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 16 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

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 9 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

Surprising

Didn't see the ending coming, kind of slow, but very interesting. Kept my attention throughout.

I knew it!

And I loved it! The story is clever and was masterfully written. The clues are there. I prefer Dan Stevens' Poirot, but this was a fun listen.

Great book

This book has a shocking ending which adds a bit of horror to the mystery. It is certainly an ending that I did not expect but an ending which the story made plausible which is something I really like in a novel. I gave the performance four stars instead of five because times it was difficult to tell which person was talking. The narrator’s voice needed to differentiate characters a bit more. His voice was very pleasant to hear in spite of this so I still liked listening to him.

Wow!

I did not see that coming at all! Fantastic HP mystery! A. Christie contines to amaze me!

Huge Surprise Twist

This is a cool mystery despite its mildly dated quality because of the surprise twist at the end, a twist I only began to suspect was possible a minute before it was revealed. The narrator, Hugh Fraser, is absolutely flawless, and I will look for more books narrated by him. It would be a solid five-star listen if not for the difficulty some listeners (including me!) will have keeping track of a rather large cast of characters. This would make a great movie, possibly, and I now plan to check online to see if a movie version is available. Bravo, Dame Agatha! Way to continue to be relevant well into the 21st century! I was very glad to discover this title, consider it a credit well spent, and will likely listen again.

Grade: A.

2 of 4 people found this review helpful

Good but not great

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Very entertaining, but not the best of Agatha Christie

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

Hugh Fraser is a superior narrator.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

4 of 8 people found this review helpful