DETECTIVE: Hercule Poirot
ALLIES: Dr. James Sheppard, Caroline Sheppard
OTHER CHARACTERS: Roger Ackroyd, Cecil Ackroyd, Flora Ackroyd, Captain Ralph Paton, Parker, Miss Russell, Ursula Bourne, Geoffrey Raymond, Major Hector Blunt, Mrs. Folliott, Mr. Hammond, Mrs. Ferrars, Charles Kent, Colonel Melrose, Inspector Raglan
SUMMARY: Dr. James Sheppard's bland life in the village of King's Abbot is shaken when his best friend Roger Ackroyd is discovered stabbed to death in his study. Dr. Sheppard soon discovers that his new next-door neighbor is none other than Hercule Poirot, who has recently retired from the detective business. Poirot is reluctantly drawn out of retirement and, with the help of Dr. Sheppard, attempts to solve a complex mystery involving blackmail, robbery, and drugs.
NUMBER OF DEATHS: 2, one of which is a suicide
METHOD OF MURDER: stabbing