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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
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Plot Summary of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
"When the widow Mrs. Ferrars commits suicide and the businessman Roger Ackroyd is murdered in the space of just a few days, the small English village King's Abbot is even more full of gossip than usual. The murder is a complete mystery to the local police. Fortunately, though, the (attemptedly) retired belgian detective Hercule Poirot is also living in the village, and agrees to come out of retirement one last time to solve the case. "
sivert_emil, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Murder of certain profession? - businessmen
Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in small town
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - private investigator
Age: - 60's-90's
Eccentric/Mental: Yes
Eccentric: - eccentric
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 1
Unusual forms of death - perforation--swords/knives
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
For Whom Death Tolls by Kate Kingsbury
A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie
Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Buried Clock by Erle Stanley Gardner


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Agatha Christie Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
sivert_emil  

SCHOLARS:
Danielle  Christina Olson  Claudia  Steph  Daniel Staebler  Yosef Shapiro  FIRAT ILICALI  Liz  Ilana Beller  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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