Agatha Christie’s Forgotten Villain Quietly Created the Most Iconic Mystery Trope of All Time

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Agatha Christie was an incredibly productive author who profoundly impacted the mystery genre. Often called the Queen of Crime, she achieved international success with nearly every book she wrote, and her stories are still popular today, frequently adapted for film and television. While titles like Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and Death on the Nile are well-known, one novel stands out for truly reshaping the genre and introducing a now-common plot device with a surprising villain: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Published in 1926, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is an early work by Agatha Christie and the third novel to feature her famous detective, Hercule Poirot. Almost a century later, it’s still considered one of the most important and talked-about crime novels ever written, though it has undergone some revisions. But what’s the story about, and what makes it so critically acclaimed and influential?

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Finds Poirot Without His Trusted Assistant

Agatha Christie’s first Hercule Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, launched the career of the famous Belgian detective and introduced Captain Hastings, who would become his steadfast companion. The pair teamed up again in The Murder on the Links, a case where Hastings also met his future wife.

Following the events of The Murder on the Links, Hastings gets married and relocates to Argentina. This means Hercule Poirot doesn’t have his close friend with him in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the third book in the series. In this story, Poirot settles in the quiet countryside village of King’s Abbot and becomes friends with his neighbor, Dr. James Sheppard, and James’s sister, Caroline.

As a huge Agatha Christie fan, I’ve always found her narrative choices fascinating. Usually, Captain Hastings tells the story, almost like he’s writing in a diary about the cases he and Poirot solve together. But in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, she really switched things up! Instead of Hastings, we get the story through Dr. Sheppard’s eyes. He doesn’t just narrate what happens, he actually becomes Poirot’s assistant when someone turns up dead. It’s a clever way to pull you into the mystery, seeing everything unfold right alongside the investigation.

What Is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd About?

The novel centers around the death of Roger Ackroyd, a rich man who recently lost his wife. He invites a small group of friends and family for dinner, including Dr. Sheppard. During the evening, Ackroyd reveals to Sheppard that he had a secret relationship with Mrs. Ferrars, a woman who had died by suicide a few months earlier.

I was shocked to learn about Mrs. Ferrars’ death, especially since Dr. Sheppard, as the local doctor, was the one who officially confirmed it. Everyone in the village knew she was well-off, and a lot of us, including Caroline, Dr. Sheppard’s sister, always suspected she’d poisoned her husband. Then, during dinner that night, Ackroyd actually told Dr. Sheppard that was what people believed!

Ackroyd establishes that Mrs. Ferrars did indeed poison her first husband and was being threatened with exposure over it, leading him to believe this drove her to suicide. Just before she died, she sent a letter to Ackroyd identifying the person who was blackmailing her – a letter that arrived while Ackroyd and Sheppard were in conversation.

Dr. Sheppard returned home, but quickly received a phone call summoning him back to Roger Ackroyd’s house. He told his sister, Caroline, he had to go because Ackroyd had been found dead. However, when he arrived, everyone insisted they hadn’t called him and claimed to know nothing about the death.

When Dr. Sheppard and Parker received no response from Ackroyd’s study, they forced their way inside, only to discover Roger Ackroyd dead, killed by his own dagger. Dr. Sheppard observed that the letter revealing who was blackmailing Mrs. Ferrars was gone, and the study window was open.

When Ackroyd’s stepson, Ralph, disappears, suspicion immediately falls on him. Flora, Ackroyd’s niece, is convinced of Ralph’s innocence and seeks help. This leads Poirot to become involved in the investigation. Recognizing that his neighbor, Dr. Sheppard, was already familiar with the situation and possessed valuable knowledge, Poirot enlists his aid.

Why Is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd So Influential?

Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is structured like many classic whodunits. The story presents a wide range of suspects, each with a potential reason and the ability to have committed the murder. However, the novel is famous and highly regarded because of its incredibly surprising and groundbreaking conclusion.

Most murder mysteries and thrillers, including those by Agatha Christie, feature surprising twists. However, the twist in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was particularly groundbreaking. It helped pioneer a now-common technique in the genre.

The shocking truth is that Dr. Sheppard was the murderer from the very beginning. He tells the story from the past, skillfully omitting any details that would directly implicate him, though he doesn’t technically lie. The entire narrative of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd functions as his confession and a final farewell letter before he commits suicide.

Using the murderer as the storyteller was a revolutionary move for the mystery genre. Though the surprise ending is debated by some, Agatha Christie cleverly plants enough hints throughout the book for readers to have a reasonable shot at solving the crime. Importantly, Dr. Sheppard, the narrator, doesn’t actually lie – he just leaves out crucial information.

The Unreliable Narrator Trope Has Many Different Uses

Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd famously uses an unreliable narrator—the person telling the story actually turns out to be the murderer. However, unreliable narrators don’t always go that far. Sometimes, a narrator is unreliable simply because they share the story from their own limited perspective, and either leave out or change details to match how they remember things.

Following Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the use of unreliable narrators became increasingly common in mystery stories. When executed well, this technique works perfectly in the genre, creating suspense and surprising twists. A recent and highly praised example is the novel and film Gone Girl.

The unreliable narrator is a storytelling technique often used to create surprising plot twists. In the case of Amy Dunne, the story initially leads the audience to believe her version of events through her diary, before the truth is revealed. For this technique to be effective, though, the author needs to subtly hint at the possibility that the narrator isn’t trustworthy.

What truly makes a narrator unreliable, particularly in a mystery, isn’t just that they hide things. Agatha Christie understood this in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, where she subtly hinted that Dr. Sheppard wasn’t being entirely truthful. Even a seemingly perfect unreliable narrator should still leave readers wondering if they can be trusted.

Dr. Sheppard Is the Blueprint for the Perfect Unreliable Narrator

Nearly a century ago, Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd popularized the unreliable narrator—specifically through the character of Dr. Sheppard. The story intentionally makes readers doubt Dr. Sheppard’s honesty, which is central to this narrative technique. However, if the story doesn’t offer enough clues along the way, the final reveal can feel forced and disappointing.

Ever since Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd came out, many authors have tried to create similar twists and turns. While some were more successful than others, the book undeniably revolutionized the mystery genre. Now, unreliable narrators – where the storyteller isn’t trustworthy – are common in all kinds of stories, from crime novels and thrillers to films and television shows.

As a crime fiction fan, it’s clear why Agatha Christie’s work still resonates today. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd really showcases how she defined the genre and paved the way for so many writers who followed. The unreliable narrator isn’t always everyone’s cup of tea, but you have to admit Christie was a master of the technique and really refined it for future generations.

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2025-11-19 23:09