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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie’s 1926 detective fiction novel, is the fourth novel to feature the famous character Hercule Poirot and is the novel that propelled Christie’s career to new heights
. In 1999, it was ranked 49th on the Le Monde "100 Books of the Century" list. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is narrated by the unreliable Dr. Sheppard, who details the circumstances surrounding the murder of a man on the verge of discovering the truth about his friend’s blackmailer. The basic idea for the story came from Christie’s brother-in-law, James, who suggested that almost all major characters in detective stories turn out to be criminals. Today, Christie remains one of the best-selling novelists of all time.Read the full story summary, the complete list of character descriptions, and explanations of important quotes from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.