AO3
Personal Context (context of production)
1925 and 1926 were difficult years in Agatha Christie’s life. By 1925, she had been married
to Archie Christie for 10 years and the marriage was under strain. They had moved to
Sunningdale, a large village in Berkshire famous for its golf course. Archie loved it but
Agatha didn’t and had become, to all intents and purposes, a golf widow. Agatha’s beloved
mother lived with the couple but was ill and would die two months before the publication
of the novel. Two months after the publication, Archie would ask for a divorce. It is
impossible to say exactly how these events affected Christie but, in December 1926, she
disappeared for eleven days, an event which added to the allure and mystery surrounding
her. The press were sympathetic, assuming she had taken her own life. It was later
discovered that Christie had suffered a nervous breakdown
Context of crime writing
Agatha Christie is one of the best-known writers of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, an
era in which the popularity of the detective fiction genre blossomed. The Murder of Roger
Ackroyd adheres to many of the conventions of Golden Age detective fiction. Although
crucial clues to the solution of the crime are mentioned as the story unfolds, they do not
attract readers' attention, while secret relationships and schemes unrelated to the murder
provide misdirection. However, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd departs from the
conventional ending of a Golden Age detective story, which typically ends when the
detective lays out the solution. In this novel Poirot presents an incomplete solution to the
assembled characters, refusing to name the criminal at all.
Context of Caroline
In her autobiography Agatha Christie notes that writing the character Caroline Sheppard in
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd likely inspired the creation of Miss Marple, Christie's second-
most-famous detective. Caroline was, Christie explained, her favourite of the novel's
characters. She was intrigued by the idea that a spinster, sitting at home in a cosy country
village, would still be able to know everything that went on outside.
Literary Context: Sherlock Holmes (context of production and reception)
The novel follows several conventions established in the Sherlock Holmes stories by
Conan Doyle. Like Sherlock Holmes, Poirot is a private investigator, an outsider, and a
,highly skilled, logical thinker. Like Holmes, Poirot trumps the police who are unable to
manage the investigation. And like Holmes, Poirot points the reader in the direction of the
key facts and questions to be considered in the case. A further parallel is that both have a
doctor as an apparently supportive sidekick to tell their stories – and it is this parallel
between Watson and Sheppard, both narrators and doctors, which arguably affects the
reception of the novel, as it further guides us towards the acceptance of the narrative
which Sheppard presents. One obvious contrast to Sherlock Holmes, however, is that
Poirot shares the role of detective with other minor investigators such as Caroline
Sheppard, who gathers and shares information from the network of informants she has in
the village. Although Poirot, like Holmes, derives much of his success from keeping his
thoughts to himself – a wise strategy given the nature of his doctor–helper – he nonetheless
relies on information garnered through Caroline’s very different approach. The contrast
between the traditional, logical, methodical, isolated male expert role, as exemplified
through Poirot and Holmes, and the role of the seemingly-nosy female investigator whose
relationships and communicativeness actually allow her to ascertain facts very rapidly, as
exemplified through Caroline, could reflect societal shifts at the time of writing and provide
interesting fodder for a feminist reading of the novel (AO5).
Modern Readings: the appeal of the ‘English Village’ (context of reception)
The English village setting of the novel has remained popular within crime fiction: for
example, the TV detective drama Midsomer Murders is approaching its twentieth year in
production. (Christie’s grandson) states: ‘My grandmother continued to exploit this calm
and seemingly innocuous backdrop of village life repeatedly in later works, and used it to
offset some of her most heinous and bloody crimes.’
Key quotations:
Poirot being famously tight-lipped about his investigations. Unlike other detective fiction,
where the reader and the narrator is privy to the detective’s process… page 91. “I felt he
were looking at the case from some peculiar angle of his own, and what he saw I could not
tell.”
Ralph having the strongest motive. Also not the only person with a moral weakness. Page
76. Flora says… “Ralph may be weak, but he wouldn’t murder anyone.”
Poirot discerns their reluctance to have their own deceptions exposed. Page 152.
“Understand this, I mean to arrive at the truth. The truth, however ugly in itself, is always
curious and beautiful to the seeker after it.”
, Sets the tone of the garrulous, loose-lipped nature of King’s Abbott. Page 7. “Our hobbies
and recreations can all be summed up in one word: ‘gossip’.”
Sheppard foreshadowing that each sentence is a thread of carefully constructed veil. Page
169. “Fortunately words, ingeniously used, will serve to mask the ugliness of naked facts”.
He later reveals that he is very pleased with himself, referring to his own ingenious use of
words as a mask- shows the lack of guilt.
Sheppard revealing his motive within minutes of meeting Poirot. Page 21. “I risked the
substance for the shadow”.
Negative description of Parker, revealing the capitalist society, and how the working class
are easily blamed. Page 44. “What a fat, smug, oily face the man had.”
Caroline standing up to Sheppard. Compounded by her expertise of knowing the
truth/reading people. Page 209. “weak as water…”
AO4
Breaking the rules
As every regular reader of detective novels knows, there are certain “rules” of the genre
that no good detective novelist breaks. For example, in most detective novels, the fictional
detective isn’t revealed to be the killer—it would be an unfair breach of readers’ “trust.”
Over the years, Christie broke her contract with the reader on several occasions—and in
her final novel about Hercule Poirot, Poirot is revealed to be the killer! Readers and critics
have both praised and attacked Christie for challenging the formulas of detective fiction.
Related literary works
Perhaps the most influential work in the detective genre is A Study in Scarlet (1886) by
Arthur Conan Doyle, which introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world, while Edgar Allan
Poe arguably invented the genre with his stories about the detective Auguste Dupin,
starting with “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Readers who are interested in the theory
and literary structure of detective novels should consult “Knox’s Ten Commandment of
Detective Fiction,” a short, somewhat tongue-in-cheek list of rules for detective fiction that
was considered the gospel for early 20th-century mystery writers. Christie infamously
