Christies Mystery Fiction - Essay Example

Christie’s Mystery FictionIn the case of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” by Agatha Christie, I believe that there is some lacking evidence to be able to determine who exactly killed Mr. Roger Ackroyd. As far as the first portion of the book, it was evident that Ralph Paton, the stepson to Roger Ackroyd was the obvious suspect. He had much to gain from the death of his stepfather including money that was to come from the estate. Roger Paton was in danger of being cut off financially from his stepfather which gave him that much more motive to kill him.

Once he had been murdered, Paton would then inherit the estate and much of the money, relieving him of his financial troubles. M. Poirot seems to think that he is innocent; it seems strange that he has disappeared and is yet to be heard from. The timeliness of someone slipping in and out of the window and Flora wishing her soon-to-be-dead uncle a goodnight seems to not match up, leaving only a small window of time where Mr. Ackroyd could be killed following Dr. Sheppard’s departure. Additionally, Ralph was engaged to Roger Ackroyd’s niece and there are contradicting stories as to whether or not Mr.

Ackroyd was thrilled about their engagement. Flora too seems to have a lot to gain because not only would she be married into the inheritance that Ralph Paton was to receive but she also received more inheritance than many of the others that were left in the will. The motive being money as there were many that were after Mr. Ackroyd’s fortune. Another questionable suspect is Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, Roger’s sister-in-law of his deceased brother who relocated from Canada with Flora to live at the Ackroyd estate.

She seemed discontent at the fact that she was left minimal money in the will and was also the most curious about who was to receive the most money from it.