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1920s: Who did kill Roger Ackroyd? The one with the legendary twist…
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
What you need to know before your trail
Agatha Christie’s most daring crime mystery – an early and particularly brilliant outing of Hercule Poirot, ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, with its legendary twist, changed the detective fiction genre for ever.
Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Now, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with a drug overdose.
But the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information. Unfortunately, before he could finish the letter, he was stabbed to death…
Travel Guide
BookTrail Travel To King’s Abbott
A fictional setting but possibly inspired by Castle Combe in Wiltshire. This was the village where the TV series was filmed and you can really imagine this as King’s Abbott. There’s the pub, the church, Poirot’s house and marrow garden (he’s retired in this book) and the large Ackroyd estate.
The village and its small cast of characters is suitably claustrophobic. There’s lots of little details to help set the scene of an old fashioned village where Poirot might want to live.
‘It was Friday night, and on Friday night I wind the clocks…’
This is also a time where a ‘light’ was described as an ‘electric light’. Modernity had not reached Kings Abbott yet but, like the Evening Post, it was on its way.
And every village has its gossip….
‘…The motto of the mongoose family, so Mr Kipling tells us, is: “Go and find out.” If Caroline ever adopts a crest, I should certainly suggest a mongoose rampant. One might omit the first part of the motto. Caroline can do any amount of finding out by sitting placidly at home…’
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
It’s taking me too long to read this but I sat and enjoyed this in one sitting. I immersed myself in the village, the life of Poirot and Caroline! Oh Caroline, the village gossip made me laugh out loud. Miss Christie has it all here – murder, mystery and humour. The killer twist at the end! Brilliant, just brilliant. I’ve never read anything like that before! My favourite Christie of all time is And Then There Were None, but this is definately up there.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Destination : Kings Abbott (fictional) Author/guide: Agatha Christie Departure Time: 1920s
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