The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

 

Plot summary

In King's Abbot, wealthy widow Mrs Ferrars unexpectedly commits suicide, which distresses her fiancé widower Roger Ackroyd. 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. During dinner, Flora announces her engagement to Ackroyd's stepson, Ralph Paton. 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. He then asks Sheppard to leave, wishing to read a letter from Mrs Ferrars that arrives in the post, containing her suicide note. 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. 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.

Hercule Poirot, living in the village, comes out of retirement at Flora's request. She does not believe Paton killed Ackroyd, despite him disappearing and police finding his footprints on the study's window. Poirot learns a few important facts on the case: all in the household, except parlourmaid Ursula Bourne, have alibis for the murder; while Raymond and Blunt heard Ackroyd talking to someone after Sheppard left, Flora was the last to see him that evening; Sheppard met a stranger on his way home, at Fernly Park's gates; Ackroyd met a representative of a dictaphone company a few days earlier; Parker recalls seeing a chair that had been in an odd position in the study when the body was found, that has since returned to its original position; the letter from Mrs Ferrars has disappeared since the murder. Poirot asks Sheppard for the exact time he met his stranger. He later finds a goose quill and a scrap of starched cambric in the summer house, and a ring with the inscription "From R" in the backyard.

Raymond and Mrs Ackroyd later reveal they are in debt, but Ackroyd's death will resolve this as they stood to gain from his will. Flora admits she never saw her uncle after dinner; she was taking money from his bedroom. Her revelation throws doubts on everyone's alibis, and leaves Raymond and Blunt as the last people to hear Ackroyd alive. Blunt reveals he is secretly in love with Flora. Poirot calls a second meeting, adding Parker, the butler; Miss Russell, the housekeeper; and Ralph Paton, whom he had found. He reveals that the goose quill is a heroin holder belonging to Miss Russell's illegitimate son, the stranger whom Sheppard met on the night of the murder. He also informs everyone that Ursula secretly married Paton, as the ring he found was hers; it was discarded after Paton chastised her for informing his uncle of this fact, which had led to the termination of her employment. Poirot then proceeds to inform all that he knows the killer's identity, confirmed by a telegram received during the meeting. He does not reveal the name; instead he issues a warning to the killer. When Poirot is alone with Sheppard, he reveals that he knows him to be Ackroyd's killer.

Sheppard was Mrs Ferrars' blackmailer and murdered Ackroyd to stop him knowing this; he suspected her suicide note would mention this fact, and so he took it after the murder. He then used a dictaphone Ackroyd had, to make it appear he was still alive when he departed, before looping back to the study's window to plant Paton's footprints; Poirot had noted an inconsistency in the time he mentioned for the meeting at the gates. As he wanted to be on the scene when Ackroyd's body was found, he asked a patient earlier in the day to call him some time after the murder, so as to have an excuse for returning to Fernly Park; Poirot's telegram confirmed this. When no-one was around in the study, Sheppard removed the dictaphone, and returned the chair that concealed it from view to its original place. Poirot tells Sheppard that all this information will be reported to the police in the morning. Dr Sheppard continues writing his report on Poirot's investigation (the novel itself), admitting his guilt and wishing his account was that of Poirot's failure to solve Ackroyd's murder. The novel's epilogue serves as his suicide note.

Characters

• Hercule Poirot – retired from his role as a private detective, but resumes his profession when requested to assist in the investigation. He is a friend of the victim.
• Dr James Sheppard – The local doctor, Poirot's assistant in his investigations, and the novel's narrator.
• Inspector Davis – Local inspector for King's Abbot and the investigating officer.
• Inspector Raglan – Police inspector from the nearby larger town of Cranchester.
• Colonel Melrose – Chief constable for the county.
• Roger Ackroyd – The victim of the case. A wealthy businessman and widower, who is distressed by the recent death of the woman he wished to marry, Mrs Ferrars.
• Mrs Ferrars – A widow who was rumoured to have poisoned her husband Ashley Ferrars, a mean alcoholic. Commits suicide at the start of the novel.
• Mrs Cecil Ackroyd – widow of Roger's brother Cecil. She and her daughter have been living at Fernly Park for the past two years and are financially dependent on Roger.
• Flora Ackroyd – Ackroyd's niece, Cecil's daughter. Requests Poirot's help to investigate her uncle's murder. She is engaged to Ralph at her uncle's request, unaware her fiancé has already married Ursula Bourne.
• Captain Ralph Paton – Ackroyd's stepson from his late wife's previous marriage; referred to sometimes as his "adopted" son. Secretly married to Ursula Bourne, and the police's prime suspect in the murder.
• Major Hector Blunt – Ackroyd's friend, a big game hunter, a guest of the household. He is secretly in love with Flora. Present when the body was found.
• Geoffrey Raymond – Ackroyd's secretary, a young and energetic man in his profession. Present when his employer's body was found.
• John Parker – Ackroyd's butler. Claims to have not called out Sheppard to Fernly Park, the night of Ackroyd's murder; is present when the body was found.
• Elizabeth Russell – Ackroyd's housekeeper. An attractive woman for her age.
• Ursula Bourne – Ackroyd's parlourmaid. A lady of nobility forced into service through poverty. She is secretly married to Ralph and is fired when she tells Ackroyd of this.
• Charles Kent – Russell's illegitimate son. A drug addict, recently arrived from Canada. He is encountered at Fernly Park's gates by Sheppard on the night of the murder.
• Caroline Sheppard – Dr Sheppard's older, spinster sister. She has a notable gift of staying informed on all activities in the village.
• Mrs Folliott - Ursula's older sister, but concealed this fact when providing references for her to become a parlourmaid of Ackroyd's.
• Mr Hammond – Ackroyd's lawyer.
• Ship steward – An out-of-town, unknown male patient of Dr Sheppard. Later found to have made a telephone call to him from the local train station, which Poirot confirms by a telegram received from their ship.

Narrative voice and structure

The book is set in the fictional village of King's Abbot, England. It is narrated by Dr James Sheppard, who becomes Poirot's assistant, in place of Captain Hastings who has married and settled in the Argentine. The novel includes an unexpected plot twist in the final chapter, where Dr Sheppard reveals he was an unreliable narrator, using literary techniques to conceal his guilt without writing anything untrue (e.g., "I did what little had to be done" at the point where he hid the dictaphone and moved the chair).