The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie's 1926 masterpiece, follows detective Hercule Poirot, who has retired to the quiet village of King's Abbot. When wealthy widower Roger Ackroyd is found stabbed in his study—shortly after revealing that Mrs. Ferrars, his secret lover, was being blackmailed by an unknown man—Poirot is drawn out of retirement. Narrated by Dr. James Sheppard, Poirot's neighbor and unofficial assistant, the investigation unravels family secrets, financial troubles, and hidden motives among the household. The novel stunned readers with its groundbreaking twist ending, in which the seemingly trustworthy narrator is exposed as the murderer himself.
