"Why, he's Hercule Poirot! You know who I mean---the private detective. They say he's done the most wonderful things---just like detectives do in books. A year ago he retired and came to live down here. Uncle knew who he was, but he promised not to tell anyone, because M. Poirot wanted to live quietly without being bothered by people. -Flora Ackroyd, from the novel
Much attention was given to the 100th anniversary of Agatha Christie's first novel in October. Our Page Turners group has not read a single one of her MANY novels over our 12 year history. I set out to choose one for us and this was suggested as one of her best. I found it very entertaining. There was a lot of suspense, of course, but also a good bit of humor. Numerous characters were a bit hard to keep track of but Poirot is an intriguing one, to be sure.
The narrator of the story is Dr. James Sheppard who learns that there is a new person in the neighborhood---that would be Hercule Poirot (see quote). He has retired and moved to the small town of King's Abbot. Near the beginning of the novel, a man is found murdered---Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy man and pillar of the community---has been stabbed. As you would guess there are many suspects and it seems they all have secrets! Of course, M. Poirot gets involved right away. Not being very familiar with Christie's favorite detective, I was amused by his reminders to others to "employ your little grey cells." He admits he is famous for his "little ideas"---quite an understatement; he uses the purest form of logic to find the guilty one. At one point Dr. Sheppard says to his sister Caroline about Poirot, "Modesty is certainly not his middle name."
In past years I was quite a fan of James Patterson. His suspense novels were certainly page-turners but often very gruesome. One does not get the graphic violence in Christie's work. She is more about the fun of figuring out "who dunnit."
I enjoyed the book and rate it a 4. It was good enough that it has me watching for Christie mysteries on TV. I am curious about a fairly recent release of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict and a series of authorized Poirot mysteries by Sophie Hannah, one of which is The Killings at Kingfisher Hill. They are on my very long to-read list!
Page Turners meet this week. It will be interesting to see what the group thinks of our first selection of 2021. More then....
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Fifteen attended our meeting to discuss The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. We were quite a mix of those who had read little or no Agatha Christie and some more familiar with her work. Our talk was very enjoyable and it seemed almost everyone liked the book to some extent. Our average rating was 3.7. I shared some excerpts of a newspaper article in which Christie's books are called "cozies" because they don't focus on blood and gore and suffering but offer the fun of trying to solve a mystery along with Poirot. I think we all could appreciate that, plus the humor she adds in places. The article I mentioned also said that this particular novel "came early in her career but has both her best twist and best final line." Doesn't that make you curious? Some attendees admitted getting involved in other Christie novels and TV movies, including me. A good start for a year of page-turners!
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