The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
by Agatha Christie
286 pages
William Morrow, 2011
mystery
Finished in 7 days
Rating: ★★★★★
"Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th-17th September --a Thursday."
Review: As you all might be familiar with my process (I've done this twice before already: Mysterious Affair at Styles & Murder on the Links), I have seen the BBC production of this book starring the amazing David Suchet as Poirot. Let me begin by saying this filmed adaptation cannot compare to the book. I'm even more disappointed than I have been with the other books vs filming reviews!
I hardly know where to begin! Well, without giving away anything vital about the book I should mention it's narrated by the doctor. The film took a rather different approach to the telling of this AMAZING novel by having Poirot narrate from the journal of the doctor. At that point I knew this was not going to bode well at all. My nerves quickly shot through the roof when I discovered two intrigle characters from the book were taken out completely AND one was added to the film that took away from the mystery entirely.
Ah, the mystery...Truly a classic one like any other mystery. Man is killed, stabbed in the neck by a small dagger. The classic whodunit scenario where a house is full of guests, all of whom have motive and opportunity to kill the dead man (aka Roger Ackroyd) and all of whom have secrets they are trying to keep from the police, especially Hercule Poirot. But his little grey cells are working overtime on this case. No secret is hidden away from him.
Again, no spoilers here but I will say from the standpoint of the book it is important that the doctor is the narrator, also that he is such because he is taking the place of what Hastings used to be to Poirot before he left to live a normal life with a wife. Hastings was Watson to Poirot's Holmes. In the two novels I read earlier, Hastings is the narrator. For this novel especially that is an important part that should not have been tampered with.
I also didn't like the small role the sister of the doctor played, especially considering the actress who portrayed her. If you should ever find yourself watching this David Suchet episode (Series 7, Episode 1) it's Selina Cadell, more commonly known for her role in Doc Martin as Mrs. Tishell. Anyway, she deserved a larger role like in the book.
But that's all I'm going to say about the film that was a great disappointment. Let me, instead, talk about this murder mystery that was recently voted the best crime novel ever by the Crime Writer's Association (CWA). The best whodunit writer was also voted the best crime writer ever.
I've said it before and I'll KEEP saying it, you've GOT to read an Agatha Christie novel!
Summary: This novel, written in 1927, is considered the best and most successful
of the early mysteries. It met with no small outrage when it appeared,
as it uses a plot device many readers thought "unfair." There is a full
complement of characters populating the cozy English village of King's
Abbot: Major Blunt, Colonel Carter, Miss Gannett, the butler, the
housekeeper, the narrator, Dr. Sheppard, and his know-it-all sister (the
precursor of Miss Marple, according to Christie), and, of course, the
redoubtable Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. There are clues
with a capital C to mislead us, and the listener gets so involved with
these red herrings (or not) that the very simple truth eludes the
puzzler.
To learn more about Agatha Christie, visit her site here.
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