Believe it or not, I've never read this classic, so-called because of who the murderer turns out to be. It's a trick so famous that few authors have used it since. So I already knew whodunnit, but I didn't know the story, and in this one Hercules Poirot is continually keeping things up his sleeve. Although that does get annoying, his questioning of suspects often seems to focus on the trivial, and you keep reading to figure out what he's up to. ( )

Believe it or not, I've never read this classic, so-called because of who the murderer turns out to be. It's a trick so famous that few authors have used it since. So I already knew whodunnit, but I didn't know the story, and in this one Hercules Poirot is continually keeping things up his sleeve. Although that does get annoying, his questioning of suspects often seems to focus on the trivial, and you keep reading to figure out what he's up to. ( )

"You will find... if you have much to do with cases of this kind, that they all resemble each other in one thing... everyone concerned in them has something to hide." p 92

Though this is reportedly the book that put Christie on the map, it wasn't my favorite. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and I was able to predict the ending/culprit quite early on. I appreciated Christie's subtle humor, though, as always. ( )

Eh, I'm not going to lie. The ending did not work for me. Say what you want, it still felt like a cheat. ( )

Village rumour hints that Mrs. Ferrars poisoned her husband, but no one is sure. Then there's another victim in a chain of death. Unfortunately for the killer, master sleuth Hercule Poirot takes over the investigation.

Sent to me as a twitter prize by the lovely people at Harper Collins to mark a republish (different cover to one shown, but I cant find the latest image).

This is number 4 in the Hercule Poirot series, and it finds him retired in the countryside and keeping a low profile - so low, he doesnt appear for the first few chapters. The story is narrated by the local doctor and starts with the apparent suicide of Mrs Ferrars believed to have poisoned her husband the year before. Then Mr Ackroyd is found murdered in his study just a few days later. There are plenty of suspects - everyone is hiding a secret from Poirot and it takes him some time to work out just who did it.

If you've ever watched the TV adaptations, or read this before, the killer of Ackroyd is well known. However it's Christie's presentation of the narrative (as written in chapters by the doctor who has an eye on writing a book in the future a la John Watson about Sherlock Holmes) that keeps it all going. One advantage of Poirot books is that they are rarely (I dont think *ever*) written from the perspective of Poirot himself, and therefore we are safe in the knowledge that we are given the same information as Poirot, and it's just that everyone has their own interpretation on the information.

So: lovely edition of a book I havent read for a long time, and enjoyable to see how it completes, even if you do think you know who did it!