agatha christie book the murder of roger ackroyd

Hercule Poirot, living in the village, comes out of retirement at Flora's request. But when Sheppard arrives at Fernly Park, Parker denies making such a call yet he, Sheppard, Raymond, and Blunt find Ackroyd dead in his study, stabbed to death with a weapon from his collection. Once home, Sheppard receives a call and leaves for Fernly Park again, after informing his sister that Parker, Ackroyd's butler, has found Ackroyd murdered. He then asks Sheppard to leave, wishing to read a letter from Mrs Ferrars that arrives in the post, containing her suicide note. After dinner, Ackroyd reveals to Sheppard in his study that Mrs Ferrars had confided in him that she was being blackmailed over the murder of her husband.

During dinner, Flora announces her engagement to Ackroyd's stepson, Ralph Paton. At dinner that evening in Ackroyd's home of Fernly Park, his guests include his sister-in-law Mrs Cecil Ackroyd and her daughter Flora, big-game hunter Major Blunt, Ackroyd's personal secretary Geoffrey Raymond, and Dr James Sheppard, whom Ackroyd invited earlier that day. In King's Abbot, wealthy widow Mrs Ferrars unexpectedly commits suicide, distressing her fiancé the widower Roger Ackroyd.

The book's narrator, Dr James Sheppard, introduces himself and explains these are his memoirs of a murder which happened in his town. The short biography of Christie which is included in 21st century UK printings of her books calls it her masterpiece. Howard Haycraft included it in his list of the most influential crime novels ever written. It is one of Christie's best known and most controversial novels, its innovative twist ending having a significant impact on the genre. In 2013, the British Crime Writers' Association voted it the best crime novel ever. The novel was well-received from its first publication. Soon after, Ackroyd is murdered and Poirot must come out of retirement to solve the case. Poirot retires to a village near the home of a friend, Roger Ackroyd, to pursue a project to perfect vegetable marrows. It is the third novel to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in June 1926 in the United Kingdom by William Collins, Sons and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company.

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Agatha christie book the murder of roger ackroyd