Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie: Review

This is the first Hercule Poirot mystery I’ve ever read by Agatha Christie and oddly enough it’s about a period when he’s already retired from active duty. Our detective may have given up on a life riddled with crime and corpses but they sure don’t seem to leave him alone. Even in his solace and monotonous country life, he’s called in to solve a murder which occurred nearby. And he gladly accepts, to break the humdrum schedule of his if nothing else.

As the title suggests, the story is apparently about the Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Who happens to benefit a whole lot of people by conveniently dying at the right moment. Every character we encounter in the novel is a suspect at some point or the other and some are till the very end. Yes, it’s true you won’t be able to guess who it is. But quite honestly, the reveal did not so much excite me as I wished to. The who, has taken a rather creative approach in this story which if I relate to the stories that came after it with the same element would spoil the surprise of my readers who are yet to read this novel.

As it always is, somebody soon feels the involvement of police to be inadequate and soon calls upon the detective, monsieur Poirot- a very bold yet sensitive detective who’s ruthless about finding out the truth at any cost but still thinks about the people involved and their best interests. Poirot, unlike Sherlock, isn’t a detective who notices so many multi-folds than the average person. Poirot is the detective who looks at every aspect of things and specializes in discovering inconsistencies.

“Précisément!”, as the detective exclaims quite so often soon as he’s come up with an idea which makes all the jumbled pieces appear to be in conjunction with one another.

Agatha Christie also specializes in something. Just like her detective. And that’s making the perfect build-up from one chapter to the other in the most straightforward fashion possible without the aid of delving deeper into the layers of the story or characters. She simply unfolds the untold stories which was in the gaps left by her earlier. She is the sort of writer who does not make the narrative more expansive or dense but just stretches it out to help us all see what was hidden earlier. Not in plain sight though, that would’ve been the characteristic of Sir Conan Doyle, but Agatha simple let’s her characters branch out their story-lines which in turn help the detective and the reader reach the apparent truth. And a lot of deductions are based on testimonies in King’s Abbot, which I find interesting as King’s Abbot is described as a place full of gossip-mongers.

The story unfolds with revelation after revelation. One by one all our characters come clean to Poirot one way or the other. The only thing that lefts to find out is who killed the rich man who left a lot of money and a lot less problems for a lot of people. Interestingly, aside from all the traditional yet intriguing storytelling, the author does something which I found unique and also a great way to hide the actual culprit. That is the USP of this book, I suppose. Nobody can guess who the actual killer is. Infact, the author’s done such a good job of hiding him/her that it feels somewhat dis-satisfactory when we actually find who it is. That person is so established as a ‘certainly not killer’, that it’s hard to accept them for who they are. That is probably the only reason why I did not like the ending of this particularly enjoyable murder mystery.

You'll practically memorize this map by the time the book is done

Hence, I’d recommend everyone to give this book atleast one read. And if you’re a Christie fan already then it’s a must read. Even though you think you might know her very well but she’ll succeed in fooling you. But after everything’s said and done, my favourite Christie still remains ‘And then there were none’. And there wasn’t even a detective in it to unravel the mystery. It all just was so satisfying to observe. Anyway, Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a very different sort of novel than that. More of a straightforward and ‘conventional’ detective mystery. But it’s a pleasant read nonetheless.

"Decisions taken in anger never lead to anything good."

                                           - The revered author himself

Book Review: Malice by Keigo Higashino

The book isn’t a murder mystery. Well, technically it is but it isn’t about finding who committed the murder. Infact the killer gives himself up quite soon. As correctly mentioned by Detective Kaga, the story is about establishing the perfect motive.

But why, why would somebody care more about the reason behind committing such a heinous crime instead of being spared from the consequences of the crime? This is where our mastermind killer comes in. He, who wanted to establish himself as a particular character in his own story and in the minds of the public. And he, who almost got away with it too. Almost.

The story is about two childhood friends- Kunihiko Hidaka and Osamu Nonoguchi. The story is also about two young teachers who taught at the same school- Osamu Nonoguchi and Kyiochiro Kaga. It’s also about two books. The childhood friends both grow up to become writers. One a famous novelist with multiple awards under his name and another, a far less recognised children’s author. One day, the famous author, Hidaka Kunihiko is killed at his own home. With no suspect in sight and both suspects having perfect alibi, it is up to detective Kaga to find the culprit. But it isn’t long before the actual murderer is caught. It happens at almost the very beginning. But then, what keeps the police awake at night and going round and round in circles? The absence of a motive. With the killer keeping it always under wraps and lying at every step, Detective Kaga struggles to uncover the truth. But, in a novel, gripping to the very last page, we ultimately do uncover the real truth and the actuality of the situation.

The book, Malice, is in no way about only finding the killer. But that’s what it makes it so well written. Even without the whodunit, we are kept curious till the very end. With developments one after the other, it’s hard to keep this book down without truly finding out what was the intention behind the murder. There are infact several plots in the single story which dealt with the theme.

Out of the numerous entangled themes, one which forms the basis of the eponymous malice is the human desire to see others suffer. Which is most commonly observed in little children bullying others for no reason at all. This is mentioned several times in the book with multiple sets of children. Infact, this theme is studied from various standpoints just to piece together as to why someone would do something like this to anyone. But to the utter dismay of both the reader and detective, the reason is ‘just because’. There are instances so horrible and torturous that it would upset anyone who reads about it, but we all know deep down how it gets with young children and no example mentioned here is too far-fetched to imagine. All those of us who’ve experienced bullying as kids in some form or the other may even sympathise with some of the characters. This ‘just because’ and the cruelty of humans is what’s shown by the author as the true malice in the human character which manifests itself from a young age. The murderer is somebody who just couldn’t get rid of this feeling and ultimately decides to commit a dreadful crime.

The book is a great read for anyone looking for realistic detective action with a palpable but incredible twist. The book is a must for fans of the genre and a highly recommended read for anyone else. The killer, which arguably is always the most important character in a thriller, is a brilliant one. Although by the time we discover the killer’s true intentions and the genuine persona who’s plotted the murder, the novel nears its conclusion. So we are not given too much insight into the persona from the killer’s own perspective, hence is almost feels a waste at the end to have such a person being discovered but not being able to hear his own take on it. Nevertheless, maybe that’s intentional, so that the image we’ve formed throughout the novel of the murderer stays with us and the shock of the twist is even more profound. The book really holds you down till the very end. Even when you think everything is over and all threads have been closed, the writer introduces elements which give the exceptionality to this story which made it such a big hit worldwide.

"The author's obsession with always engaging himself has now led him to the world of murder mysteries and he isn't going to stop anytime soon."

 

"Shades without a beard is barely half the look"

                                                                  -the revered author himself