The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

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. Then, 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 reading the letter, he was stabbed to death.

©1926 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2002 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Best in series

I have read 9 Agatha Christie books featuring Hercule Poirot. This is my favorite. The characters had me laughing out loud. Hugh Fraser is an absolute delight. Characters and plot woven seamlessly. A must have in your audible library.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

What a surprise!

One of Christie's best! An unexpected delight, very original. Perhaps my favorite Poirot mystery. Delightful characters and unique presentation.

6 of 8 people found this review helpful

Another gem from Christie!

I can't get enough of Agatha Christie! It doesn't seize to amaze me the depth with which Dame Christie planned and executed her novels; the attention to detail is impeccable!
Very enjoyable read/listen. Love, love High Fraser! I forget at times that it's one person speaking. He gives each character such specific accent/intonation/pitch, and you get transformed into the novel.
My commute to work and back home is something I now look forward to thanks to Hugh Fraser and Ms. Christie.
Now off to go check out my next Christie book!

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Great narration; loved by my 6th grader

What did you love best about The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?

I read it almost 40 years ago and found the final plot twist really shocking. What was fun about the audio was that I could share the experience with my 6th grade son. He loved it! This was some elective reading he had to do for school, but it turned into a fun experience for us to do together. I wouldn't have thought of this as a kids' book!

What other book might you compare The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to and why?

Well, it is a great example of Agatha Christie. It actually isn't one of her ones I most enjoy experiencing -- in fact, I found it disturbing enough when I read it as a tween that I didn't reread it until now. However, because of its subversion of the conventions I can see why it is an interesting one to read for English class. A great example of the unreliable narrator.

So to compare it to other Christies, I would say it is more thought provoking, but not a cozy (though much of Christie has disturbing elements, especially for the time it was written).

Have you listened to any of Hugh Fraser’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Well, I enjoyed him as Dr. Hastings, Poirot's sidekick on PBS Mystery. Although my son often watches Mystery with me, he wasn't familiar with the Poirot episodes so it was a new narrator/actor for him. Neither of us had listened to his audios before.

I thought he was an outstanding narrator for this book. I would hope that he narrates other Christies.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

My son certainly found it hard to take a break from. We had to turn it off so he could get some sleep!

Any additional comments?

I continue to marvel about how accessible this was to a modern 11 year old who has grown up on TV and computers.

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Hercule Poirot is ingenious

This book is one of my favorites. The incredible mysteries of Hercule Poirot. This is one of my favorite Agatha Christie books. A must read.

Amazing performance

I loved it! The story was engaging and the characters were lively, full of color. I could see Hercule Poirot twirling his mustache as I tried to guess who did it. This audiobook made my cooking, cleaning, and laundry go by so fast that I really didn't mind them so much. I usually HATE chores, but they need to be done and this audiobook made them so much less mundane.

gripping!

I loved the narrator and story. Complete surprise! I appreciated the narrator's voices. good read.

Ok but not what I was expecting

kinda boring. It took me a long time to finish as it just was not that interesting.

Fun, a little different but true to form

Nice to read a Hercule Poirot novel with a different side kick. Hastings is gone, and we have a doctor as our narrator. The setting is very typical, but it's still an interesting group of people. Probably one of my favorites of the early Poirot novels.

Nothing like Poirot’s little gray cells

Poirot’s case when retired to King’s Abbot. I avidly read Christie as a teenager, but just didn’t remember who was the bad guy in this story when I started the audiobook. She really was an amazing author.
Fraser does justice to the story as narrator.