun:
 * Chekhov's Hobby: Sheppard's hobby of fixing and inventing mechanics. In a twist on this trope,
 * Death by Irony:
 * Driven to Suicide: Mrs. Ferrars, by the blackmailer.
 * Everyone Is a Suspect: We mean this literally. Everyone.
 * Half Truth:
 * He Knows Too Much: The reason Roger Ackroyd had to die.
 * It's Personal: Not in the novel so much, but the TV adaptation with David Suchet introduces a long-standing friendship between Poirot and Roger Ackroyd (where in the novel they'd never met), thus introducing a personal element for Poirot in taking the case and identifying the murderer.
 * Leave Behind a Pistol: Poirot gives the murderer the opportunity to settle accounts himself rather than wait for arrest the next day, in order to spare those close to him grief.
 * May-December Romance: Major Blunt and.
 * Starts with a Suicide: Mrs. Ferrars.
 * Tomato Surprise: By necessity.
 * Twist Ending
 * Unreliable Narrator: A doozy of an example.
 * It should be noted, however that
 * It should also be noted the number of times the narrator writes about being puzzled and confused about aspects of the case.
 * The Watson: Dr. Sheppard, filling in for Captain Hastings.
 * The role of Sheppard as Watson is Lampshaded.
 * You Meddling Kids: