Cozy Mystery a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is usually an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community 

Even though I am a big reader of mysteries, somehow I managed to get to the age of 64 without having read a single Agatha Christie novel. That changed this September while I was on vacation in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Before vacation, I had downloaded a couple of Agatha Christie novels that were in the Public Domain from Gutenberg. At random, I chose to read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

In the category of Mystery, my reading preferences over the years have leaned toward Hardboiled Crime Fiction, Scandinavian Noir, and Police Procedurals. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was a pleasant surprise.

It is the story of Dr. James Sheppard, a small-town English physician, who is drawn into a complex murder mystery when he is asked to certify the death of a wealthy widow, Mrs. Ferrars. As he delves deeper, he becomes entangled in a web of secrets, blackmail, and deceit. The primary suspect is Ralph Paton, Ackroyd’s stepson, but Christie’s famous detective, Poirot, working alongside Dr. Sheppard soon uncovers the shocking truth.

Though I had not read a Hercule Poirot book, his character was, of course, quite familiar. He is an iconic character after all. Like Sherlock Holmes or Father Brown.

In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Christie somehow manages to break one of the cardinal rule of writing Mysteries but is able to pull it off anyway. There is a reason she was as popular as she was. She is just a good writer.

All in all The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a fun experience. I highly recommend it.

Here is a link to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd on Gutenberg. Enjoy!