Top reviews

• 

  A great start to the surprising Christie

  With many famous titles to choose from, in the realm of Christie's crime fiction, or even the Poirot world exclusively - titles such as "Murder on the Orient Express", "Death on the Nile", "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", "The ABC Murders" - it can be hard to decide what to start with for a first time reader.

  Personally, I started with "Orient Express" and I felt that was good for me. However, should one want to start without that many surprises, "Styles" might be the best. Furthermore, it is the canonical first book in the Poirot series. Should the reader want a twist ending, to give them a taste of how clever Christie can be, I would suggest this one best, as it is a lot less predictable than some of the twists in other books. (While I love "Orient Express", I actually managed to guess what the ending was, before hearing it.)

  The tale is set-up well, with a good narrator telling us minute details that set up a quaint perspective on the case. As the clues mount up, one has to wonder what Poirot will think, and whether his retirement was best when these cases were what awaited him. It is only then that the little Belgian, with the "egg-shaped head" and his "suspiciously black hair", reveals that there is indeed more to it than meets the eye.

  I shan't spoil the ending, suffice it to say that the twist provides worthy acclaim for Christie, and her clever ways of writing. Not only does it surprise us all, but the nature of how things pan out cause a bittersweet end, that could even cause sympathy to the guilty party.

  Review by AC Smith on 09:43, 17 May 2009

  Do you agree? (Agreements: 0, Disagreements: 0)

What's your view? Write a review for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: (Poirot)